Minnesota will get more than $70 million, including money for a program that helps soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, out of the $447.4 billion in a defense bill that is expected to be signed by President Bush.
The bill, which cleared the Senate on Friday, includes $70 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and a 2.2 percent pay raise for military personnel.
In Minnesota, $3 million will go to a National Guard pilot program that helps soldiers reintegrate into home life when they return from the war. The money will help cover pay, travel expenses, and counseling for soldiers 30 and 60 days after they return home.
The program has been under way since March and has served 2,000 soldiers and their families, according to the office of Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn.
Without active bases in Minnesota, Brig. Gen. Jon Trost said, there isn't a strong support structure for military personnel and their families.
Currently, the Pentagon's policy is to offer counseling at 90 days, Dayton said. Republicans Sen. Norm Coleman and Rep. John Kline and Democratic Rep. Martin Sabo helped push the measure.
The other projects in Minnesota include:
$19.5 million to the Army High Performance Computing Research Center, which has a partnership with the University of Minnesota and other higher-education institutions, for computer equipment and for staff and support.
$4.5 million to Golden Hour Technology/Minnesota Thermal Sciences, for a blood-bag project, which helps enable safe transport of blood to injured troops on the battlefield.
$4 million to Pemstar Inc., for the U.S. Land Warrior, a fighting system for infantry soldiers that combines weapons, helmets, computer capability, communications and clothing.
$4 million to Lockheed Martin for common submarine radio rooms.
$3.25 million to MTS Systems Corp. for a Rotorcraft Survivability project that includes a test system to simulate realistic combat conditions for helicopters.
$2.9 million for Third Wave Systems to continue development of titanium machining technology for military ground vehicles.
$2.4 million for Gradient Technology to demilitarize a stockpile of approximately 500,000 tons of obsolete gun propellant, develop technology to cut through hardened shell projectiles and to remove hazardous materials.
$2.4 million for SpeechGear, which provides instant language translation products used by the military.
$2.2 million to Polaris to provide light tactical vehicles to the Army that are used off-road.
$2 million to the University of Minnesota's National Hypersonic Research Center for developing tools to design hypersonic vehicles that can react to global threats.
