I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4434 

To require the Secretary of Defense to develop a plan to move United 

States Africa Command (AFRICOM) back to the continental United 

States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 9, 2014 

Mr. NUNES (for himself, Mr. KEATING, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. GERLACH, Mr. 

BOUSTANY, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. COOK, Mr. JONES, Mr. STIVERS, Mrs. 

BLACK, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. COFFMAN, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. 

MARCHANT, Mr. LATHAM, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois, Mr. COSTA, Mr. YOUNG of Indiana, Mr. DENHAM, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. COLE, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, 

Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. 

THOMPSON of California, Mr. ISSA, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. 

CHAFFETZ, Mr. LAMBORN, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. CAMP, Mr. 

CRAWFORD, Mr. TERRY, and Mr. HOLDING) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Defense to develop a plan to 

move United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) back 

to the continental United States, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Africa Counter Ter3 rorism Initiative Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The proliferation of terrorist groups is 

7 rampant in unstable countries in West and sub-Sa8 haran Africa. The biggest regional threats include 

9 al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which has 

10 known ties to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula 

11 (AQAP), Boko Haram, and al-Shabab. The oppor12 tunity to expand the strategic reach and force pro13 jection of the United States into the theater of oper14 ations of the United States Africa Command (in this 

15 Act referred to as ‘‘AFRICOM’’) is now. With the 

16 United States strategic pivot to the Pacific now un17 derway, the need to ensure retention of a strong At18 lantic presence is a vital and delicate aspect of stra19 tegic re-positioning. 

20 (2) The United States Central Command oper21 ates from its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, with 

22 a forward operating location in Qatar. The United 

23 States Southern Command operates from its head24 quarters in Miami, Florida, with forward operating 

25 locations in Honduras and El Salvador. It is not un26 usual for United States military units and their 


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1 combatant command headquarters to operate in dif2 ferent time zones. 

3 (3) Analyses conducted by the Government Ac4 countability Office found that the annual recurring 

5 cost of maintaining a United States-based head6 quarters for AFRICOM would be $60 million to $70 

7 million less than the cost of operating the 

8 AFRICOM headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. 

9 The annual cost of providing AFRICOM personnel 

10 with overseas housing and cost-of-living pay was $81 

11 million per year, compared with the $19 million to 

12 $25 million these would cost if the personnel were 

13 located in the United States. The break-even point 

14 to recover one-time relocation costs to the United 

15 States would be reached between 2 and 6 years after 

16 relocation, depending on the costs to establish facili17 ties in the United States. Relocating AFRICOM to 

18 the continental United States could create up to 

19 4,300 additional jobs, with an annual impact on the 

20 local economy ranging from $350 million to $450 

21 million. 

22 (4) After an internal cost assessment, the De23 partment of Defense decided to keep AFRICOM 

24 headquarters in Stuttgart, without fully explaining 

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1 quarters in Germany outweigh the benefit of poten2 tially saving millions of dollars per year and creating 

3 thousands of jobs in the United States. 

4 (5) A review by the Government Accountability 

5 Office in 2013 of the Department’s decision to keep 

6 AFRICOM headquarters in Germany found that the 

7 decision was not supported by comprehensive and 

8 well-documented analysis that balanced the oper9 ational and cost benefits of the options available to 

10 the Department. 

11 (6) In April 2013, after the decision had been 

12 made to maintain AFRICOM headquarters in Ger13 many, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel called on 

14 the Department to challenge all past assumptions in 

15 order to seek cost savings and efficiencies in ‘‘a time 

16 of unprecedented shifts in the world order, new glob17 al challenges, and deep global fiscal uncertainty’’, to 

18 explore the full range of options for implementing 

19 United States national security strategy, and to ‘‘put 

20 everything on the table’’. The Secretary stated that 

21 the size and shape of the military forces should con22 stantly be reassessed. He stated that this reassess23 ment should include determining the most appro24 priate balance between forward-stationed, rotational25 ly deployed, and home-based forces. 


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1 (7) It is within the strategic and fiscal responsi2 bility of Congress to fully analyze and provide for 

3 the implementation of any consolidation of military 

4 installations. There are more than 110,000 troops 

5 and civilians stationed and employed at 29 military 

6 installations in Europe. Priority should be given to 

7 consolidating bases that are in close proximity to 

8 each other and that can achieve cost savings without 

9 detriment to operational readiness, such as Royal 

10 Air Force Station Mildenhall and Royal Air Force 

11 Station Lakenheath, as well as Moron Air Base, 

12 Spain, and Naval Station Rota, Spain. 

13 (8) Of particular concern is the decision to de14 ploy assets to Moron Air Base, where the readiness 

15 and effectiveness of deployed troops is hindered by 

16 the lack of infrastructure to house, train, and equip 

17 them. Specifically, Moron lacks the facilities to prop18 erly perform ground and naval training operations, 

19 and only has limited ability to accomplish air train20 ing operations. By contrast, Lajes Field has imple21 mented more than $150 million of major infrastruc22 ture upgrades over the past 12 years to improve the 

23 quality of life, upgrade communication capabilities, 

24 bolster security, and enhance military operations. 

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1 stricted airspace, Lajes Field has the unique ability 

2 to host extensive air, ground, and naval training op3 erations. Lajes’ strategic location, infrastructure im4 provements, unrestricted air space, and outstanding 

5 training environment for all forces make this an in6 dispensable asset and an ideal forward operating 

7 base for AFRICOM, as opposed to spending hun8 dreds of millions of dollars to upgrade aging sites 

9 such as Moron Air Base, Spain. 

10 (9) It is in the national interest of the United 

11 States to save millions of dollars per year and bring 

12 thousands of jobs to the United States by moving 

13 AFRICOM headquarters from Stuttgart, Germany, 

14 to the continental United States. 

15 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT FOR PLAN TO MOVE AFRICOM 

16 HEADQUARTERS TO CONTINENTAL UNITED 

17 STATES. 

18 (a) PLAN REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Defense 

19 shall develop a plan in accordance with subsection (b) to 

20 transfer the headquarters of AFRICOM from Stuttgart, 

21 Germany, to a location in the continental United States. 

22 (b) MATTERS COVERED.— 

23 (1) ASSETS OF AFRICOM.—The plan required 

24 under this section shall provide for— 


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1 (A) the 65th Air Base Wing to be an 

2 AFRICOM asset; 

3 (B) AFRICOM permanent assets (includ4 ing assets related to air, ground, special oper5 ations, and logistics) to be located at Lajes 

6 Field, Azores, Portugal; and 

7 (C) the transfer of United States assets at 

8 Lajes Field from United States European Com9 mand to AFRICOM, for purposes of being the 

10 forward operating location, logistical hub, and 

11 location of assets of AFRICOM. 

12 (2) RELOCATIONS TO LAJES FIELD.—The plan 

13 required under this section shall also provide for the 

14 relocation of the Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground 

15 Task Force Crisis Response (SP–MAGTF CR) from 

16 Moron Air Base, Spain, to Lajes Field. 

17 (c) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—The plan required 

18 under this section shall be submitted to Congress not later 

19 than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

20 (d) IMPLEMENTATION OF PLAN.—The Secretary of 

21 Defense shall implement the plan required by this section 

22 within 6 months after submission of the plan to Congress 

23 under subsection (c), and in no event later than 1 year 

24 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT FOR REVIEW OF AGREEMENT ON 

2 COOPERATION AND DEFENSE BETWEEN THE 

3 UNITED STATES AND PORTUGAL. 

4 The Secretary of Defense shall conduct a review of 

5 the Agreement on Cooperation and Defense Between the 

6 United States and Portugal, signed at Lisbon June 1, 

7 1995, to ensure that such Agreement accurately reflects 

8 and accounts for the plan required under section 3. 

9 SEC. 5. CONTINUED OPERATION OF LAJES FIELD. 

10 Effective until at least the date of completion of the 

11 2018 quadrennial defense review, Lajes Field shall con12 tinue operating 24 hours a day, at or above its 2012 levels 

13 of readiness. 

Æ 


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