Offutt Air Force Base - STRATCOM

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eomaha
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Offutt Air Force Base - STRATCOM

Post by eomaha »

MODERATOR NOTE:
This first section has been added, see below for original message from 2004:


OFFUTT:
-  Offutt Air Force Base - STRATCOM (Original eomaha topic #15)
- 2016 Offutt Defenders of Freedom Air Show
- 2014 Offutt Defenders of Freedom Air Show
- 2012 Offutt Defenders of Freedom Air Show
- 2011 Offutt Defenders of Freedom Air Show
- 2008 Offutt Defenders of Freedom Air Show
- 2007 Offutt Defenders of Freedom Air Show
- 2004 Offutt Defenders of Freedom Air Show

Not related but of similar interest - Lincoln Air Show:
- 2016 Guardians of Freedom Air Show - Lincoln
- 2011 Guardians of Freedom Air Show - Lincoln
- 2006 Guardians of Freedom Air Show - Lincoln

_______________________________________
_______________________________________


Original Message from 2004:

I think we're missing the boat on what could be a revolutionary (for Omaha) and large new urbanist development (regarding new Offutt base housing).

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u ... id=1003897




.
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Offutt Air Force Base - STRATCOM

Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

Exactly what I though, Jeff. EXACTLY!!

But, no. Instead they'll probably just lay down some "celebrity home-styl" tract housing. Nothing special.
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
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Offutt Air Force Base - STRATCOM

Post by eomaha »

An Omaha group of home builders/architects/developers has been awarded the contract for rebuilding/renovating Offutt's aging base housing... a whopping $243 million worth (2,255 units).

Of course (and I already sent my email to Holland Basham Architects, for what it's worth)... I'm hoping for the employment of some New Urbanist thinking.

Whatever the master plan is... it obviously will make for a bunch of construction jobs over the next 6 years.

World Herald story: http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u ... id=1047728
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Post by edsas »

If they don't use new urbanism at least a quarter billion gives them a lot of options to redo those 60s era Brady Bunch houses. I can't imagine going too fancy on the government's dime, but whatever they do will undoubtedly be an improvement.

And those construction jobs are definitely a plus as you said.

8)
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Post by sokkerdewd »

Curious - I had heard somewhere that although Capeheart is inside Bellevue's boundries, resedents who live there are not counted as part of Bellevue's population... Is this true? What about Sarpy Co's?
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StratCom - Offutt

Post by Coyote »

I would hope that more local contracts could be obtained from Stratcom, but I know more than a few IT's who lost out on jobs because of the security clearance needed.
Firms gather to vie for Offutt contracts

Randy Boldt had 15 minutes Wednesday to impress two Lockheed Martin executives. One of the things he pointed to was a Rubik's Cube in a diagram on Page 12 of his 17-page brochure.

The cube was at the center of a diagram. Arrows pointing into it came from labels like "Web services." Arrows leading out went to pictures of things like a personal computer, a hand-held personal digital assistant and a cell phone.

The point was to show that the 11/2-year-old technology startup he represented had experience integrating various technologies to enable them to work together. The 81/2-by-11-inch diagram was no high-tech explanation; it contained 15 words in large type, eight arrows and four small cut-and-paste pictures.

But Teddy Hamilton and Bernard Thompson of Lockheed saw something in it and Boldt's explanations - the possibility that Interalle Inc. had experience they could use in integrating various Strategic Command electronics systems. StratCom has taken on new responsibilities in recent years, including absorbing the Space Command that was moved to Offutt Air Force Base from Colorado Springs.

The 15 minutes with Lockheed Martin was a good start for Boldt in a day of face-to-face meetings intended to introduce Nebraska companies as potential subcontractors to major defense contractors at Offutt.

The point of the matchmaking was to capture a bigger piece of the Offutt contracting budget for Nebraska firms. Wednesday's meeting, sponsored by an arm of the Nebraska Business Development Council, was restricted to informational technology and construction.

Robert Saker, a consultant with the Procurement Technology Assistance Center at the Center for Business Development, said about 70 percent of the approximately 130 potential subcontractors at Wednesday's session were IT firms. The others were various companies trying to get subcontracting slots with prime contractors in construction.

The Air Force's 55th Contracting Squadron at Offutt spent $120 million on information technology supplies and services in fiscal 2003 and $20 million for construction involving repairs to things like roads and buildings. The construction figure doesn't include new construction, which is under the control of the Army Corps of Engineers.

Counting contracting by agencies other than the 55th, Offutt put $179 million into information technology in the year that ended last Sept. 30.

Adding other goods and services contracts to the IT and construction numbers, the 55th spent $240 million last year and is budgeted to lay out $300 million in fiscal 2004.

It's hard to tell how much of the contracting dollar flows to local firms. If Lockheed Martin is typical, it may be relatively small.

"Out of our team I think maybe there are two or three that are homegrown Nebraska companies," said Thompson, who is business development manager in Omaha for Lockheed. But when firms from out-of-state get contracts, they set up offices and put employees here, he said.

Boldt's pitch to Thompson and Hamilton was for a firm, of which he is a part owner, that sells integration expertise. Interalle writes Java-based programs in open-source software and sells the product at prices Boldt said were 50 percent below the store-shelf price of the software.

There's no continuing payment to Interalle, and the buyer is free to adapt the program as it wishes. Interalle can train Lockheed's employees in using the product, he said. Boldt talked in terms of producing the product within weeks rather than months and training users in days.

Although Minneapolis-based Interalle, which has a Lincoln office, is a young firm, some of its owners have a history with systems integration with a company they started in 1997. That firm, Auxilium Inc., had a list of big-name clients when it was sold in 1999.

Boldt pointed out to Thompson and Hamilton that Auxilium also had worked with Lockheed Martin on the joint strike fighter development project.

When Thompson began questioning Boldt about Interalle's systems integration work, Boldt responded, "That's our sweet spot." Connecting systems isolated now in figurative silos is how the company made its name, he said.

Later, in an interview, Thompson said Interalle's integration work "really caught our eye."

"It's very closely related to a contract we're working on right now," he said. "We think that this company can do something. After we ascertain that, then we'll have a good look at 'Can you get a security clearance?'"

Expertise and security dominate the criteria that Lockheed Martin and other IT firms have for subcontractors.

"Can they fill a need? Can they get on base? Can they get a security clearance? Those are mainly the first two things we look at with a subcontractor," Thompson said.

"Security clearance nowadays can take a couple of years," he said. "If you can't service the customer right away . . . it's not good."

Boldt said Interalle was prepared to meet security standards. He had a top-secret clearance himself when he was a Navy surgical corpsman during the Vietnam War, he told Thompson and Hamilton.

Air Force officers speaking Wednesday at sessions outlining growth and changes in StratCom and Air Force Weather Agency operations left little doubt that the need for contracted IT work will continue to grow at Offutt.

"Contractors run all our IT," said Lt. Col. Ricky Carter, chief of the weather agency's Strategic Center Programs Division.
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StratCom - Offutt

Post by Coyote »

More news out of Bellevue. A sign of things to come.
I wonder if we can find the plans for the upgrade?

StratCom getting office remodeling

With its mission expanding, U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base near Bellevue will soon see its office space remodeled as well.

According to Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., the Air Force plans to spend $10.4 million to revamp the command's control center.

As StratCom merges with the U.S. Space Command, formerly based in Colorado, and otherwise expands its mission, the control center needs to be improved, Nelson said. "The planned upgrades will give StratCom a state-of-the-art facility to coordinate our national defense," he said.

In recent years, StratCom has broadened its role to focus not only on Cold War-era single enemies but also on terrorists and other modern global threats.
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Post by eomaha »

$10 million for the federal government? Probably just changing the carpeting. :)
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Post by Coyote »

Oh yeh, I forgot, those toilet seats run around $10K each.
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Offutt to get new $6.7 million traffic control tower

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Senate approves funding for new Offutt air traffic tower

WASHINGTON - The Senate took a step this week toward helping Offutt Air Force Base modernize and prepare for possible mission expansions by approving $6.7 million to replace its aging air traffic control tower.

Although the Senate's military construction bill contains money for Offutt's tower, a similar bill passed by the House does not. A conference committee could reach a compromise in the next several weeks.

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., a member of the Armed Services Committee who has pushed to get Offutt the money, said crowded conditions in the 30-year-old tower are creating training and operational obstacles.

"Because Offutt's control tower is so small, it is technologically disabled," Nelson said. "There is no acceptable reason that one of the foremost military bases in our nation should be hindered by such a severely outdated facility."

In another effort to expand Offutt, Nelson sent a letter Sept. 9 to the director of the Army National Guard advocating the base near Bellevue as a good place to locate a new regional Guard hub in a major reorganization that the Army is undertaking.

Offutt is home to the U.S. Strategic Command.
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Huge Offutt housing project will be re-bid

Post by eomaha »

Omaha World Herald wrote: Private housing effort at Offutt will start over

A project to bring private housing to military families at Offutt Air Force Base is delayed, not dead, the U.S. Air Force said Wednesday.

The military decided to restart the process because it was worried that the deal had similarities to one that recently landed the Air Force in court.

The Air Force will again seek proposals for the project but doesn't know when, said Mike Hawkins, chief public affairs officer with the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence.

America First Communities - a group of Omaha-area businesses - had won preliminary approval for the $245 million contract to build or renovate 2,255 housing units at the Bellevue base.

Company officials were informed last week that the Air Force had canceled its solicitation of a contract.

That was in response to a lawsuit brought over Hickam Air Force Base's plan to privatize base housing in Hawaii, Hawkins said.

In that case, the losing bidder for the privatization effort protested the bidding process in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

In July the court stopped the Air Force from going forward with the project. The court said the military hadn't complied with some provisions and changed the terms without advising the losing bidder.

The winning bidder has appealed, and the case is pending.

However, Hawkins said that in response to the ruling the Air Force reviewed all of its privatization contracts.

The Air Force thinks Offutt's deal could have been problematic because the number of units changed after America First Communities was given preliminary approval in March.

Offutt officials said the number of units for the project has not yet been determined.

America First Communities will be allowed to bid again, Hawkins said.

John "Mac" McLean, vice president of military housing for America First Communities, said the company still is interested in privatized housing at Offutt, but it would have to look at the changed requirements before deciding to reapply.

McLean said America First Communities was still committed to the original plan - building 1,558 new homes and renovating more than 650. He, unlike Air Force officials, said there had not been a change in the scope of the project.

Some of the housing at Offutt was built in the 1950s and 1960s and is in various stages of disrepair. Offutt officials stressed that all of the homes are currently up to Air Force standards.

America First Communities - which includes local companies America First Cos., Kiewit Construction Co. and U.S. Grounds Maintenance - would have managed the housing for 50 years.
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Post by Brad »

Thats too bad for the people stationed at offutt. The base housing down there is really looking run down.
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Stratcom's reorganization

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StratCom calms fears after job shifts


When the talk coming out of the U.S. Strategic Command recently was about a major reorganization and a cut in jobs at Offutt Air Force Base, local economic development and elected officials were more than a little concerned.

But as more information comes to light, concerns over job losses largely have been overridden by a longer view that the reorganization will strengthen StratCom and help position Offutt for future growth.

What's good for StratCom, they say, most likely will be good for Bellevue and Omaha.

"The bigger issue is that StratCom is going to be stronger with this change, and that is a good thing for Omaha," said David Brown, president of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. "We're always in this for the long term."

Marine Gen. James Cartwright, StratCom's commander, found the command's old structure unwieldy as it has had to take on new responsibilities in the post-9/11 world.

As a result, he is in the process of setting up four subordinate "component commands," at least three of which will be based elsewhere.

The Offutt-based StratCom's headquarters will retain ultimate authority over the component functions, but day-to-day mission execution will occur at the component locations.

Some of StratCom's 2,900 current military and civilian jobs will move to the component locations, although the exact number won't be known for another six to eight weeks, Cartwright's chief of staff said in an interview.

Army Gen. Kevin Campbell declined to speculate, even roughly, on the number of jobs affected. But he said people "shouldn't be overly concerned about this organization just drying up in front of them."

"People think that the headquarters is going away," Campbell said. "It's far from that. StratCom will still be a significant headquarters when this is said and done."

Elected officials and local business leaders who have been briefed on Cartwright's plans say it's clear to them job losses at Offutt will be in the hundreds, not thousands.

Most say they're convinced that the multiservice command, which is one of the few in the U.S. military with true global reach and responsibilities, will be positioned for future growth that could well outstrip any jobs lost now.

"I don't anticipate seeing a convoy of moving trucks leaving Nebraska after the reorganization," said U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb. "When you look at the big picture, we have benefited and will continue to benefit."

To combat concerns and rumors, StratCom officials recently held briefings in Washington with Nelson and U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. This week, StratCom briefed leaders of Omaha's business community.

StratCom is one of several major tenants at Offutt, a base that overall employs more than 10,000 military and civilian personnel.

StratCom's presence at Offutt is a big reason many of the nation's top defense contractors have been building up offices in the Omaha area. The firms have hired hundreds of new workers in recent years and have plans to hire hundreds more.

StratCom's reorganization could have some impact on those firms. But it appears that most of those jobs are tied to the headquarters function, which will remain at Offutt.

"The projected growth that we have is going to continue," said Jim Mueller of Lockheed Martin, whose firm is increasing its Omaha-area office from 100 workers to about 300.

The reorganization comes out of significant new missions StratCom was handed by President Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Until then, StratCom's primary role had been nuclear war planning and preparation at a time the U.S. faced no clear superpower threat.

After 9/11, Bush merged the U.S. Space Command into StratCom and also handed StratCom several new missions that previously had no home.

Today's StratCom retains a modernized nuclear mission but has taken on many other assignments - providing situational awareness worldwide, missile defense, cyberwarfare, maintenance of space assets and the ability to globally target and attack threats, such as facilities producing weapons of mass destruction.

When StratCom was responsible for only the nuclear arsenal, it was possible for it to both plan and execute its missions from Offutt. After the new missions were added in the past two years, it became clear that structure no longer worked, Campbell said.

"It was evident to us we could not keep these missions at the headquarters and expect to be nimble and react in the way required," Campbell said.

Cartwright's solution is to create four new component commands:

• Missile defense: Would be based at Colorado Springs, Colo., the home of Northern Command, the military command charged with defending North America.

• Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance: Would be based in Washington, D.C., where most of the nation's military intelligence infrastructure is already based.

• Network warfare: Would be based in Washington.

• Space and global strike: Would be the largest of the four components. The location of this component remains unclear, but "a large piece of it" probably would be based at Offutt, Campbell said.

StratCom headquarters would assume overall command and control of the components and would integrate their work within the nation's defenses. The headquarters also would retain StratCom's traditional nuclear mission.

When a future threat arises, Cartwright would be able to assemble a range of military options within StratCom's purview for the president and other policy-makers. Once one is approved, the command and control structure at StratCom would direct the component to perform the task.

When StratCom received its new missions over the past three years, about 500 jobs came with them. The number that now will move the other way, to the components, is unclear.

StratCom is studying that issue, Campbell said, with any changes to be phased in over two to three years.

In some cases, the jobs moving have not been filled since they were brought to Offutt, meaning there would be no net loss of workers. In other cases, Offutt workers will become part of a component but continue to work at the same desk and computer at the base.

When elements of Cartwright's plan first leaked out of the Pentagon last month, alarms sounded within the Omaha business community.

"Did it raise a red flag? Sure," said Megan Lucas, president of the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce.

While the jobs picture remains unclear, Lucas was hopeful that reorganization ultimately will be a wash for the Bellevue area, particularly if Offutt becomes the home of the space and global strike component command.

Looking long term, Al Buckles, a vice president for defense contractor SAIC, said he can't see anything but growth for StratCom at Offutt when looking at the nature of the threats the nation will confront in years ahead.

"StratCom is going to be globally focused, and globally focused things will end up there," Buckles said. "You just know there are going to be other things moving this way."
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Offutt housing project moving forward again

Post by eomaha »

Omaha World Herald wrote: Offutt housing project looks like its a go again

A project to build houses for military families at Offutt Air Force Base appears to be back on track, two months after the military canceled its contractor selection amid concerns of litigation.

Companies will be asked to start submitting proposals early next month.

The group of Omaha-based companies that had won preliminary approval previously doesn't know yet whether it will reapply.

John "Mac" McLean, vice president of military housing for America First Communities, said they will decide after reading the request for proposals.

America First Communities was selected in March for the $245 million contract to build or renovate 2,255 housing units at the base near Bellevue.

Some of the housing at Offutt was built in the 1950s and 1960s and is in various stages of disrepair. The Air Force hopes to provide military families with quality, safe and affordable housing in a community where they will desire to live.

America First Communities, which includes local companies America First Cos., Kiewit Construction Co. and U.S. Grounds Maintenance, also would have managed the housing for 50 years.

The military decided at the end of October to restart the process, worried that the deal had similarities to one that recently landed the Air Force in court.

In that case, the losing bidder for the privatization effort at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii protested the bidding process in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

In July, the court stopped the Air Force from going forward with the project, saying the military hadn't complied with some provisions and changed the terms without advising the losing bidder.

The Air Force said then that Offutt's deal could have been problematic because the number of units had changed after America First Communities was given preliminary approval.

This time, a one-step solicitation process will be used, which should mean that the selection will go more quickly.

Mike Hawkins, chief public affairs officer with the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence, said that the military will solicit a number of proposals and then request a more detailed plan from the best one, instead of the top several companies that apply. Basically, a step of winnowing the companies is removed.

A more time-consuming process was used last time.
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Post by Brad »

I am glad to see this. I feel sorry for the soliders that the goverment puts them up in such run down hoousing. Anyone drive by the caphart area much, you will no what I am talking about.
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Post by projectman »

Yes I have seen it and it's pitiful. :(
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New Nebraska National Guard detachment to be based at Offutt

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Omaha World Herald wrote: Offutt adds National Guard unit

A newly created Nebraska Air Guard unit will be the first Guard unit ever based at Offutt Air Force Base, joining the globe-trotting mission of the active-duty Air Force combat wing based there.

The 80 members of the Nebraska Air Guard's new 170th Operations Support Squadron will train all new pilots assigned to Offutt's 55th Air Wing and directly support the wing in its worldwide reconnaissance duties.

The unusual arrangement is part of a new Air Force initiative in which National Guard and reserve personnel and civilian contractors are integrated with active-duty servicemen into a single force.

"We are part of the 55th Wing's team," said Col. Rick Evans, who commands the new unit.

Creation of the 170th also helps address long-standing manpower shortages for the 7,000-member "Fightin' 55th," the largest - and among the busiest - combat wings in the Air Force. Its electronic eavesdropping aircraft have been constantly in demand, even before the onset of the global war on terror.

U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who as a member of the Senate Armed Forces Committee worked to secure funding for the new unit, said the arrangement would not have been possible without the Nebraska Air Guard's reputation for quality and professionalism.

"The 170th will serve the 55th Wing very well," Nelson said. "The concept of basing Guard units with active-duty personnel is an excellent way to go."

Nebraska's only other Air National Guard unit, the 900-member 155th Air Refueling Wing, is based at the Lincoln Municipal Airport.

About 35 members of the new unit will be full-time Guard members, mostly pilots, navigators and electronic warfare operators who will train new air crew members assigned to fly the 55th Wing's RC-135 and OC-135 reconnaissance aircraft.

The Guard crew members also will be tapped to fly missions with the 55th around the world.

"The trainers need to know what's going on around the world, and that's going to include deployments," said Evans, a 44-year-old Northwest High and University of Nebraska at Omaha graduate.

The remainder of the unit will be mostly part-time Guard members who will perform various air support duties, mostly involving airfield management, weather, flight records and intelligence.

Most members of the new unit are former 55th Wing members who decided they wanted to remain in the Omaha area rather than take new assignments elsewhere within the Air Force after completing their assignments at Offutt.

Because they will remain at Offutt, the Guard members will help provide a foundation of continuity and experience to the 55th, Evans said. "You have a core cadre that doesn't leave every three or four years," he said.

The new unit's roots trace back more than five years, when the demands on the 55th were leading to lots of overtime for its members. A freeze on manpower within the Air Force made addressing the shortage difficult.

As part of the effort to meet the crunch, a small detachment of Nebraska Air Guardsmen began working with the 55th on an experimental basis two years ago.

The chief of staff of the Air Force then asked Nelson to take the lead to secure funding to expand Guard support to the 55th. Funding secured, the Guard-Offutt relationship now is being expanded and formalized with the creation of the new unit.

The Nebraska National Guard is planning a ceremony at Offutt on Friday to dedicate the new unit.
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Offutt gets a mini-mall

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Air Pulse wrote: BX, mini-mall slated fore replacement

Army Air Force Exchange Service officials have a master plan for their facilities on Offutt. Nearly two years in the making, the plan is taking shape in a big way, with 55th Civil Engineer Squadron officials unveiling plans for a new mini-mall and Base Exchange this week.

The project will more than double the amount of retail space and increase customer convenience in terms of variety and customer service. The mini-mall, slated for completion in June 2006, will be followed by a process of demolition and construction of a new exchange slated to open in February 2008.

The projects are still in the design phase, according to 55th CES Contract Programmer Melissa Kurtz, but moving forward.

"We are nearly at 65 percent on the design phase of the mini-mall, and hope to have that [contract] awarded by the end of August," she said. "On the new main exchange, we hope to have construction starting in August of 2006."

The mini-mall, slated for construction on the east side of SAC Boulevard, just southwest of the new fire station, is expected to encompass 17,000 square feet. The much larger retail complex will include a shoppette, Class Six, car care center with eight gas pumps, and two fast food restaurants. The mini-mall will also feature over 100 parking spaces.

Parking and overall convenience are driving the project, according to BX Project Manager Bruce McCauley of AAFES. The new exchange will be located on the site of the existing mini-mall. Demolition of the existing exchange and construction of the new BX will bring the number of available spaces in the Commissary-BX complex to more than 925.

"The parking lots are currently inadequate, and by eliminating the old building, we'll add a lot of parking," he said. "The new complex benefits the customer in a number of areas ? the consolidation of services into two locations, the ability to house more goods and services into facilities, and giving people a lot more fast food choices at lunch."

The new exchange maps out at approximately 170,000 square feet (the current BX is less than half that size at 78,000 square feet). The complex will include a garden center, bank with drive-through service, military clothing sales, food court, florist, laundry/dry cleaner, barber/beauty shop, optical shop and more.

The size of the new exchange will also allow AFFES to stock more items in general, and more items that now are stocked seasonally, like toys and garden and outdoor supplies, Mr. McCauley added. Ms. Kurtz said the need for larger facilities was driven by the need to meet the needs of customers.

When the project is complete, military shoppers and their families will enjoy the same standards of variety and convenience available at some larger civilian retail chains.

"When AAFES re-addressed their master plan for Offutt, they felt the facilities were outdated and undersized," she said. "With the new facilities, they will fully address these issues."

While the AAFES master plan won't be complete for nearly three years, Offutt shoppers should see big improvements inside of 18 months, and enjoy the complex for years to come.

Image

An artist's rendering of the proposed new Base Exchange scheduled for construction at Offutt. The new exchange will cover over 170,000 square feet, over twice the size of the current BX.
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Offutt housing roller coaster ride continues

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Omaha World Herald wrote: Air Force cuts housing units in new Offutt plan

Within the next several years, the number of military houses at Offutt Air Force Base will likely decrease dramatically.

The Air Force this week asked for bids to privatize and manage the military housing at the Bellevue base.

The Air Force now wants only 1,444 housing units - down from about 2,225 in a prior request for bids and the 2,600 units currently at Offutt.

The military cited a market analysis, part of every privatization effort and just completed in October, for its decision to reduce the number of units.

The housing analysis looks at expected manpower changes and the demand for private housing. It says the personnel numbers at Offutt should remain stable for the next several years.

Gilberto Dominguez with the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence said the military started asking for proposals this week. Plans must be submitted in about a month.

Privatization is a nationwide effort to provide military families with safe, affordable housing. The Air Force has said that some of Offutt's housing was built in the 1950s and 1960s and is in disrepair.

America First Communities, which includes local companies America First Cos., Kiewit Construction Co. and U.S. Grounds Maintenance, was selected in March for a $245 million contract at Offutt.

The military decided at the end of October to restart the process, worried that the deal had similarities to one that was disputed in court.
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Offutt hosting Iternational WMD Conference

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IWAR.org wrote: Experts Meet in Omaha to Consider Ways to Disrupt WMD Transfers

U.N. secretary-general lauds Proliferation Security Initiative effort

Washington – The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff says a “committed international partnership” is the key to success in combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Air Force General Richard Myers told members of the Senate earlier this year that nations in just such a partnership are conducting exercises around the world as part of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) “to enhance international interdiction capabilities and to serve as a deterrent to curtail the proliferation of WMD and the means to deliver those weapons.”

As part of that overall multilateral effort, representatives from some 20 nations are meeting at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska March 21-22 to discuss ways to staunch the flow of WMD and associated technologies.

Political and military officials, law enforcement and intelligence officers, and lawyers are meeting, as they do several times a year, to consider ways to prevent WMD trafficking as part of the two-year-old PSI effort. President Bush launched the international initiative in Krakow, Poland, in May 2003.

Its challenge has been to bring together nations with a similar purpose: to implement practical steps to interdict dangerous weapons and technologies in transit. So far over 60 nations have expressed support. There is no formal structure behind PSI -- no secretariat and no elected officials.

As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has pointed out, PSI “doesn’t have an address or a building.” Its purpose, she has said, is to use “interdiction based on current national and international laws to interdict suspicious cargos around the world that may be weapons of mass destruction cargos.”

PSI activities consist mostly of training exercises and tabletop simulations, which evolve from discussions of an operational group of experts (OEG) who have been meeting quarterly since July 2003. The core group is formed by volunteers: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Russia, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Japan, Spain, Thailand, France, Greece, Singapore, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. But another 40-plus nations have expressed support for PSI in one way or another, including Bulgaria, which announced in March that it wants to participate once its Council of Ministers approves.

The U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) is hosting this OEG. Its commander, General James Cartwright, told the visitors at the outset that it is appropriate for STRATCOM to host given the command’s new mission spearheading Defense Department effort to combat weapons of mass destruction.

The previous OEG was held in Australia. There, Australian Defense Minister Robert Hill said it was critical for nations in the Asia-Pacific region to expand support for PSI and to participate to whatever degree possible. OEG meetings have also been held in Asia and Europe, while PSI operational exercises have occurred in Asia, Europe and the Western Hemisphere. There have been 13 such operational exercises so far.

The United States led a maritime interdiction exercise in November 2004 called “Chokepoint 2004.” Japan’s maritime exercise, code named “Samurai 04,” was held in October 2004. Australia, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom have all led various types of exercises. Portugal will lead a maritime/ground exercise in April and Spain will take its second turn as host in June. A total of 15 sea, air and land exercises are planned in 2005-2006.

But the exercises are not all simulation. There have been actual interdictions, like the one in October 2003. “They had a big success in interdicting a cargo (of uranium centrifuge equipment) on its way from North Korea to Libya, that we suspected of being contraband,” Rice said, “and, by the way, it helped the Libyans decide that it was time to give up their weapons of mass destruction.”

In 2004, Navy Secretary Gordon England pointed to the numerous PSI boardings that have already transpired at sea and said the initiative, which will soon mark its second anniversary, has proven “its worth in combating WMD components and related arms trafficking.” (For more information about PSI on the Internet, see http://www.state.gov/t/np/c10390.htm.)

Every time the OEG assembles or an exercise occurs, it reflects a collective commitment to keep dangerous weapons and knowledge out of the hands of unscrupulous actors. Participants understand that more needs to be done.

“We need to broaden PSI to include everyone with the capacity and the willingness to help in the fight to halt proliferation," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz has said. "We need to continue to improve operational information-sharing capabilities. We need to remedy gaps in legal authority. We need to act against proliferation-related trafficking.”

During a speech in Malta in 2004, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Nonproliferation Susan Burk explained the U.S. position in more depth. “The United States believes that, properly planned and executed, the interdiction of critical technologies and material while in transit can prevent hostile states and non-state actors from acquiring these dangerous capabilities. At a minimum,” she said, “interdiction when combined with effective export controls can lengthen the time that proliferators will need to acquire new weapons capabilities, can increase the cost of proliferation, and it is also an important demonstration of the resolve of like-minded nations to combat proliferation.”

Assertive actions in the air, on land or at sea can discourage and even dissuade potential proliferators from “dealing in the trade of these dangerous goods,” Burk said. PSI has created a global web of counterproliferation partnerships and by using nations’ domestic laws in a coordinated way, she said, adding, “we can make the whole stronger than the sum of its parts.”

For the moment, the OEG is considering the road ahead: how to involve new participants in upcoming training exercises, make future scenarios more realistic, enhance expertise and improve interoperability, and share the knowledge learned from each new experience.

Under Secretary of State John Bolton, who helped build the ad-hoc coalition that comprises PSI, has said that for the initiative to be effective it must be “as operational as it can be, involving exchanges of information among intelligence agencies, law-enforcement agencies, cooperation among military assets of the countries involved, and, aimed principally at interdicting the shipment of weapons of mass destruction and WMD relation material in international commerce.”

During a March speech in Madrid, Spain, in which he offered a global strategy for fighting terrorism, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan applauded the efforts of PSI to fill in gaps in current defenses. The 2004 “Report of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel Report on Threats, Challenges and Change” urges all nations to join the voluntary initiative.

Meanwhile, as all the meetings, meticulous planning and elaborate training unfold, the clock is still ticking. The end game for these participants could not be more compelling: they are all part of a race to deter a deadly trade, lest the weapons fallen into the hands of those who would have no compunction about using them.
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New Linguist program at Offutt

Post by Coyote »

Offutt facility to train linguists for terror war

Have you taken your Language Proficiency Test yet?
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Offutt not sweating base hit list

Post by Brad »

Offutt not sweating base hit list!

Good news for Bellevue!
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1636&u_sid=1400152
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Post by Brad »

Bellevue's bond with Offutt strengthens both

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1636&u_sid=1400705[/quote]
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New Offutt fire station gets warm reception

Post by Brad »

New Offutt fire station gets warm reception

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1636&u_sid=1409301
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Base realignments

Post by Coyote »

Base Changes:
Reserve centers in Nebraska and Iowa targeted

WOWT wrote:The Defense Secretary recommended realignment, meaning the base will lose a net total approximately 100 positions.
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Post by Big E »

I tell ya, I've had about enough of this damn liberal Democrat administration and their military cutbacks!!!

-Big E
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Post by Brad »

News is mainly good for Offutt, Bellevue

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=163 ... rnd=201471
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Post by Brad »

Base closings lists include Nebraska centers

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1638&u_sid=1410521
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New commander appointed for Offutt

Post by Brad »

New commander appointed for Offutt

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1636&u_sid=1413182
An Air Force officer who commanded air units in both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars will become the new commander of the 55th Wing at Offutt Air Force Base.

Col. Jonathan D. George has been nominated for a promotion to brigadier general and would assume his new duties at Offutt this fall.
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Firm cleared for work at Offutt

Post by Brad »

Firm cleared for work at Offutt


http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1636&u_sid=1442332
After a delay of more than a year, the same Omaha-based companies that won a contract last year to modernize military housing at Offutt Air Force Base have been cleared to proceed with the project.

America First Communities, a group of companies including Kiewit Construction Co. and America First Cos., will renovate and rebuild housing at the Bellevue-area base and manage it for the next 50 years, said U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb.
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Post by OmahaChef »

The construction jobs will be nice too. Plus some of that housing looks pretty dated and tired. People serving our country deserve better.
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Offutt in consideration for 700 worker financial svcs center

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Omaha World Herald wrote:Offutt Air Force Base is in the running for a new Air Force financial services center that would employ more than 700 military and civilian workers. A site selection team from the Air Force was at the base this week, completing the last of six site visits around the country, according to sources in Nebraska's congressional delegation.
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1636&u_sid=2038922
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Offutt looks forward to new tower

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Offutt looks forward to new tower
The four-person, 1970s-era elevator at Offutt Air Force Base's air traffic control tower is not for the claustrophobic.

In 2007, the outmoded tower at the heart of Offutt's busy airstrip will be torn down. The operations will move to a new $7 million tower, which officials broke ground for Tuesday.

The new tower will feature modern digital equipment and training facilities in a space roughly five times larger than the current tower, which has been in use since 1974.

But the best part of the new tower might simply be the extra elbow room.
Suprising... Offutt one of the "major players" is finally getting upgraded. It seems weird that in so many aspects this base is old and almost run down.
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Re: Offutt looks forward to new tower

Post by icejammer »

Brad wrote:Suprising... Offutt one of the "major players" is finally getting upgraded. It seems weird that in so many aspects this base is old and almost run down.
When you're not in a high population state, those Fed funds aren't as forthcoming....
Last edited by icejammer on Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:03 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

Oh, ok, 'cause the state's population has ANYTHING to do with a military base's funding.
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Post by icejammer »

It has little to do with the day-to-day operations, but it DOES make a difference when it comes to capital improvement projects that have to compete against similar projects all across the country for limited dollars.
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Post by Finn »

Oh, ok, 'cause the state's population has ANYTHING to do with a military base's funding.
Tell that to the BRAC Commission!
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Post by eomaha »

How about a 'Democratic' senator who tends to lean Republican when given a reason to do so.
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Post by Raraavis »

StreetsOfOmaha wrote:Oh, ok, 'cause the state's population has ANYTHING to do with a military base's funding.
You don't know much about how the congress appropriates funds do you?
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Post by jjjjhskr »

Raraavis wrote:
StreetsOfOmaha wrote:Oh, ok, 'cause the state's population has ANYTHING to do with a military base's funding.
You don't know much about how the congress appropriates funds do you?
I would bet it has a whole lot less to do with population than it does the clout of the state's congressional delegation. A prime example - the "bridge(s) to nowhere" in Alaska.
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