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Weekly UpdatesMilitary construction is booming on the Last Frontier. This year, the Army Corps of Engineers, the military's chief construction agency in Alaska, is expected to spend about $680 million on statewide military projects.
While the Corps focuses on design and project management, civilian contractors do the work; they provide workers to turn dirt, weld steel and hammer nails. According to Col. Timothy J. Gallagher, the Corps of Engineer s' senior officer in Alaska, a large percentage of the military-construction dollar is returned to the taxpayer through the use of a civilian work force.
As an example, this year the Corps of Engineers has contracts with about 125 construction companies who are working on 133 separate projects in Alaska. This does not take into consideration the number of sub-contractors that are used by the primary contractors.
WHY?
Since 2001, the military has steadily increased its construction spending in Alaska. The reason for that is related to a change in the federal government's security strategy. With the end of the Cold War, there is more regard for Asia, primarily China, and its advancing economies. The over all strategy now is for more balance, giving Asia equal credence.
This year, 7.2 percent of the Corps' total military construction budget is being spent in Alaska, making it the third largest recipient of the Corps' construction dollars. Next year is projected that Alaska will receive 12.4 percent, moving Alaska to the top district in the country.
Currently, there are four major multi-year projects on the drawing board. The most expensive is $325 million support facilities at Elmendorf Air Force Base for two new squadrons of F-22 fighter jets. They are expected to arrive sometime between 2009 and 2011. The Corps also is preparing designs and awarding contracts for the Air Force's new C-17 cargo aircraft, which will be coming to Elmendorf possibly as early as 2007.
The other projects include a new hospital at Fort Wainwright for $180 million, $75 million for temporary housing at Fort Richardson and a $50 million upgrade to the fighter-fuel maintenance system at Eielson Air Force Base.
MILITARY CONSTRUCTION SITES
Bill Watterson, a major government contractor in Alaska, is currently working on military projects at three bases, totaling $140 million.
At Fort Wainwright, his projects include a 110,000-square-foot maintenance facility for $26 million, a $9 million ammunition depot and a 64-duplex housing complex worth $54 million. Most of the work is for the Army's new Stryker Brigade in Alaska, which will call Fort Wainwright home.
Watterson also has major projects at Fort Richardson. Currently he is working on dual contracts with a combined worth of $33 million. They are the operations center and barracks for the Army's new 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), which is standing up in Alaska to be a part of the 25th Infantry Division.
There will be some 300 temporary (modular) barracks and offices constructed for that unit, which will bring in more than 3,500 soldiers by next year. It is planned to have 129 of the temporary buildings in place this summer.
Watterson also has a contract for a design-build project for 82 housing units at Fort Richardson. Currently it is in the design phase; he plans to break ground this fall.
He also is more than halfway through a $13 million barracks project at Eielson Air Force Base. Nearly 100 percent of his work is in military construction, and because of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission's recommendations regarding the military bases in Alaska, Watterson says it will impact the future of military construction, especially at Eielson.
"There were a few more dormitories on the horizon at Eielson," Watterson said. "I guess the decision is to reduce the activity at the base; they won't go out for bid. Originally there was supposed to be a campus of dorms, but when I finish my current project, things will slow down there. But overall, I'm sure there will continue to be military construction to be had in Alaska."
Michael Fall, the vice president at Unit Co., agrees. Unit Co. has been doing military construction for more than 20 years in Alaska. It has had projects on almost all of the major bases in Alaska. Currently, Unit Co. is in the middle of a missile defense project at Fort Greely.
"This will be our fourth year at Fort Greely," said Fall. "We're constructing buildings as part of the infrastructure for the missile defense program. We are also on the short list for a design-build job on Fort Richardson.
"Right now all our work is up here at Fort Greely, but down the road there will be more work at other bases like a fitness center upgrade at Fort Richardson and a battalion battleground complex here at Greely."
Fall says that even with the BRAC Commission's effect on future construction and a general ramping down of military construction overall in Alaska, there will still be a lot of design-build projects on the path ahead.
BRAC Effect
At the time of publication, the effects of the BRAC Commission were not yet reflected in the plans for the Corps of Engineers.
The commission recommended three changes that would affect the military community in Alaska. First it wants to close Kulis Air Guard Station in Anchorage. That is to be followed by reducing Eielson Air Force Base to a mere skeleton of its current size and population. The final recommendation is to combine Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson to make a joint (Army/Air Force) base.
"It is really pre-decisional right now," said Gallagher. "That is the commission's recommendation and it's going through a process of interacting with those communities. Their input is critical to the entire process, and this fall a final recommendation will be made. We'll see what Secretary of Defense (Donald) Rumsfeld has to say."
Gallagher says that besides the bases directly affected by BRAC, there are many other military facilities including forts Wainwright and Greely with its missile defense, plus a lot of remote sites. Since there also will be construction at many of those facilities, there are still millions of dollars worth of construction on the horizon and possibly over the horizon as well.
"We're right now in the process of building a new hydrant refueling system and parking apron at Eielson," Gallagher adds. "The parking apron should be done by the end of summer, which will be before the final decisions are made; so right now I don't see any impact with regard to the parking apron, per se.
"The refueling part of that project does extend beyond the final (BRAC) decision. Then we'll have to find out what the secretary of the Air Force wants to do with regard to future construction."
Although it is a booming period for military construction in Alaska, it is extremely difficult to predict the future-especially with regards to military construction. Budgets and the world situation can change by the minute; all of this has a trickle-down effect and reaches all aspects of society: civilian and military.
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