Fort Eustis, located on the James River at the northern tip of Newport News, Va., is home to the U.S. Army Transportation Corps and Center and currently provides training in rail, marine and amphibious operations, along with other modes of transportation.
The post, however, will dramatically change its operational footprint over the next few years under the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure authorization, as it loses the Transportation School and gains the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command headquarters.
<b>2005 BRAC Act</b>
The Army Transportation Center and School will move to Fort Lee, Va., under BRAC, but the watercraft, rail and cargo specialist training will remain at Fort Eustis.
The Surface Deployment and Distribution Command's operation center will leave Fort Eustis for Scott Air Force Base, Ill.
Additionally, the 2005 BRAC Act mandates a joint-basing initiative, impacting 12 locations across the country. The Fort Eustis Military Community (which includes Fort Story in Virginia Beach) will relocate its installation management functions to nearby Langley Air Force Base (lead agency) and Naval Station Norfolk, with an implementation goal of fiscal year 2009.
Meanwhile, several Army organizations are moving to Fort Eustis. These include:
Aca,!Ac TRADOC headquarters (moving from Fort Monroe, Va.)
Aca,!Ac Installation Management Command (IMCOM) Northeast and Southeast Regions
Aca,!Ac Network Enterprise Technology Command's Northeast and Southeast Regions
Aca,!Ac Army Contracting Agency, Northern Region
Aca,!Ac Joint Task Force-Civil Support
<b>Norfolk District's MILCON management</b>
Norfolk District of the Army Corps of Engineers will manage all facets of Fort Eustis' 2005 BRAC military construction expansion. There is $113 million programmed in FY 09 for the new TRADOC headquarters facilities. This MILCON project will provide facilities for 1,636 people, to include the U.S. Army TRADOC Band. This will be accomplished through new construction and renovation of current installation assets. The new construction will feature a 282,500-square-foot facility with construction slated to begin in April 2009, and completion projected for summer 2011.
The Joint Task Force-Civil Support project will include administrative facilities for 258 employees, as well as a mobility center for receiving, storage, maintenance and staging of deployable equipment. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2010. The facility will be about 60,000 square feet with a programmed $15 million cost. JTF-CS is slated for occupancy in July 2011.
Renovations to existing facilities will begin in October 2010 to house the Installation Management Command Northeast and Southeast Regions, the Army Contracting Agency's Northern Region, and the NETCOM Northeast and Southeast Region offices. This calls for administrative facilities for 279 personnel. The 42,000 square feet of renovations are slated to cost $10 million. The organizations are expected to complete their move into the facility by September 2011.
Six additional General and Flag Officers Quarters are to be constructed as part of the 2005 BRAC realignment. The $6.5 million programmed for the construction includes site preparation as well as supporting utilities, roads and infrastructure. Recent legislation allows the quarters to be constructed under the Residential Communities Initiative (Army Family Housing Privatization). Exact timelines for construction of these quarters has yet to be determined, but they are expected for occupancy in 2011.
<b> 'Growing the Army' through 2013</b>
In support of President George W. Bush's "Grow the Army" initiative to increase Army end strength by 74,200 Soldiers, the Fort Eustis-Story Military Community plans a robust Military Essential Integrated Projects List through FY 2013. The following IPL, with a program cost exceeding $210 million, is planned:
Aca,!Ac FY 08 Grow the Army Soldier Barracks
Aca,!Ac FY 08 Grow the Army Unit Operations Facilities
Aca,!Ac FY 09 Grow the Army Company Operations Facility
Aca,!Ac FY 11 Advanced Training Technical Facility, phases 1, 2 and 3 (Army Training Support Command)
Aca,!Ac FY 11 Deployment Processing Facility (Army Power Projection Platform)
Aca,!Ac FY 11 Upgrade Marshalling Area (Army Power Projection Platform)
Aca,!Ac FY 12-13 Advanced Individual Training Complex
Aca,!Ac FY 12 Aviation Training Facility (Army Aviation Logistics School)
Aca,!Ac FY 13 Aircraft Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Facility (Army Research, Development and Engineering Command)
Aca,!Ac Tactical Vehicle Maintenance Facility (7th Sustainment Brigade)
Aca,!Ac Dental Clinic
The Fort Eustis-Story Military Community support covers more than 3,000 acres, 40,000 personnel and over 1,000 buildings.
<i>This article is part of a series focusing on how installations are being affected by the Army's largest military construction program since World War II. For more information on MILCON, see the March issue of Soldiers magazine.</i>
(Gerald Rogers serves with the USACE Norfolk District Public Affairs Office, and Karla Gonzalez serves with the Fort Eustis Public Affairs office. )
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