Menu
Construction season begins at Mountain Home AFB
A $36 million project to replace the runway and adjoining taxiway at Mountain Home Air Force Base highlight a list of more than a dozen major construction projects planned at the installation over the next several months.
In mid-January, work began to replace the airfield taxiway with construction crews working around the clock, six days a week to finish the initial phase of a year-long project, said Lt. Col. Kevin Osborne, commander of the 366th Civil Engineer Squadron at the base.
Spanning 10,200 in length and 200 feet wide, the base's runway is long enough that it served as an alternate landing site for NASA's space shuttle fleet until the reusable spacecraft were retired in 2011.
As plans to rebuild the runway began taking shape over the past 18 months, the base looked at ways to mitigate the impact the project would have on local flight training as well as its effect on the teams that maintain these aircraft.
"When you affect a runway -- the bread and butter of the Air Force -- you're going to affect the aircraft here," Osborne said.
Plans were introduced to move a select number of aircraft to Gowen Field in Boise with airmen commuting back and forth to Mountain Home until the runway reopened here. However, that move meant a steep increase in training flights at the Air National Guard base and subsequent noise from the jets.
Those potential concerns prompted Air Force officials to conduct an environmental assessment to determine how many additional training missions Gowen Field could support.
"Because we have to be good stewards of the environment... and noise is the biggest issue," Osborne said regarding the temporary transfer of jets to Gowen Field. "An F-15 is significantly louder than an A-10."
Osborne expects that a decision on the environmental report involving use of the Air National Guard base will be made by the end of March.
While it appears the assessment will go through, the colonel indicated that using the Air National Guard base would place limits on the total number of flying hours pilots and weapons systems officers here could complete while flying out of Gowen.
With Mountain Home Air Force Base receiving additional funding for its flying hour program earlier this year, Gowen Field won't be able to meet the total number of flying hours these aircrews need to remain proficient, said Tech. Sgt. Sam Morse, a spokesman with the local Air Force base. Officials at the base here are currently exploring various options to meet these training needs, although those plans are still being discussed, the sergeant said.
Originally, base officials were looking at having to shut down the entire flightline during the construction project, including the active runway and taxiways. However, officials received word late last month that the base received approximately $4 million in additional funding.
These funds will allow work on the runway to happen in a phased approach versus all at once, Osborne said.
The runway project began moving forward at the same time that hundreds of airmen at the base received word that they were scheduled to deploy to an undisclosed location overseas. Because these airmen were expecting to commute to and from Gowen Field every day while preparing to deploy, senior officials here began looking at ways to minimize the impact the runway project would have on these individuals as well as their families, the colonel said.
For now, fighter jets will continue to fly at the base during a majority of the project, according to Billy Richey, military affairs liaison with the state governor's office. Construction will commence on one end of the runway with jets launching and landing on the other and switch over once work is ready to begin on the other side.
However, there is a 45-day period during the project where the entire runway will remain closed, but base officials indicate that the impact will be minimal. Aircrews and maintenance teams with the 389th and 391st fighter squadrons are scheduled to deploy to Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., from July 10 to 31, which could coincide with the runway closure, Morse said.
Meanwhile, aircrews with the 428th Fighter Squadron are looking at flying out of Gowen Field during that closure, the sergeant added.
The runway project is just one in a series of large-scale construction and renovation projects planned for this year at the base. With a combined price tag of $5.5 million, the other 16 projects come as the Air Force deals with budget constraints due to sequestration.
Those federally imposed funding cuts have civil engineers across the Air Force looking at their infrastructure to see where they could make the most out of those limited dollars, the colonel said.
"We're looking at it that, if we had $1 left to spend, where would we spend it," he said.
Among the projects slated this summer include demolishing three warehouses originally built in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The warehouses are more than 20 years beyond their maximum usable lifespan and are simply falling apart, according Osborne.
It was better to demolish these aging building versus spending an estimated $250,000 a year to keep them in "mothball status," the colonel said.
Meanwhile, construction is set to begin to replace the road surface on Alpine Street, which runs parallel to the base flightline. Base maintenance crews use that road extensively to transport equipment, fuel, munitions and parts to the base's aircraft fleet.
Repairing the road will lead to other benefits, according to the colonel. With the road begins to fall apart, it increases the risk of foreign object damage, or FOD, to the base's fighter fleet. Even small pieces of asphalt picked up by a truck tire and left behind on the aircraft parking ramp can cause significant damage if ingested by a jet engine.
Not all projects planned for the base will remain within the installation's perimeter. Plans are underway to build shelters at the Saylor Creek Training Range for maintenance equipment stored at the military training area.
Those new facilities will help the training range accommodate future demands as the complex gains increasing prominence within the Department of Defense, according to Osborne. Every 13 weeks, the base hosts a large-scale joint training exercise known as Gunfighter Flag, which brings together soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen from installations across the United States.
"It's picking up more and more steam," said Osborne as he highlighted the importance of this capstone training program.
Other projects planned in coming months at the base will improve the quality of life of military members and their families stationed at the base. This includes repairs at the base fitness center and replacing the gym floor at the youth center.
Efforts are also underway to create a community park for families living in the base's privatized housing area. When complete, the park is expected to include baseball fields, sand volleyball pits and an outdoor splash park.
In addition, the base received word earlier this year that 19 other projects totalling $8.4 million were also awarded. Those projects are focused on enhancing the base's mission readiness, according to the colonel.
"By taking a holistic approach and looking at the future strategic mission of this base, our goal... is to ensure the sustainability and the future operational use of the base and our F-15 community to be able to deliver a capable fighting force to support our (nation)," he said.
Looking to the future, base officials are looking at a separate $24 million project that if approved would consolidate the base's civil engineer departments from 13 buildings down to just two. In addition to tearing down buildings originally built in the late 1940s and early 1950s, these consolidated facilities are expected to save the base approximately $200,000 a year in energy and maintenance costs -- money the base could put to better use, according to the colonel.
While the complex project wasn't included in this year's military construction list, the base has listed it was one of its top priorities, he said.
"We hope that in future years it'll be picked up for funding," Osborne added.