MILCON brief informs state leaders on current, future base construction

  • Published
  • By Susan E. Walls
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  More than 130 members from the Dover-area business community joined Delaware's congressional delegation and attended the 2006 Dover Air Force Base Military Construction briefing at the Sheraton Dover's Venetian Ballroom Oct. 2.

Col. Chad Manske, 436th Airlift Wing vice commander, briefed a crowd that included U.S. Senators Joe Biden and Tom Carper and Kate Rohrer, who represented Congressman Mike Castle.

Colonel Manske covered nine active major building projects - totaling $119 million - that are currently underway at Dover Air Force Base. They range from a new air traffic control tower, worth $15 million, to a $9.1 million Youth Center.

Six of the nine active projects are C-17 related, with $30 million devoted to the aircraft coming to Dover AFB. Groundbreaking ceremonies for the C-17 Flight Simulator took place on base Sept. 11. Additional C-17 projects include a separate engine storage building, maintenance shop, life-support facility and more than $13 million in modifications to convert current hangars to accommodate the C-17 Globemaster IIIs.

"The C-17 is an outstanding aircraft," said Senator Carper. "It may be smaller than the C-5, but it has the capability to take off and land using shorter runways."

Senator Biden noted that Dover AFB is the most critical base from Maine to Florida and east of the Rockies and the immense value of the base sometimes goes unnoticed.

"The entire Dover Team has been operating at a back-breaking pace, and there is no indication that the workload will diminish or the need will subside anytime soon," said Senator Biden.

The current air traffic control facility has been difficult to fund, according to Colonel Manske. He said that Fiscal Year 2007 budgets plans are expected to allow $15 million for the new tower. Once funds are approved and contracted out, the facility is expected to take two years to complete. The current tower was built in 1955 and is the oldest stateside control tower in the Air Force.

Other ongoing projects include a new aerial port facility, now 70 percent complete, which replaces the one whose roof collapsed during the blizzard in February 2003.

The aerial port is vital to Dover's global airlift mission and the base's role as a major military transport hub.

Another $17 million is projected for a new enlisted member dormitory complex.

Colonel Manske's presentation also included future MILCON projects.

Projects scheduled for Fiscal Year 07 and beyond include an $18 million fitness center, a $12 million communications facility, a $4 million precision measurement equipment laboratory, a $4.7 million chapel center and $10 million security forces complex.

The current security forces complex was built in 1960 and is home to the most actively deployed squadron on Dover AFB.

The 2006 MILCON briefing was hosted by the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce and the Air Force Association and sponsored by the Dover Federal Credit Union.