Officials from United States Army Garrison Daegu, 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Far East District and Korean Contractor Daebo Engineering and Construction Company broke ground on the second family housing tower on Feb. 27.

"The new towers will bring a sense of camaraderie to the tenants," said Wilfredo G. Moore, USAG Daegu housing director. "It will be similar to living on the economy with all the necessary amenities within walking distance. The playground will be state of the art. Built above the parking garage, this will allow the children to play without worrying about traffic. The area will include tot lots, gazebos, and bike racks."

Various military and Korean guest attended the ceremony including 19th ESC Commanding General Brig. Gen. John P. Sullivan who gave the opening remarks.

"On behalf of all of our family members and service members who are truly serving here in Daegu as well as those who will serve in the future, please enjoy the great improvement quality of life at this tower will bring," said Sullivan. "Thank you all for all of that hard work and effort."

Army Family Housing Tower 2 is conceived as a 15-story building with a 3-level parking structure. The tower has 90 apartments, playgrounds, and green space. Each apartment will come furnished including refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, washer, and dryer. The estimated cost is $61M. The square footage of the apartments will be comparable to the apartments stateside. There will be four 5-bedroom units, twenty-six 4-bedroom units, and sixty 3-bedroom units. Each unit will have plenty of storage space and a laundry room. These will be provided to Company Grade Officers and Senior Non Commissioned Officers and their families. This facility will help meet the mission by having key personnel residing on post, instead of residing off post.

USACE FED Commander Col. Stephen H. Bales attended today's event to celebrate the ground breaking ceremony and to give a speech about the tower 2 construction.

"Far East District has a long history here on the peninsula and Camp Walker and Daegu. I'm very proud to be part of this key project which is the improvement in the quality of life for the Soldiers and family members who serve here in Daegu," said Bales. "Our team of engineers, support staffs, contractors and construction agencies are dedicated to give U.S. Army Garrison Daegu the best possible facility which will support the defense in the Republic of Korea alliance. I am confident that we will work together and we will provide family members and service members in U.S. Army Garrison Daegu the quality facility to appreciate the quality of life together," said Bales.

Mr. Jung, Kwang-sik, the president of Daebo E&C Co., Ltd promised to provide a quality housing facility for Soldiers and family members.

"Daebo Engineering and Constuction Company has a lot of construction experience for high-rise apartments," said Jung. "With these experiences, we will do our best to construct for service members and family members of Area IV the best quality housing facility"

According to Wilfredo G. Moore, USAG Daegu Housing Director, the future construction development for Camp Walker will include three more AFH Tower units for a total of 360 housing units. The first AFH Tower estimated completion is October 2018; the second AFH Tower estimated completion is July 2019 and the third AFH Tower estimated completion is June 2020. The construction information on the fourth AFH Tower is not known.