Dover Air Force Base (DAFB) in Delaware is set to become the new site of the Armed Services Whole Blood Processing Laboratory-East (ASWBPL-East) facility.

Delaware Business Times reported Jan. 9 that the $30.5 million project will replace the 1955 building currently at the base, expand its square footage and make refrigerator and freezer upgrades to store blood properly and safely.

The funding for the new lab was a part of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which received bipartisan support in Congress and was signed into law by President Biden on Dec. 22. In total, the NDAA authorized a record $886 billion in annual military spending, along with a 5.2 percent pay raise for military servicemembers and the Department of Defense's (DOD) civilian workforce.

"Dover Air Force Base has long been a premier military installation bolstering the readiness of our armed forces," said U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del. "Today, with the funding authorization of the Armed Services Whole Blood Processing Laboratory-East facility, DAFB will continue to lead the way in supporting the mission of those in uniform."

By constructing the new ASWBPL in Delaware, it will replace the current East Coast facility at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey. It will become one of only two such centers maintained by DOD in the United States; the other is located at Travis Air Force Base in California.

Captain Leslie Riggs, division chief of the Armed Services Blood Program (ASBP), told Delaware Business Times that DAFB was selected for the new facility due to its military flight line.

"I am looking forward to the capabilities this is going to bring us," he said. "As facilities age, and as requirements have grown over the years, you need a little more square footage and … more refrigerators and freezers."

Riggs estimates the new facility will break ground in 2026.

Lab to Supply Blood for Domestic, Overseas Needs

From its new home at Dover Air Force Base, the ASWBPL-East facility will be the primary processing and distribution center for blood products to support the Central, European, and Africa combatant commands in addition to military medical treatment facilities and Veterans Affairs medical centers.

"The 2024 NDAA takes meaningful steps to ensure America's armed forces are prepared for a changing world, and it supports our national security, servicemembers, and veterans," Delaware's U.S. Sen. Chris Coons said in a statement. "I am particularly proud of the investment in a new ASWBPL-East facility at Dover Air Force Base, which will make it easier and more efficient for the blood products that travel through Delaware to reach servicemembers around the world."

Established in 1952, the ASBP functions like the American Red Cross and has more than 150 locations. As the U.S. military's official blood program, it provides blood products for deployment on the front lines and overseas operations, supplies lifesaving transfusion products on the battlefield and in treatment off the frontlines.

Additionally, as a joint operation among the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, the ASBP:

• Provides quality blood products for service members, veterans and their families in both peace and war.
• Collects, processes, stores, distributes and transfuses blood worldwide.
• Works closely with its civilian counterparts in times of need.

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