The U.S. Senate has approved the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, a measure that U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) says will strengthen national security and support military personnel, with specific benefits for Arkansas.
“It is more important than ever for Congress to provide our armed forces with the tools and resources required to protect our nation and interests,” Boozman said. “That begins with supporting our personnel and their families with better pay and quality of life support and extends to reforming the Pentagon while rebuilding and strengthening military readiness. This bipartisan bill delivers on those goals and makes key progress for our national security missions and industries in Arkansas.”
Provisions backed by Boozman in the NDAA include increased support for organic industrial base sites such as Pine Bluff Arsenal (PBA), including modernization efforts through new production lines at PBA and other locations. The legislation also seeks to improve airspace security at military installations through the COUNTER Act, led by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), which streamlines guidance so that more bases can detect, track, and neutralize drones.
The NDAA extends requirements regarding C-130 aircraft inventory through 2028, prohibiting reductions in aircraft assigned to the National Guard during that period. The Arkansas National Guard’s 189th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base trains C-130 pilots and loadmasters.
Other Arkansas-related measures include supporting accreditation of the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock, evaluating U.S. munitions stockpiles—some produced in Camden—and expanding telehealth and mail order pharmacy benefits for veterans and servicemembers in freely associated states. Legislation led by Boozman and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), known as the VALID Act, aims to increase awareness of Department of Veterans Affairs home loan benefits.
Additional provisions in the bill authorize a 3.8 percent pay raise for servicemembers, enhance housing and education initiatives for military dependents, reform defense acquisitions, accelerate expansion of the defense industrial base, require briefings on drone threats at military installations, authorize parts of the Golden Dome defense system for homeland protection, enhance cooperation on border security activities—including training on counternarcotics operations—and support recruitment efforts by increasing JROTC units and establishing a National Week of Military Recruitment.
The House of Representatives has also passed its version of the FY26 NDAA. Both chambers are expected to work on a final version later this year.
