New Airman Training Complex

Construction of the new Airman Training Complex No. 1 and its dining-classroom facility continues. The complex is on pace to be finished by late summer. Eventually, four ATCs and two dining-classroom facilities will replace eight Recruit Housing and Training buildings built in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Each new ATC will house up to 1,200 basic trainees. (U.S. Air Force photo/Alan Boedeker)

New Airman Training Complex

Jesse Gomez, a contract employee working to finish the 37th Training Wing's new Airman Training Complex No. 1, installs a coupler on a piece of conduit Feb. 7 at the Airman Training Complex No. 1 construction site. The complex is tentatively scheduled for completion in late summer. (U.S. Air Force photo/Alan Boedeker)

New Airman Training Complex

Contract employees working to finish the 37th Training Wing’s new Airman Training Complex No. 1 prepare suspension wire for ceiling tile Feb. 7 at the Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland construction site. ATC No. 1 is tentatively scheduled for completion later this summer. (U.S. Air Force photo/Alan Boedeker)

Basic training campus nears completion

Published Feb. 17, 2012
By Mike Joseph
JBSA-Lackland Public Affairs

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- The first Air Force Basic Military Training new housing campus projects are scheduled to be completed this summer, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the project administrator.

Daniel Olivas, the corps' resident engineer, said Airman Training Complex No. 1 and Dining-Classroom Facility No. 1 are about two-thirds complete, which puts the two buildings on a summer completion pace.

"We've had some challenges," said Olivas about the $900 million project.

Construction on ATC No. 1 began in October 2009, followed by DCF No. 1 several months later. ATC No. 2, started in 2010, is currently scheduled for a late summer to early fall finish.

"It's been a juggling act," said Olivas. "We have a different contractor for each project plus a small business contractor for the weapons cleaning pavilions, the drill pads and running tracks at each ATC.

"The shortage of real estate within the campus has been a challenge and will continue to be, as is parking for the construction workers. We have to make work areas available to everyone, so we all have to play well in the sand box together."

The two ATCs and DCF make up one half of BMT's new east housing campus. Ground was broken recently on ATC No. 3 and DCF No. 2, and the contract to construct ATC No. 4 is expected to be awarded later this year.

The four ATCs and two DCFs will replace eight Recruit Housing and Training buildings built in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which are scattered around Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. Each new ATC will house up to 1,200 trainees.

The east campus is the first phase to consolidate BMT into a centralized area. A new BMT processing and reception center was approved for funding last year. The center will be located just south of ATC No. 1, adjacent to 737th Training Group headquarters on Truemper Avenue.

Plans have also been designed for a BMT west campus with a projected completion date in 2018. It would duplicate the east campus with four ATCs and two DCFs. The two campuses would be connected by an overhead troop walk but separated by Carswell Avenue.