More than 60 Air Force and Space Force installations will see renovated dorms or new child development centers over the next couple of years as the Department of the Air Force prepares to sink more than $1.6 billion into improvements.
The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center announced a roundup of all their ongoing and future projects between fiscal years 2023 and 2027 in a press release on Wednesday.
“We’re prioritizing restoration and modernization to deliver state-of-the-art facilities through these funds so airmen and Guardians can focus on keeping the mission in flight, knowing they and their families are being taken care of,” Tim Sullivan, the Air Force Civil Engineer Center interim built infrastructure executive director and facility engineering directorate chief, said in the release.
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Under the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center’s “Dorm Response Program,” 170 dormitory projects will be funded through 2027, including four currently being taken on that are valued at $76 million, the Air Force said.
In fiscal year 2024, which begins Oct. 1, 14 large-scale dorm renovations are planned with a total price tag of $227 million. The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center is overseeing five of those projects that will be at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas, Travis Air Force Base in California and Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma.
In an effort to help families, 19 new Child Development Centers also are being planned and designed to accommodate more children. Those are slated to start development between fiscal years 2022 and 2027.
That effort includes new facilities at Joint Base San Antonio and Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas; Scott Air Force Base, Illinois; and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, at a price tag of $205 million.
Additionally child development centers will be scheduled and funded at $167 million between this fiscal year and the coming fiscal 2024.
PHOTO 2: https://media.defense.gov/2023/Aug/22/2003286483/-1/-1/0/230807-F-F3406-0001.PNG
The construction efforts come in the wake of a 2022 ask from Congress that the service prioritize quality-of-life improvements for airmen and Guardians, according to the release.
“Under the National Defense Authorization Act requirement, DAF is planning to spend an average of $220 million each year through FY26 on this effort,” the press release said.
The Air Force’s fiscal year 2024 budget request asked for $3.8 billion worth of construction projects across 17 states, including $229 million in housing improvements at bases such as Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii and $57 million for child development centers
Overall, that $3.8 billion ask marked a decrease in construction projects compared to the $5.2 billion enacted the prior year in fiscal 2023.
Most recently, in Alaska, a $67 million contract was awarded to build a new dorm at Clear Space Force Station.
Military.com reported that the project was included in last year’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2023, which asked for a new three-story living facility to house 84 Guardians at Clear Space Force Station in Denali, Alaska.
The department considers the base one of the most strategically important installations in the U.S., according to budget documents.
— Thomas Novelly can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly.
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