WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of War announced two major initiatives last week, unveiling a multimillion-dollar investment in a North Dakota military school on Tuesday and reaffirming U.S. leadership in a 10-nation spacepower coalition on Friday. The moves highlight a widening strategic front that stretches from America’s classrooms on military installations to the contested orbital terrain shaping 21st-century defense planning.
TUESDAY — The Department of War’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation awarded more than $55 million to Grand Forks Air Force Base Public School District No. 140 for construction of a new Nathan F. Twining Elementary and Middle School in North Dakota. The federal grant represents the bulk of a $69 million project designed to replace aging facilities that ranked 70th on the 2019 “Public Schools on Military Installations Priority List.”
The new school will support 500 pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade students and will correct long-standing capacity and condition deficiencies. The award is part of the Public Schools on Military Installations Program, which directs funding to bases where educational infrastructure has the greatest need.
A federal evaluation team composed of representatives from the Air Force, Army, Navy, and the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation reviewed the project. The Department said the upgrade will improve educational quality for military families, support recruitment and retention at Grand Forks Air Force Base, and strengthen ties between the installation and the surrounding community.
Additional program information is available at oldcc.gov/our-programs/public-schools-military-installations.
On Friday, Senior U.S. defense leaders joined counterparts from all 10 nations in the Combined Space Operations (CSpO) Initiative at France’s new Space Command Headquarters, where officials renewed their commitment to expand collective spacepower amid mounting global threats.
The initiative brings together Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States. U.S. representatives included Gen. Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations; Gen. Stephen Whiting, Commander of U.S. Space Command; and Robert Brose, Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for Space and Missile Defense.
“Our opponents are moving at jaw-dropping speed, and we must match that pace with integrated coalition capabilities that deter aggression and defend our interests,” Whiting said.
Saltzman emphasized the need for shared architectures, integrated training, and unified operational frameworks to counter the risks of a contested orbital environment. Brose noted that U.S. interests extend beyond national defense to commercial space access and preserving space as a safe operating domain.
“Just as our military defends our freedom, rights, and interests on earth, the military of the United States of America will protect and defend our freedom, rights, and interests in space,” Brose said.
Officials said the coalition will continue to press for responsible behavior in orbit while confronting actors who threaten stability or deploy hazardous systems. As CSpO evolves, leaders reaffirmed that its mission is centered on preparing warfighters to deter conflict, defeat adversaries, and prevail in space.
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