Funding for the move, as well as dozens of others nationwide, is contingent on a tight-fisted Congress, however.

President Bush in 2005 signed off on the Base Realignment and Closure Commission's recommendations that affected military facilities across the nation. In Alaska, BRAC included moving Kulis to a newly combined Fort Richardson and Elmendorf Air Force Base — also to be joined under BRAC. The directive set a deadline for the move at 2011.

Bush had requested more than $5 billion to fund BRAC as part of a continuing resolution, a measure to provide $463.5 billion to fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The measure easily passed the House, but the Senate cut BRAC funding to only $2.5 billion.

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, the ranking Republican on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, had hoped to add $3 billion for BRAC as emergency spending, but a move by the Senate Democratic leadership may prevent that move, a spokesman with Stevens' office said Feb. 1.

BRAC resulted in the closure of 25 major installations and the realignment of 24 others across the United States. Funding the directive is entirely up to Congressional appropriations to the Department of Defense.

The BRAC directive says that the base moves only if funding is available to maintain the integrity of the operations, said McHugh Pierre, director of communications for the military and veteran's affairs department.

That means that planners can't use BRAC funding to add facilities it doesn't have — but needs — or fix deficiencies it does have.

Kulis currently operates off Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. Its new home will be off the north runway at Elmendorf.

“At first we looked at rebuilding Kulis, building for building,” said Brig. Gen. Tony Hart, commander at Kulis. “We learned pretty fast that that would be cost prohibitive.”

That tally was at about $240 million. Planners began looking for ways to cut back, through building and hangar renovations, additions, and to moving into older buildings that will be vacant after Elmendorf reorganizes under its own plan.

The more conservative plan includes ideas to renovate several older buildings and hangars, while adding on to others and moving some Guard offices in with active duty personnel. Only a handful of completely new structures are currently planned.

The Guard hopes to start work this season, spending a total of about $33.6 million for a C-17 engine facility, expanded aircraft parking and on infrastructure utilities.

The bulk of the work is planned for fiscal years 2008 and 2009.

The highest-priced facilities in the plan are for a corrosion control complex, at a cost of about $22.1 million, a $21.5 million aircraft maintenance complex and a $16.8 million pararescue operations complex. The pararescue group currently operates out of an armory in Jewel Lake.

The Guard plans to remodel three existing hangars on Elmendorf. Crews will add on to one of those, for use as a maintenance facility for its C-130s, and includes some operations squadrons. Another will be used for helicopter maintenance and the third for its alert helicopter team and for supply storage.

Other additions and renovations include facilities for security forces, logistics and other operations squadrons.

The base also needs to plan for about 200 new troops who will be needed under the BRAC directive for Kulis and Elmendorf to share eight new C-17 aircraft, and the Guard to receive four new C-130 aircraft. The aircraft are scheduled to arrive this summer.

Officials are still looking for ways to cut costs, Hart said. One idea being explored is to cut or reduce the size of a nearly $7 million medical training facility. Elmendorf has a fairly new medical center, but some reports have indicated the facility is already operating at full capacity.

There are plans to build a new Veterans Affairs clinic just off the base, which may ease some of the pressure off the hospital.

Also unclear is the outcome for a planned $2.5 million fire station training facility.

“We don't have a good direction on where we need to go,” Hart said. “We need a fire training station, and we need the space and support for it, but Elmendorf wants to move theirs on down the road. We may want to build our first, then add on for them later.”

Hart said he's not yet sure if the Guard will lose any of its personnel because of the move. The base is currently authorized to have 1,544 people.

Once the base is moved, the current site will revert back to the state, and likely will be used to expand the Anchorage airport.

Regardless of funding levels and plans, Gov. Sarah Palin must still concur with the base closure plan, a move that former Gov. Frank Murkowski refused to do.

Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, commissioner for the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and the adjutant general for the Alaska National Guard, said in December that the Guard facility could not close unless the governor officially concurs with the move.