Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) released a statement commending the Pentagon for its plan to construct 191 new family housing units at Whiteman Air Force Base near Knob Knoster and to make improvements to barracks at Ft. Leonard Wood. For the Whiteman project, Skelton, who heads the House Armed Services Committee, said the Pentagon would “dedicate an additional $37.5 million to build 191 new housing units and demolish 200 old housing units.” That is on top of a previously appropriated $74.6 million for Whiteman’s new housing project, he added. Skelton declared, “It has long been my goal to make Whiteman Air Force Base and Ft. Leonard Wood the premier military installations in the United States.”
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.