U.S. Army Garrison Commander Col. Fred Swope and Fort Campbell’s Director of Public Works, Ted Reese, said on Friday that the funds are part of the $787 billion stimulus signed on Tuesday.
Reese said $43 million will go toward the Warrior Transition Unit, a hub for soldiers injured in battle making the switch back to active duty or out of the military.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen attended a ground breaking Friday for the first building of the unit’s complex, the Soldier and Family Assistance Center, which is not covered by the stimulus package. Swope said the stimulus money puts the rest of the complex on a fast track for completion within two years.
‘We’ll be able to construct the whole complex a year earlier than planned,’ Swope said.
The other $60.1 million will go to modernizing or replacing more than 800,000-square-feet of wood buildings currently in use on the sprawling military post on the Kentucky-Tennessee border, Reese said.
The stimulus-backed construction will account for nearly $500 million in renovations and new construction on the post in the next two years, Reese said. Bids for the Warrior Transition Unit will go out by September, Reese said.
The money will provide jobs in the Fort Campbell area, which includes Hopkinsville and Oak Grove, Ky., and Clarksville, Tenn., Reese said. But, the size of the construction jobs will require contractors from Nashville, Tenn., Louisville, Ky., and points beyond, Reese said.
‘The local community will rise to meet the construction needs of these projects,’ Reese said. ‘This will overwhelm and actually exceed the capacity of the local community.’
Sgt. Josh Forbess, who works with the Warrior Transition Unit, said the new unit will consolidate multiple functions under one roof, simplifying life for injured soldiers.
‘We’re the one-stop shop for them,’ said Forbess, who was burned on 11 percent of his body after surviving a 2003 helicopter crash that killed 17 members of the 101st Airborne Division.
Post a Comment
