If you add building the world's largest air force base, Berick was clear about his country's current construction capabilities.
No, this wasn't even about construction capabilities anymore.
First of all, building a new base required money, right? Needing money meant needing appropriations from Congress, and this wasn't a small amount.
This damned project could have Congress squabbling over funding for a long time. With good luck, maybe half a year; with bad luck, a year—that's because our air force is esteemed.
But after all, we're talking about tens of billions. The United States hadn't even entered a state of war readiness; they had just lost some inventory.