thedrifter
07-17-09, 08:18 AM
MILITARY: Camp Pendleton to get $775 million in construction funds
By MARK WALKER - mlwalker@nctimes.com
CAMP PENDLETON ---- A full-scale makeover of this 125,000-acre base will continue over the next year, thanks to a $775 million appropriation for ongoing and new construction.
The money is included in the 2010 Defense Authorization bill, which has passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is working its way through the Senate, where the only major debate is over funding for the F-22 fighter aircraft.
Other area Marine bases also are winners in the bill, with $513 million in construction appropriated for the Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms and $9 million for Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.
The Marine Corps' other large base, Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, is in line for $673 million in construction and acquisition money.
The money for Camp Pendleton ---- the largest single allocation for any U.S. base in the world ---- is paying for an array of new facilities and infrastructure improvements.
"When all the work is done, we'll see a much-improved quality of life for the Marines and sailors," said Capt. Mike Williamson, operations officer for Navy Region Southwest in San Diego, which is overseeing the work.
Roughly $800 million worth of new barracks, training facilities, electrical and sewer improvements have been completed in recent months. Over the next 12 months, an additional $775 million worth of projects is planned. When all the work is done, the base will have received approximately $2 billion worth of upgrades.
The upcoming work includes $142 million for a water treatment plant and $77 million for a reconnaissance battalion operations complex.
Also on this list of new work is $53 million for bachelor enlisted quarters in the Las Flores area of the base and $53 million for a recruit barracks.
All the work is employing dozens of local contractors and hundreds of laborers at a time when construction has slowed dramatically because of the economic turndown.
Base officials have previously said the building boom at Camp Pendleton, home to more than 40,000 Marines and sailors, represents 20 times the normal amount of new construction that takes place in a typical year.
For married Marines with families, the base is building 256 homes, bringing its stock of single-family houses to 6,838.
Family housing at Camp Pendleton and around the nation drew congressional scrutiny earlier this decade as complaints of substandard and dilapidated conditions mounted. That led to initiatives to rehabilitate existing homes and build new ones.
The list of projects already completed, under way or planned also includes 24 new barracks to help house 30,000 unmarried troops, two fitness centers, three armories, a roadside bomb range and an infantry training center.
Also under construction and slated to open this fall is an 89,000-square-foot Special Operations Command Headquarters.
The base recently broke ground for a Wounded Warrior Battalion facility for troops recovering from physical and psychological injuries.
Williamson said that much of the troop housing, infrastructure and other facilities at Camp Pendleton have largely been ignored over the years. The new construction was overdue, he said.
"The Marines for the most part are an expeditionary force that has invested its money in weapons and training and being able to move quickly," he said this week. "They haven't historically put a lot of money into their bases. But as the force grows, it became apparent that we needed to provide better housing and better facilities to hold on to the troops and give them and their families a nice place to live."
The Marine Corps has grown in recent years from about 184,000 to 202,000 troops. As part of that expansion, Camp Pendleton is getting ready to house more than 6,000 additional troops expected to be assigned to the base within the next two years.
The base got another boost in March when President Barack Obama announced it would receive $536 million for a new hospital to be built just inside the Main Gate, providing easier access for retirees and their families. The hospital is slated for completion in 2014.
One other item of note in the defense bill is a proposal to rename the Department of the Navy to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps. The Marine Corps is a component of the Navy, and several members of Congress say the renaming would bring better recognition to the service.
The renaming has been in the House version of the bill for each of the past several years, but has failed to win Senate approval.
Call staff writer Mark Walker at 760-740-3529.
Ellie
By MARK WALKER - mlwalker@nctimes.com
CAMP PENDLETON ---- A full-scale makeover of this 125,000-acre base will continue over the next year, thanks to a $775 million appropriation for ongoing and new construction.
The money is included in the 2010 Defense Authorization bill, which has passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is working its way through the Senate, where the only major debate is over funding for the F-22 fighter aircraft.
Other area Marine bases also are winners in the bill, with $513 million in construction appropriated for the Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms and $9 million for Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.
The Marine Corps' other large base, Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, is in line for $673 million in construction and acquisition money.
The money for Camp Pendleton ---- the largest single allocation for any U.S. base in the world ---- is paying for an array of new facilities and infrastructure improvements.
"When all the work is done, we'll see a much-improved quality of life for the Marines and sailors," said Capt. Mike Williamson, operations officer for Navy Region Southwest in San Diego, which is overseeing the work.
Roughly $800 million worth of new barracks, training facilities, electrical and sewer improvements have been completed in recent months. Over the next 12 months, an additional $775 million worth of projects is planned. When all the work is done, the base will have received approximately $2 billion worth of upgrades.
The upcoming work includes $142 million for a water treatment plant and $77 million for a reconnaissance battalion operations complex.
Also on this list of new work is $53 million for bachelor enlisted quarters in the Las Flores area of the base and $53 million for a recruit barracks.
All the work is employing dozens of local contractors and hundreds of laborers at a time when construction has slowed dramatically because of the economic turndown.
Base officials have previously said the building boom at Camp Pendleton, home to more than 40,000 Marines and sailors, represents 20 times the normal amount of new construction that takes place in a typical year.
For married Marines with families, the base is building 256 homes, bringing its stock of single-family houses to 6,838.
Family housing at Camp Pendleton and around the nation drew congressional scrutiny earlier this decade as complaints of substandard and dilapidated conditions mounted. That led to initiatives to rehabilitate existing homes and build new ones.
The list of projects already completed, under way or planned also includes 24 new barracks to help house 30,000 unmarried troops, two fitness centers, three armories, a roadside bomb range and an infantry training center.
Also under construction and slated to open this fall is an 89,000-square-foot Special Operations Command Headquarters.
The base recently broke ground for a Wounded Warrior Battalion facility for troops recovering from physical and psychological injuries.
Williamson said that much of the troop housing, infrastructure and other facilities at Camp Pendleton have largely been ignored over the years. The new construction was overdue, he said.
"The Marines for the most part are an expeditionary force that has invested its money in weapons and training and being able to move quickly," he said this week. "They haven't historically put a lot of money into their bases. But as the force grows, it became apparent that we needed to provide better housing and better facilities to hold on to the troops and give them and their families a nice place to live."
The Marine Corps has grown in recent years from about 184,000 to 202,000 troops. As part of that expansion, Camp Pendleton is getting ready to house more than 6,000 additional troops expected to be assigned to the base within the next two years.
The base got another boost in March when President Barack Obama announced it would receive $536 million for a new hospital to be built just inside the Main Gate, providing easier access for retirees and their families. The hospital is slated for completion in 2014.
One other item of note in the defense bill is a proposal to rename the Department of the Navy to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps. The Marine Corps is a component of the Navy, and several members of Congress say the renaming would bring better recognition to the service.
The renaming has been in the House version of the bill for each of the past several years, but has failed to win Senate approval.
Call staff writer Mark Walker at 760-740-3529.
Ellie