Is Goodfellow getting a facelift? Published April 6, 2010 By Lt. Col. Michael Beach 17th Civil Engineer Squadron commander GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Goodfellow facelift? You might think so given all the heavy construction equipment around the base. Seriously, we have been burning the candle at both ends to take advantage of the record funding levels that we have enjoyed over the last two years. Let me take a few minutes to tell you about the most visible projects right now and explain why we are doing them. The biggest quality of life type project currently in progress is the Military Construction fitness center addition. We intentionally constructed the new courts first because we did not want the wing to go without tennis courts for the year it would take to complete the entire project. The one-story addition will extend the gym across Mitchell Street to approximately half way across the existing tennis courts. The addition will house a large fitness room where much of the exercise equipment such as treadmills, bikes, weight machines etc., will be relocated. This equipment relocation will free up space in the existing facility to accommodate additional fitness programs and activities. We are also redesigning the road network around the facility to improve traffic flow and force protection. If all goes according to plan, the ribbon cutting ceremony will be in the Spring of next year. Typically, Goodfellow only has one MILCON project under construction at any given time; right now we have two. The other MILCON project in construction is a 200-room dorm similar to the dorm that houses the 312th and 316th Training Squadrons, Building 3139. You can see the "T" shape in the excavation for the foundation that is in progress. With the surge in the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance student pipeline, we were forced to bed down some of our Airmen three to a room. This exceeds the Air Force standard of two people per room for pipeline students. The 200 rooms provided by this project will go a long way towards eliminating this problem. Additionally, we have opened a dedicated but secure construction gate near the dorm project to alleviate construction traffic at the Jacobson gate. This has improved traffic flow at the south end of Apache Trail and Kickapoo Trail. This gate will be in operation for the next two years as we continue to execute the largest construction program since Goodfellow was built. In the next few months, we will break ground on two more MILCON projects valued at over 30 million dollars. There will be another pipeline student dorm project that will add 100 rooms to our inventory and allow us to train even more students at one time. This dorm will have a "V" shape similar to the dorm the United States Marine Corps Detachment currently occupies, but will have interior hallways versus exterior ones. This project is currently out for bids and we expect the construction contract to be awarded in May. With all of these additional rooms, we will need additional classrooms to train more joint service personnel. The Joint Intelligence Technical Training Facility is also out for bids; this project will construct a 50 thousand square foot Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility in the field adjacent to the 315th Training Squadron's facility, Building 530. From the outside, the building will be similar in size as Building 530, but will actually be one story. The current SCIF campus was constructed in the 1980s. The JITTF will be a state-of-the-art SCIF designed to train and familiarize ISR students with the operational field environment. With this new facility, we will be able to train the way we fight! We expect to award the JITTF construction contract in June with a groundbreaking ceremony later this year. The last major construction project is the renovation of Building 530. The renovation is valued at approximately ten million dollars. One of the unique things about this project is the fact that a major renovation is in progress while training is still ongoing. The members of the 315 TRS are meeting the challenges associated with conducting classified training while contractors working without clearances are in the same building. This project was broken down into four phases that will allow training and construction to occur simultaneously. The renovation will be complete late in fiscal year 2011. There is a lot of work going on around the base that is creating a lot of inconvenience for Team Goodfellow. We just want to thank you for your patience and understanding as we provide the facilities that will enable the wing to contribute even more to our national defense. As always, remember: Who gets it done? CE!