USAG HUMPHREYS, South Korea - For service members looking for a home away from home, a new family housing tower on Camp Walker will provide just that in South Korea. Representatives from the 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, 8th Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Far East District, U.S. Army Garrison – Daegu, and the first family to live in the tower participated in ribbon cutting to commemorate the facility opening on Feb. 29, 2024.
“Today’s opening ceremony represents the Army’s commitment to investing in Soldier and family quality of life,” said Brig. Gen. Frederick L. Crist, 19th ESC commanding general.
The tower was the fourth constructed over the past decade, representing nearly $250 million in housing investments on Camp Walker and provide spaces for 360 families.
“The completion of this new housing tower shows the forward momentum to continue making the community a great place to be and bring in more families,” said Col. Roderick F. Laughman, 8th Army Deputy Commander – Sustainment. “It also allows the sustainers and warfighters to focus on the mission at hand and be ready to fight tonight knowing their family members are well taken care of.”
USACE FED managed the design and construction of the housing towers over the past decade.
“Across our enterprise, we may be familiar with Army family housing projects, but nowhere else in the world do we construct towers like the ones here in Korea,” said Col. Heather Levy, USACE FED commander.
Tower 4, awarded for construction in 2019, provides 90 units split among three-, four- and five-bedroom floorplans. Along with laundry rooms and bulk storage areas within their unit, residents of the new tower also have additional storage space in the basement of the tower.
“This fourth and final tower represents our and the Army’s commitment to providing the best possible conditions for our Soldiers and their families,” said. Col. David F. Henning, U.S. Army Garrison – Daegu commander. “To making good on Installation Management Command’s motto: we are the Army’s home.”
The facility provides American style housing layouts in a living format familiar to Koreans – housing towers. This ensures more personnel can live on the installation within a much smaller footprint, providing them easy access to amenities and a community of military families while living in the heart of Daegu.
“We understand living in these towers may feel the same way to the families that reside in them as we felt constructing them – a sense of familiarity to typical Army family housing but new experiences unique to housing towers,” Levy said.
As the design and construction agent for the DoD in South Korea, USACE FED witnessed these projects go from concepts meetings and blueprints to construction activities and now residents moving in.
“Ribbon cuttings give us a chance to reflect on all those lessons we learn throughout a project,” Levy said.
Over the decade, the team uncovered a need for additional HVAC capabilities and a need to adjust utilities to make the towers better for residents.
“USACE doesn’t just call itself a learning organization – we are one,” Levy said. “So, we took these lessons and made sure that the next facility built did not have the same challenges to make it that much better.”
Members of the project delivery team from all stages attended the event to see the completion of the final tower. This included everyone from a civil engineer and architect who designed the facility to various members of the resident office that monitored the construction activities.
Although the ribbon cutting marks the end of construction for the family housing towers, future investment plans for quality of life for USAG Daegu continue. USACE FED is currently constructing an Army lodge with future plans to construct an elementary school.
“We who live in our Army home of USAG Daegu, can rest assured that things are looking even brighter as we move to the future,” Henning said.
Social Sharing