WASHINGTON — Utah military installations fared particularly well in President Bush's $419.3 billion budget released Monday — enough so that Rep. Rob Bishop's office thinks it bodes well for the future of Hill Air Force Base.

Hill garnered $36.7 million in appropriations in the president's budget, including $4.6 million for a "battle damage repair facility" for the F/A-22 fighters and $19.5 million for an addition to a software support center.

The budget also calls for $25 million to replace an existing runway at Dugway Proving Ground and $3.3 million for construction of a "readiness center" at Camp Williams.

Two additional items funded in the 2005 budget by Congress were added to the 2006 budget. These included $4.9 million for the 729th ACS Operations and Maintenance Facility and $7.7 million for an ICBM propellant analysis facility.

"Rep. Bishop is especially pleased with the F/A-22 battle damage repair facility at Hill AFB and the Ogden Air Logistics Center as it will help cement Ogden's role as the depot maintenance source of repair for this advanced weapons system and composite repair technical capabilities," said chief of staff Scott Parker.

"In addition, the Software Support Center addition is long overdue as it will help Ogden bring back in-house core workloads in software development," he said. "This center at Ogden is one of only a few 'level 5' software-capable facilities in the entire nation, and this will add to that capability."

And it should help bring additional high-tech jobs to the area, he added.

The Dugway airfield is considered key to the long-term viability of that installation to allow for the military to ship personnel and equipment in and out in a secure environment, as well as help Air Force pilots using the Utah Test Range make emergency landings.

"We worked with the Army for years to get funding for this project approved and moved up to the 2006 budget. We are very pleased to see the funding there, especially in light of the current budgetary pressures," Parker said.

The president's budget now goes to Congress.

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