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The Pentagon is moving ahead with plans to host commercial AI data centers on military installations, opening land across Army and Air Force sites to private developers in exchange for computing power, while debates grow over water, energy, security and community impact.
So far, only two projects have been conditionally awarded: one at Fort Bliss, Texas, and another at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. But federal contracting documents show the effort stretches much further, with at least a dozen military installations opened to commercial data center developers over the past year and a half.
At Dugway Proving Ground, where the military conducts its primary chemical and biological weapons testing, three parcels total roughly 3,466 acres. One parcel of about 1,201 acres has already been selected for development.
In late March, the Army conditionally selected Carlyle for roughly 1,384 acres at Fort Bliss and CyrusOne for the Dugway parcel. CyrusOne is jointly held by funds managed by KKR and BlackRock. Each project is estimated to cost about $2 billion, according to the Financial Times.
The Army said the companies will finance, build, operate, maintain and eventually decommission the facilities on what it described as "underutilized but non-excess Army land at no upfront cost to taxpayers." In return, the service would gain access to computing power.
The effort is being carried out through the Army's Enhanced Use Lease program and follows a Trump executive order directing agencies to open non-excess federal land to data center development. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is handling lease negotiations and environmental review.
"AI is a strategic asset for the Army", Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said in the March announcement. "It is a force multiplier, supports future transformation and requirements, keeps the Army ahead of our adversaries, and generates resiliency across the force."
Driscoll told the Wall Street Journal that the Fort Bliss facility would be "the first hyper-scale data center that the Pentagon has ever done."
Beyond Fort Bliss and Dugway, Army documents show the service is considering data centers at Fort Hood, Texas, and Fort Bragg, N.C.
The Department of the Air Force separately sought private AI data center projects on unused land at Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn., Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., and Robins Air Force Base, Ga.
More recently, the department sought bidders for facilities at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Eielson Air Force Base and Clear Space Force Station in Alaska.
The amount of land varies widely. Fort Hood has 207 acres on offer, while Fort Bliss has nearly seven times that.
Some potential sites are remote, but others are close to homes and businesses. Contracting documents show the Army weighing a parcel at Fort Hood within a half-mile of residential and commercial property, and several possible locations at Fort Bragg within one mile of civilian areas and a half-mile of civilian housing.
The issue mirrors opposition seen around civilian data center projects. According to Data Center Watch, nearly $156 billion in projects nationwide have been delayed or canceled after local opposition. In Virginia, a state-funded study found residents' monthly energy bills could rise by $14 to $37 by 2040.
Army officials have said they are trying to address those concerns directly.
"So I think the difference between us, the Army, doing a data center, and say Meta or Google, is we're part of the communities that are there, and we are going to engage with them on a routine and regular basis to look for solutions that work for everyone, right?" Col. John Oliver, executive officer for Deputy Army Under Secretary Dave Fitzgerald, told Defense One. "Because, yes, we understand that there's been consternation with data centers."
Under Army requirements, proposals must include net-zero water usage and a power plan that does not draw on the local electrical grid. Bidders also had to describe plans for "local outreach and engagement" and assess "any risks or opposition" to the project.
The Pentagon's own procurement documents, obtained by Data Center Dynamics, rate water risk in the El Paso area as "Extremely High." Fort Bliss is the Army's lead project, and officials have said they want it to become a net contributor rather than a net drain.
In the spring, Fitzgerald met at Fort Bliss with the commander of the 1st Armored Division, community members, El Paso Water, El Paso Electric and Carlyle. One proposal under discussion is for the developer to drill a new well to supply the city's desalination plant and offset the data center's water use.
"We are encouraging Carlyle to do that, so actually make it net-positive", Oliver told Defense One. "We don't know if that's an engineering solution that we can actually get to yet, but we're actively working toward that as a part of the process."
Darrell M. West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who studies data center development, said the process depends on clear communication with local communities.
"People want to know up-front, you know, where the energy is coming from, how much water is being used, how much the overall cost is going to be, and what the noise levels are", West said.
Lawmakers are also weighing new conditions on Pentagon data center deals.
Rep. Cory Mills, a Florida Republican, secured a provision in the House version of the fiscal 2027 defense authorization bill that would bar the Defense Department from leasing land for data centers unless developers agree not to install equipment containing components made in China, Russia, Iran or North Korea. The provision covers certain printed circuit boards, advanced semiconductors and chipsets the department considers a security risk.
"Honored to pass this amendment to protect our military installations from Chinese components being used in data centers on our installations", Mills wrote on X.
The Army pushed back, arguing the measure would create unequal rules for projects on military land.
"We want Congress to incentivize companies to build on secure federal land, rather than creating barriers that drive them away", the official said.
Rep. John Garamendi, a California Democrat, proposed requiring the Pentagon to evaluate a data center's energy and water consumption, noise and light pollution, and effects on security and supply chains before any agreement is finalized. House Armed Services Republicans rejected the proposal.
"We're not opposed to data centers", Garamendi said. "We just want to make sure that if we're going to put a data center on a federal facility, that federal facility is not going to be degraded by the data center."
His focus, he said, was on installation-level effects. "Is there encroachment on training and operations and the physical and supply chain of security?" he asked.
Senate Armed Services Republicans also defeated a separate Democratic amendment that would have blocked leasing until the Pentagon finalizes a data center strategy. House appropriators, meanwhile, adopted language acknowledging that data centers "place significant strain on energy and water resources and communities have resisted such projects."
Only Fort Bliss and Dugway have been awarded, and both remain conditional pending negotiations. Fort Hood, Fort Bragg and the Air Force locations are still solicitations, not commitments.
Initial operating capability at Fort Bliss is projected for fiscal 2027, while Dugway is projected for fiscal 2029. Oliver has described the longer-term vision as a campus with a commercial side, a classified military data side, and onsite power generation.
The Army Corps of Engineers is conducting environmental reviews at both awarded sites. Developers must provide independent power that does not tap the local grid and meet net-zero water usage requirements. Excess power generated on base could potentially be sold back to civilian grids.
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