PRIA Logo™
Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73not60

§2859 Construction Requirements Related to Antiterrorism and Force Protection or Urban-training Operations

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— General Military Law › Part IV— SERVICE, SUPPLY, AND PROPERTY › Chapter 169— MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND MILITARY FAMILY HOUSING › Subchapter III— ADMINISTRATION OF MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND MILITARY FAMILY HOUSING › § 2859

Last updated Apr 3, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Defense must write shared rules for all the services to use. The rules must let each service check how vulnerable military bases at home and abroad are to terrorist attacks, set building standards to make structures and people safer (while considering other security steps), plan and build physical security projects like gates and fences, and help decide which projects each service should fund. The Department must require regular vulnerability checks using those rules. A service may not build a facility for urban operations training until the Secretary of Defense approves a training-and-construction strategy and the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness reviews the project and certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that it follows the strategy and supports joint and interagency use. This restriction does not apply to projects done under sections 2803, 2804, or 2808 of this title or section 2808 of the Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (division B of Public Law 108–136; 117 Stat. 1723).

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §2859

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of Defense shall develop common guidance and criteria to be used by each Secretary concerned—
(1)to assess the vulnerability of military installations located inside and outside of the United States to terrorist attack;
(2)to develop construction standards that, taking into consideration other security or force-protection measures available for the facility or military installation concerned, are designed to reduce the vulnerability of structures to terrorist attack and improve the security of the occupants of such structures;
(3)to prepare and carry out military construction projects, such as gate and fenceline construction, to improve the physical security of military installations; and
(4)to assist in prioritizing such projects within the military construction budget of each of the armed forces.
(b)The Secretary of Defense shall require vulnerability assessments of military installations to be conducted, at regular intervals, using the criteria developed under subsection (a).
(c)(1)Except as provided in paragraph (3), the Secretary concerned may not carry out a military construction project to construct a facility designed to provide training in urban operations for members of the armed forces or personnel of the Department of Defense or other Federal agencies until—
(A)the Secretary of Defense approves a strategy for training and facility construction for operations in urban terrain; and
(B)the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness evaluates the project and certifies to the appropriate committees of Congress that the project—
(i)is consistent with the strategy; and
(ii)incorporates the appropriate capabilities for joint and interagency use in accordance with the strategy.
(2)This subsection shall not apply with respect to a military construction project carried out under the authority of section 2803, 2804, or 2808 of this title or section 2808 of the Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (division B of Public Law 108–136; 117 Stat. 1723).

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 2808 of the Military

Construction

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, referred to in subsec. (c)(2), is section 2808 of title XXVIII of div. B of Pub. L. 108–136, Nov. 24, 2003, 117 Stat. 1723, which is not classified to the Code except for section 2808(e), which is set out as a note under section 2805 of this title.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 2859, added Pub. L. 97–214, § 2(a), July 12, 1982, 96 Stat. 167; amended Pub. L. 97–295, § 1(36), Oct. 12, 1982, 96 Stat. 1296, provided for transmission of annual military

Construction

authorization request, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 108–136, div. A, title X, § 1044(b)(1), Nov. 24, 2003, 117 Stat. 1612.

Amendments

2017—Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 115–91 redesignated subsec. (d) as (c) and struck out former subsec. (c) which required annual reports describing vulnerability assessments and military

Construction

requirements. 2013—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 113–66 substituted “develop

Construction

standards that, taking into consideration other security or force-protection measures available for the facility or military installation concerned, are designed” for “develop

Construction

standards designed”. Subsec. (d)(2), (3). Pub. L. 112–239 redesignated par. (3) as (2) and struck out former par. (2) which read as follows: “The Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness shall conduct the evaluation required by paragraph (1)(B) in consultation with the Commander of the United States Joint Forces Command.” 2006—Pub. L. 109–364, § 2808(b)(1), inserted “or urban-training operations” after “force protection” in section catchline. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 109–364, § 2808(a), added subsec. (d).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2006 Amendment Pub. L. 109–364, div. B, title XXVIII, § 2808(c), Oct. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 2470, provided that: “Subsection (d) [now (c)] of section 2859 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to military

Construction

projects described in such subsection (d) [(c)] for which funds are first provided for fiscal year 2007 or thereafter.” Joint Strategy for Air Base Defense Against Missile Threats Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title I, § 156, Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3447, provided that: “(a) Strategy Required.—The Chief of Staff of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff of the Army shall jointly develop and carry out a strategy to address the defense of air bases and prepositioned sites outside the continental United States against current and emerging missile threats, as validated by the Defense Intelligence Agency. “(b) Certification and Strategy.—Not later than June 1, 2021, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff of the Army shall jointly submit to the congressional defense committees [Committees on Armed Services and Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives] the following:“(1) A certification that the defense of air bases and prepositioned sites outside the continental United States against threats described in subsection (a) is being addressed jointly. “(2) The strategy developed pursuant to subsection (a).” Special Requirement for 2006 Report Pub. L. 108–375, div. B, title XXVIII, § 2804(b), Oct. 28, 2004, 118 Stat. 2122, required the 2006 report under former subsec. (c) of this section to include a certification that since Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack vulnerability assessments had been undertaken for all major military installations.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 2859

Title 10 — Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 3, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60