FORT HOOD, Texas - Preparations are underway for the 1st Cavalry Division Headquarters to begin renovation here from the ground up.
The building, which opened in 1983, is currently the oldest division headquarters facility being used within the U.S. Army Forces Command.
A need for an overhaul was noticed more than three years ago, driving Texas Congressmen to write a letter to the Army's Secretary and Chief of Staff requesting funding.
Fast-forward a few years later, and the Army has now been allocated with roughly $50 million dollars of sustainment, restoration and maintenance (SRM) funds to go ahead with the overhaul.
"It's a project like we've never done before here on Fort Hood," said Brian Dosa, Fort Hood's Director of Public Works. "The entire building will be gutted - tore down to its bare structure, then all systems will be rebuilt to Army standards for a division headquarters."
During the construction, the internal layout will be drastically reorganized and expanded upon, but the outside will remain virtually unchanged, said Dosa.
"We're going to improve the flow," he explained. "The plan has been reconfigured to be functional, to include adding an additional 10,000 square feet by getting rid of the courtyard, and to address its current two biggest shortfalls - the operations center [COIC] and the SCIF [sensitive compartmented information facility.]"
The COIC currently only meets 25 percent of the Army standard, and the SCIF provides only 50 percent of the warfighter demand.
Dosa said the ops center and SCIF will move down to the ground floor, utilizing the former courtyard area, and will gain much needed square footage to meet Army standards.
"The Army standard is 10,000 square feet; right now we're at more like 2,000," said Dosa. It's undersized and doesn't contain the right systems and configurations."
In addition to a changing layout, all air conditioning and electrical systems will be freshly installed. Dosa said these changes combined would allow both a roomier, safer place for troopers to hang their Cav Hats.
"It's exciting and expensive," he said. "But, it's cheaper than building a new one - about $30 million cheaper - and it's coming from a much easier source of money to obtain [SRM instead of new military construction funds.]'"
During the renovation, staffers will be temporarily lodged in trailers near the Soldier Development Center, which are expected to begin being built next month and finished Fall 2016.
From then, troops would work out of their mobile offices for approximately two years while the headquarters is being finalized and inspected, with an approximate move in date of late 2018.
As for the troopers of the First Team, the new building will make their lives much more convenient in the future, Dosa said.
"The mission of the 1st Cavalry Division is to train Soldiers, be prepared, and to do our nation's business," he said. "To have a modern facility like this will be huge and support both home station mission command and continuing operations, all without any hamper on the mission."
Social Sharing