Groundbreaking ceremony begins new era for LRS

  • Published
  • By Jasmine DeNamur
  • 919th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
DUKE FIELD, Fla. --  A groundbreaking ceremony was held Oct. 31 to commemorate the beginning of the construction of a new Mobility Aerial Delivery Facility that will be located at the north end of Duke Field.

More than ten years in the making, the final completion date for the facility is scheduled for October 2007.

The concept for the center has gone through various stages, migrations and configurations since 1996, said Ron Taylor, 919th Mission Support Group engineering support analyst. The successful award of the project is a direct result of the team effort of all involved.

Air Force Special Operations Command, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Whitesell-Green construction company, Eglin Air Force Base, and Duke Field were vital in the implementation of the $12 million, 55,519 square-foot facility.

The purpose of the MAD center is to support 919th Logistics Readiness Squadron functions; to include the logistics plans flight, said Mr. Taylor. It also houses a mobility center and provides aerial delivery operations.

With respect to personnel deployment, it will include a passenger processing center including a processing line equipped with check-point counters, counseling rooms, mobility bag and weapons storage, and a passenger holding room, he said.

Aerial delivery functions include a large bay for pallet staging, assembly and processing, parachute recovery and a parachute drying tower. Other functions include a carpentry shop and fabric repair shop, he said.

"This one-stop-shop facility enhances our overall readiness posture by allowing our logisticians to conduct airdrop mission support, pre-deployment and deployment actions quickly and efficiently," said Capt. Melissa Tims, 919th LRS commander.

Though the majority of assets from the current mobility center are being transferred to the new center, the existing center will be utilized for office space, extra mobility storage and for other logistics offices, to include wing-wide purposes.

Vacated areas will be used for other functions that must be relocated there due to other facility renovations or demolition, however, it is slated for demolition in 2013 with the projected construction of a new corrosion control facility, said Mr. Taylor.

This is a state of the art platform for wing and unit-level logistics readiness activities, said Captain Tims. It enhances wing airdrop and readiness procedures as well as consolidates key logistics activities for AFSOC and Air Force Reserve Command missions.

"By enhancing the overall readiness state of this wing with the construction of this facility, we are able to support the needs of our local missions more efficiently," said Captain Tims. "We really look forward to the completion of this facility."