Army leaders are openly acknowledging the public backlash surrounding civilian data centers as the service moves toward agreements that would place commercial facilities on military installations. Officials say they intend to engage communities before opposition creates the same problems faced by civilian developers.

In March, the Army announced that it had selected two global investment firms to build and manage commercial data centers on underused land at Fort Bliss, Texas, and Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. The projects would bring privately managed commercial facilities onto Army property.

Contracting documents also indicate that centers are planned for Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Fort Hood, Texas. Those documents expand the potential footprint beyond the two installations identified in the Army’s March announcement.

W. Jordan Gillis, assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, said neither the Army nor its private partners have broken ground on any of the projects. The proposals are still in the “agreement phase,” he said.

That gives the service time to consider how it will communicate with military families and installation communities. Army leaders have watched civilian data center proposals encounter protests, public opposition and cancellations across the country.

More than 1,300 data centers are currently operating across the United States, with almost 2,600 additional projects planned. Proposed facilities in civilian communities have generated major backlash over their effects on resources, energy systems and surrounding areas.

Data Center Watch reported that local opposition blocked or delayed data center projects worth $64 billion between May 2024 and March 2025. That record has caught the Army’s attention as officials advance their own agreements.

“We have definitely taken note of the struggles that developers have had outside the gate who have not adequately engaged with the communities,” Gillis said Monday during a reporter roundtable at the Association of the United States Army convention in Washington, D.C. “We intend to not repeat that mistake.”

Gillis said the service generally tries to involve military families when pursuing plans that fall outside “normal” military construction projects. The proposed data centers would receive that kind of engagement, although the exact process has not been established.

When reporters pressed Gillis for specifics about what the outreach would look like, Gillis said “don’t know yet,” but offered several possibilities. He added that “you can imagine lots of community leadership roundtables, lots of community open houses.”

The Army currently has no additional data center projects to announce, according to Gillis. He said officials would “continue to look at” other awards while the announced projects remain short of construction.

The Army said its project would serve civilian power generation and other Army needs. The proposed centers would therefore have commercial functions while also supporting requirements identified by the service.

Former Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll previously called the centers a “critical resource to support that strategic imperative.” Data centers provide infrastructure for digital services including artificial intelligence, cloud storage and high performance computing.

Community opposition is not the only concern facing these projects. Federal lawmakers have also raised questions about the strain data centers can place on local energy grids and resources, as well as degradation to surrounding environments.

Gillis said any facility hosted by the Army must avoid harming people, missions or infrastructure. “It can do no harm, both to missions, families, to consultants, to installation, to our infrastructure,” he said.

At the same time, Gillis said the Army remains willing to host data centers and supports their broader development. “So we’re open to hosting them, and definitely support the national imperative to promulgate them and serve other users and the Army.”