New alert facility renovation begins

Published May 7, 2015
By Senior Airman Victor J. Caputo
22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. -- The 22nd Civil Engineer Squadron recently began the complete renovation of Bldg. 1219, which will be the new McConnell alert facility.

Bldg. 1219 previously housed the 22nd Aerospace Medical Squadron bioenvironmental engineering flight and is being converted from an office building to the living facilities for aircrews on standby for alert missions. The renovations include 15 rooms, two bathrooms and charge of quarters area.

After Bldg. 978 was torn down to make room for new hangars, Bldg. 1219 was selected for renovations, said 2nd Lt. David Lee, 22nd CES engineering flight deputy chief.

The project began in mid-April, and is scheduled to continue until late July or early August.

"We want to get this done so that we can train inside this building during our exercises this summer," said Maj. Raymond Elmore, 22nd CES operations flight commander. "From a CE perspective, we have a very short timeline to get all of this done so that they can have the time to practice in this facility."

A hurdle facing the renovations is the fact that Bldg. 1219 is a historical building, predating McConnell's designation as an Air Force base all the way back in the 1940s. This historical significance means certain parts of the building, mainly exterior walls, cannot be modified in any way without the permission of the State Historic Preservation Office.

"We have to keep the integrity of the building," said Lee. "It's iconic because we're keeping the history here instead of destroying it. We want to keep some of the traditional things here."

While much of the construction around base is handled by civilian contractors, such as the construction of the new hangars for the incoming KC-46A Pegasus, Bldg. 1219's renovation fits the criteria for an in-house troop training project for the 22nd CES.

"This project includes every single craft within CE on the operations side of the house," said Elmore. "It's all-encompassing in terms of our crafts and fits the bill for our Prime BEEF training that we send up to [the major command.]"

Troop training projects enable the various shops in the 22nd CES to work together and share their experience among each other.

"We can't put up the walls without first installing the plumbing after we've dug out the area underneath the floor," said Elmore. "This gives them a good realistic understanding of what you have to do, how you work together and how you get things to flow in a construction project."