First Space Brigade gets a new home on Fort Carson

Photo By Maj. Ryan Hignight | Building 1459 on Fort Carson, Colo., Aug. 28, 2018, where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working to prepare the location for the arrival of Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command's 1st Space Brigade moving into the building. (U.S. Army photo by U.S. Army Capt. Ryan Hignight)  

FORT CARSON, CO, UNITED STATES

09.28.2018

Story by Zane Ecklund 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command's 1st Space Brigade is getting a new home on Fort Carson, Colorado, early next year thanks to the efforts of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Building 1459 was vacated when an armor brigade combat team was deactivated which created an opportunity for the unit to move. USACE-Omaha District Project Manager for the renovation of building 1459, Maj. Justin McMillan, explained why it made sense for 1st Space Brigade’s return to post.

“First Space Brigade are currently in downtown Colorado Springs in leased space costing the Army a lot of money. The building was vacated a couple years ago and we saw a great opportunity to bring units in leased spaces on to Army owned property,” McMillan said.

Renovations began in October of 2017 and is expected to cost approximately $3 million. The project is moving towards its expected completion date of November of this year although it has not been without complications.

“The biggest challenge on this project was making sure the communications aspect met the needs of the customer,” said Matt Hutchings, a project engineer working on building 1459.

First Space Brigade’s mission is very technical and the building required a variety of upgrades to meet their needs. Compared to other commands, they required a much more robust infrastructure for communications, security and computer networks. Initially, negotiations were ongoing between space brigade representatives and contractors about the commands specific needs but once discrepancies were identified construction began in earnest.

“One major issue with a lot of renovation is you don’t know until you actually starting getting in there. We kind of came in here and realized some of the comms (communications) that we thought were here did not already exist, and some of the existing security features in here also did not exist,” McMillan said.

U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command was activated in 1997. It is headquartered in Redstone Arsenal, Ala.

• Date Taken: 09.28.2018
• Date Posted: 09.28.2018 14:52
• Story ID: 294868
• Location: FORT CARSON, CO, US