LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
Lackland's $900 million Recruit Housing and Training project kicked off with an almost $19 million bang.
Building 7065, part of the project's phase 0 and the former home of the 319th Training Squadron, has been refurbished and reworked to decrease the number of spaces for recruits and add office space.
"It dates back to 1970," said project manager Camilo Morales. "For the last 35 years or so, that building has been home to a training squadron, and it just really got to where it was falling apart."
Mr. Morales said the main changes to the building were in its infrastructure. "Most of the work we did, you really can't see," he said. "The infrastructure needed upgrading, badly, so we went in and dealt with mechanical and plumbing issues. Of course, they took care of the aesthetic issue, too, and installed new carpet, painted the walls and installed new ceilings."
In addition, Mr. Morales said the building got an additional 310-ton chiller to add to the already existing 300-ton chiller to cool the building.
"We were getting a lot of complaints that it was hot on the third floor. Now we have 610 tons of chilling capacity, making that third floor so much more comfortable," he said.
Other changes included updating parts of the building to make it more energy efficient. "We've got energy efficient light bulbs installed throughout the building and the entire shell of the building has been reinsulated," said Mr. Morales.
Nineteen organizations will be moving into the offices of the refurbished building, leaving six of the original twenty bays for dormitories.
"Currently, there is one office filled by the Defense Language Institute Echo Company," said Mr. Morales. "Offices like the formal physical evaluation board, the wing chaplain, satellite classrooms, the demand reduction office and part of wing safety will be moving in soon. One of the dormitory bays will be taken up by the Inter-American Air Force Academy and the other five will be occupied by the Defense Language Institute."
The refurbishing of building 7065 is phase 0 in the entire plan to build more housing for recruits.
"We're going from 1,000 recruits per dorm to 1,200 recruits per dorm," said Mr. Morales. "So we'll be able to house 9,600 recruits instead of 8,000 when we're all finished. It's a six-year plan in six phases. We'll have a north and a south campus."
Mr. Morales added that the reason the project began with building 7065 was to make more room for demolition.
"It will allow us to begin phase I by bringing 350 people into 7065 and out of the footprint of the north campus," he said. "That way we can start demolishing some of the old buildings and their infrastructure. Phase I will include construction of the first dorm, a new track and a new drill pad. They're also planning on building a central utility plant."
During the ribbon cutting on Tuesday, Brig. Gen. Len Patrick expressed his excitement about the project.
"This project is the beginning of a new era for basic military training for the Air Force," he said. "This 220,000 square-foot facility was originally constructed in 1970 as a 1,000-recruit housing and training dormitory, and it served its purpose well. We have now converted it to house numerous organizations, allowing us to relocate them. We can now build the new state-of-the-art $900 million Airman Training Complex that will be the platform for our expeditionary Warrior Airman basic training that takes us through the next 50 years."