Base sets sights on 2012 projects
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on February 17, 2012 1:46 PM
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base officials might not yet know what the installation's $53 million medical center will look like -- funding for the project would be allocated in 2013 should President Barack Obama's defense budget be approved by Congress -- but they do have an idea of how two other construction efforts will turn out.
A $6.6 million RAPCON -- a state-of-the-art air traffic control facility that will replace the existing one characterized as "substandard" -- is currently being constructed, and the runway is set to get a facelift this year, too.
Work on the Radar Approach Control tower began earlier this month, and the $18 million runway renovation is expected to begin in June.
And once completed, each will provide improved conditions for the base's fleet of F-15Es and KC-135s -- and the airmen who keep the aircraft in flight.
And the runway project will see three major sections of degraded slabs identified by the Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency Pavements Evaluation Team repaired, an effort 4th Fighter Wing Commander Col. Patrick Doherty has characterized as "long overdue."