--- title: "Civilian data centers face massive pushback. Army says they won’t ‘repeat that mistake’" description: "The top Army official for installations said they want to host roundtables with families living on those bases to discuss data centers." date: "2026-10-13" modified: "2026-10-13" authors: - name: "Patty Nieberg" job_title: "Senior Reporter" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/patty-nieberg.md" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-data-center-pushback/" categories: - "Army" - "Around the World" - "Military Branches" - "News" - "United States" tags: - "AUSA 2026" --- # Civilian data centers face massive pushback. Army says they won’t ‘repeat that mistake’ ![U.S. Army Spc. Samuel Valenzuela, left, and 1st Lt. Derek Smith, right, both assigned to Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, under Joint Task Force-Southern Border, perform a radio check near Bisbee, Ariz. June 30, 2025. The Soldiers establish secure communications with U.S. Customs and Border Protection in order to report any illegal activity near their location. Joint Task Force-Southern Border executes full-scale, agile, and all-domain operations in support of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to protect the territorial integrity of the United States and achieve 100% operational control of the southern border. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Elijah Ingram)]() *The top Army official for installations and facilities said they want to host roundtables and open houses to discuss data center projects with families living on those bases. Army photo by Sgt. Elijah Ingram.* Army leaders said they’ve watched the public outcry around data centers and are planning to get ahead of it as the service signs agreements to host them on bases. In March, the Army announced that it selected two global investment firms to partner with to [build and manage commercial data centers]() on underused land at Fort Bliss, Texas, and Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. Contracting [documents]() also indicate plans for centers at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Fort Hood, Texas. Across the U.S., there are [more than 1,300 data centers in operation and almost 2,600 other projects planned](). Proposed projects in civilian communities have faced major public backlash, protests and in some cases have led to entire data centers being cancelled. According to [Data Center Watch](), $64 billion-worth of data center projects were blocked or delayed due to local opposition between May 2024 and March 2025. “We have definitely taken note of the struggles that developers have had outside the gate who have not adequately engaged with the communities,” W. Jordan Gillis, assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, said Monday at a roundtable with reporters at the Association of the United States Army convention in Washington, D.C. “We intend to not repeat that mistake.” Gillis said any time the service has plans outside of “normal” military construction projects, they aim to engage with the military families on bases. When pressed for specifics on what that engagement would look like, Gillis said “don't know yet,” but added that “you can imagine lots of community leadership roundtables, lots of community open houses.” Gillis said the Army or the private companies they’re working with have not broken ground on any of the projects and they’re still in the “agreement phase.” He said they don’t have any other projects to announce, but they’ll “continue to look at” other awards. The Army’s project would serve as civilian power generation and other Army needs. Former Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll said the centers would be a “critical resource to support that strategic imperative.” Data centers supply infrastructure for a host of digital services like artificial intelligence, cloud storage and high-performance computing. But beyond local community pushback, federal lawmakers have also [raised concerns about their strain on ]()local energy grids and resources, and the degradation to surrounding environments. “It can do no harm, both to missions, families, to consultants, to installation, to our infrastructure,” Gillis said. “So we're open to hosting them, and definitely support the national imperative to promulgate them and serve other users and the Army.” ## Author Patty is a senior reporter for Task & Purpose. She's reported on the military for six years, embedding with the National Guard during a hurricane and covering Guantanamo Bay legal proceedings for an alleged al Qaeda commander. Her previous bylines can be found at the *Associated Press*, *Bloomberg Government*, *Washington Post*, *The New York Times*, and *ABC*. You can reach Patty by email at [Patty.Nieberg@taskandpurpose.com](). ### Author social links [Twitter]() [LinkedIn]()