Senior Airmen Jamie Villagomez and Giancarlos Perez, plumbers with the 380th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, plan out placements of pipes on a renovation project at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, in December 2021. ( Dan Heaton/Air Force)
WASHINGTON — More than 60 Air Force and Space Force installations will see renovated dormitories or new child development centers in the next few years, the service announced Wednesday.
“We’re prioritizing restoration and modernization to deliver state-of-the-art facilities through these funds so airmen and guardians can focus on keeping the mission in flight, knowing they and their families are being taken care of,” said Tim Sullivan, the interim built infrastructure executive director and facility engineering directorate chief for the Air Force Civil Engineer Center.
The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center announced a collection of ongoing and future projects between fiscal years 2023 and 2027 valued at more than $1.6 billion.
Under the center's Dorm Response Program, 170 dormitory projects will be funded through 2027. Four dorm projects valued at $76 million are in the works, the service said.
Fourteen large-scale dorm renovations are planned with a price tag of $227 million in fiscal year 2024, which begins Oct. 1. The center is overseeing five of those projects that will be at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, Travis Air Force Base, Calif., and Vance Air Force Base, Okla.
Travis Air Force Base will work with the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, or AFCEC, on renovating a couple of dorms and developing a plan for a new child development center.
“We have full confidence in partnering with AFCEC because they provide the unique expertise and long-term continuity needed to manage the projects here at Travis,” said David Lin, Travis Air Force Base deputy base civil engineer. “They understand and have the vested interest that they are not just renovating rooms of just any old building but are positively impacting where our young airmen live and call home.”
Nineteen new child development centers are being planned and designed to accommodate more children. The effort includes new facilities at Joint Base San Antonio and Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, at a price tag of $205 million.
Five additional child development centers will be scheduled and funded at $167 million between now and the coming fiscal year.
This comes after Congress mandated in 2022 that the service prioritize quality-of-life improvements for airmen and guardians, the Air Force said. The service will spend about an average of $220 million per year through fiscal year 2026.
The Pentagon received nearly $2 billion in extra funding in the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act — annual legislation that lays out Defense Department priorities — to maintain and improve its facilities including barracks, child care centers and training ranges.
