SHREVEPORT, La. — U.S. Sen. John Kennedy came home to northwest Louisiana on Thursday to tell a room of chamber members and business leaders at the Shreveport Convention Center that Barksdale Air Force Base will stay at the top of his list in Washington.
Kennedy, a Republican who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the Air Force is in the middle of a modernization project and promised to make sure Barksdale keeps its place. His office counts $72.2 million in fiscal 2026 money aimed at the Shreveport-Bossier area.
The biggest pieces are tied to the bombers. The list includes a pair of new B-52 flight simulators for Barksdale pilot training, priced at $26.2 million, plus $18 million for upgrades to B-52 cockpits, logistics and weapon systems. Another $18 million is set aside for innovation and technology work at Air Force Global Strike Command.
Not all of it is military. Centenary College is in line for $10 million to renovate Mickle Hall into a home for a new School of Health Sciences meant to grow the local health care workforce.
The Air Force puts its B-52 modernization program at roughly $20 billion, and Kennedy pointed to it as a reason Barksdale should remain a major installation as the bomber fleet keeps flying into the 2050s.
The senator also shared views on the economy, the Iran war and Tuesday’s midterm elections. He told the crowd he had spent months on the campaign trail in states from Alaska to New Hampshire, and when asked about a possible run for the White House, he did not rule it out.
Louisiana voters go to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
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Filed under: Shreveport LA Politics News
