Power-Hungry AI Moves Onto Bases

The Pentagon is turning underused U.S. military bases into massive private AI hubs, raising big questions about security, power use, and who really benefits.

Story Snapshot

The Army and Air Force are leasing thousands of acres on bases to private firms for hyperscale AI data centers.
Projects at Fort Bliss and Dugway are worth about $2 billion each and run for up to 50 years, with firms allowed to sell excess computing power commercially.
President Trump’s executive order cleared the path by telling the Pentagon to open non-excess federal land and fast-track permits for data centers.
Congress and local communities are now pressing for answers on security, environmental impact, and Wall Street’s role inside the wire.

Pentagon opens bases to private AI data centers

Over the last year and a half, the Pentagon has quietly opened at least a dozen U.S. military bases to commercial developers that want to build industrial-scale AI data centers on underused military land. The United States Army and Department of the Air Force are targeting sites in Texas, Utah, Alaska and other states, describing the land as “underutilized” but still needed for national defense. These facilities are meant to power advanced weapons, logistics systems and classified intelligence networks tied to artificial intelligence.

At the heart of the push are two headline deals: one at Fort Bliss, Texas, and another at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. In March 2026, the Army conditionally picked global investment giant Carlyle Group for about 1,384 acres at Fort Bliss, and data center operator CyrusOne, controlled by KKR and BlackRock, for roughly 1,201 acres at Dugway. Each project is expected to cost around $2 billion, with the companies financing, building, operating, and later decommissioning the sites without upfront taxpayer cost.

Trump order and Title 10 leasing power the plan

This entire program rests on long-standing defense real estate law and a Trump-era push to stop wasting federal land. Under Title 10 of the United States Code, section 2667, the Secretary of Defense can lease underused military property to non-federal entities if it “promotes the national defense or is in the public interest.” President Trump’s “Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure” executive order told the Pentagon to identify suitable sites on military installations and competitively lease available lands for projects with at least 100 megawatts of capacity.

The Army is using its Enhanced Use Lease program to implement that order, offering 50-year leases on “underutilized but non-excess” land and insisting developers take on 100 percent of the financial risk. In exchange for the land, the service receives guaranteed access to a share of computing power inside the commercial data centers to support AI-enabled weaponry and other missions. Excess computing capacity can be sold on the open market, letting Wall Street-backed firms profit from infrastructure built behind military fences.

Army and Air Force expand to multiple bases and branches

Fort Bliss and Dugway are only the beginning. Contracting documents show the Army has solicited proposals for similar AI data centers at Fort Hood in Texas and Fort Bragg in North Carolina, all on unused or lightly used land near existing power and security infrastructure. An Army fact sheet and local reporting describe these Enhanced Use Leases as 50-year terms, with revenue streams tied partly to selling excess computing power commercially and partly to the military’s reserved share.

The Department of the Air Force is following the same script. Air Force officials have offered more than 3,000 acres of “underutilized” land at five bases—Davis-Monthan in Arizona, Edwards in California, Robins in Georgia, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, and Arnold in Tennessee—for private AI data centers. A formal request for lease proposals lays out requirements for developers with a proven record of building large-scale AI centers and draws directly on the same Trump executive order and Title 10 authority.

Security, land use, and power worries spark backlash

As these plans move forward, lawmakers and activists across the spectrum are sounding alarms. Members of Congress have warned that putting privately operated server farms on active bases raises tough questions about base security, cyber risk, and how much local communities will shoulder the load on power and water. Environmental reviews are being streamlined, and critics argue that residents living near bases have little say when deals are negotiated inside the Pentagon instead of city hall.

JUST IN: Pentagon moves to build hyperscale AI data centers on at least a dozen U.S. military bases. And then turn them over to Mamdami & Kamala in a few years

— Simons Chase (@slchase) July 28, 2026

Outside government, progressive campaigns are attacking the deals as “warfare-powering AI data centers” built on public land but designed to enrich Wall Street firms like Carlyle and BlackRock. Local media near Fort Hood and other sites have documented growing concern about huge new power lines, water demands, and the risk that ratepayers will be forced to subsidize energy for military AI projects. For conservative readers, the core issue is simple: the same permanent bureaucracy that failed to secure the border and control wasteful spending is now cutting 50-year tech deals on our bases with minimal accountability.

Trump administration’s promise and the conservative test

President Trump has framed this AI build-out as a way to keep America’s warfighters ahead of China and Russia while lowering power bills through smarter grid planning and new generation tied to data centers. The Defense Department is also asking for nearly $30 billion in fiscal year 2027 to modernize its AI supercomputing arsenal, including hardened, classified data centers across multiple sites. If done right, this strategy could give our troops battlefield-ready tools while making better use of land taxpayers already own.

But conservatives will want hard proof, not promises. Leasing underused base land can be a win if it truly protects surrounding neighborhoods, blocks foreign-made equipment from China and Iran, guards against woke surveillance and overreach, and keeps the Pentagon focused on warfighting instead of corporate favors. The next steps—contract details, security safeguards, and public oversight—will show whether this AI data center boom is a smart defense move or another long-term liability locked in by the federal bureaucracy for decades to come.