Long awaited ground breakings

Published March 19, 2010
By Senior Ariman La'Shanette V. Garrett
2d Bomb Wing Public Affairs

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- This week Barksdale celebrated two - long awaited ground breaking ceremonies.

The first ground breaking happened March 8 at 3 p.m. at the Softball fields with the 2d Security Forces Squadron. The second one occurred March 10 at 3 p.m. at the Child Development Center.

Members of Barksdale's 2d SFS along with Walton Construction celebrated the ground breaking of a new $15 million facility.

The new 2d SFS complex will house: Base Defense Operations Center and Emergency Control Center, armory, guardmount area, level - 1 confinement facility, police administration, criminal investigation and intelligence section, vehicle operations area, mobility and supply section, large operations and training section to include Airman Learning Center and squadron support and command sections.

"The need for the new 2d SFS is a combination of the extremely old, worn out and inefficient layout of the existing squadron," said Col. Rob Huber, 2d Mission Support Group commander. "Also, the facility will meet new force - protection criteria and modern communications technology."

The 2d SFS is currently operating out of a renovated 1930's era hangar on the flightline and a renovated old fire station across the street from the hangar. It has been an identified need for many years and has gradually worked its way up the prioritization list for military construction support and finally made it into the budget after reaching the top of the requirement list six years ago.

"The new complex is important to the base populace because for the first time in 30 years, all law enforcement and security programs for the installation will be under a
single roof," said Christopher Bowman, Civilian Air Provost. "By being in one location, we will be able to operate more efficiently and provide better customer service."

With this new facility, hopes are to bring a quicker response time to the East Side Reservation Housing area, shorter response time to alert aircraft parking area and a morale booster for the Airmen.

The second celebration was a long awaited one for Mrs. Betsy Welch, Chief of Barksdale's Child Development Programs.
Mrs. Welch celebrated the ground - breaking ceremony with members of Barksdale and Brown Builders.

The new $5 million CDC will increase the capacity of approximately 94 children, six new classrooms and 15 - 20 new jobs.

The CDC was built in the early 1970's and is the oldest continuously operating CDC facility in the Air Force. The change will not only provide additional space to accommodate more families and reduce waiting lists for care, but it will provide a more modern, better designed and energy - efficient facility for the children.

With the high demand for the CDC program from the families of Barksdale, the pursuing of a new larger or addition to the existing facility has been in the works since 1990.

"This project has slowly been working its way up the priority list for funding," said Colonel Huber. "Fortunately for us, CDC's at military installations became a focus area for the current president and our need was identified among the highest across the Air Force and we received funding under a special program this year," he stated.

The CDC has routinely had a three to six month wait particularly in the infant and toddler programs due to the existing rooms being filled to capacity.

"My goal is to help the military families stay on base," said Mrs. Welch. "My teachers and I have the expertise of understanding military children with the trials and tribulations of deployments, 12 - hour shifts and weekend duty. We are here to help them through those times. So, the more children I keep on base, the more I can be certain are getting the care they need to be happy."

"I've been waiting 20 years to get a new facility," she stated.

The projected completion dates for both projects are 2011, with the 2d SFS complex in February and the CDC in the summer.