TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently awarded a $25.6 million military construction project for three new facilities at Air Combat Command’s Silver Flag exercise site here.
The facilities are projected to be operational by Spring 2024, USACE announced Sept. 28.
Silver Flag operations are key to the Air Force’s contingency combat support training operations conducted by our civil engineers at Tyndall AFB, said Milea Franklin-Webb, project manager for the Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s Natural Disaster Recovery program.
“From expeditionary training operations like Rapid Airfield Damage Repair and Air Field Pavement Evaluation to building contingency air bases, pre-deployment training and testing new technologies and capabilities, Silver Flag facilities are essential to Air Force mission success,” Franklin-Webb said.
The site’s previous facilities were deemed unusable and slated for demolition after Hurricane Michael in 2018. Currently, the mission is operating with limited capacity in temporary facilities that are insufficient because there are no other viable options. The new facilities will have the ability to adapt to changing conditions and recover from any future mission disruptions.
Silver Flag also supports the Detachment 1, 823 Rapid Engineer Deployable, Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineer, or RED HORSE Squadron, and Air Force Explosive Ordinance Disposal’s Combat Battlefield Ready Airmen training. The site hosts exercises for active-duty Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, Air National Guard, Army, Marine Corps, allied nations support group personnel, civil engineers and more.
“Every Air Force civil engineer -- officers and enlisted -- has come through the Tyndall Silver Flag site at some point to receive training from the expert RED HORSE cadre and validate CE wartime readiness,” said Col. John Tryon, AFCEC Detachment 1 commander. “These new facilities will help ensure this critical mission and directly support future generations of CE Airmen.”
The contract, awarded to B. L. Harbert International on Sept. 24, includes construction of a new 10,365-square-foot technical training classroom, an 11,915-square-foot vehicle maintenance shop and a 10,365-square-foot covered storage facility.
To increase resiliency, these facilities will be built with reinforced concrete grade foundations and floor slabs, masonry walls with metal panel accents and precast concrete, structural steel roof framing and standing seam metal roofing systems. The contract includes all utilities, site improvements, pavements, detection and protection features, security enhancements and any supporting work needed to have usable facilities.
Construction is expected to be complete in September 2023.
The nearly $5 billion rebuild at Tyndall will be a five-to-seven-year-long process, which includes over 40 new military construction projects and 260 facility sustainment restoration and modernization projects. To learn more about these efforts, visit the Tyndall Program Management Office web site.