07/30/03
By SHELBY G. SPIRES
Times Aerospace Writer shelbys@htimes.com
An Army master plan to improve the munitions school at Redstone Arsenal could bring 800 more soldiers to the area, says the Army officer in charge of the school.
The school is the Army's main center for training enlisted soldiers and officers to use and repair missiles such as the Multiple Launch Rocket System and the Patriot missile.
Army planners want to spend about $150 million over 15 to 20 years at Redstone to improve the Army Ordnance Munitions and Electronics Maintenance School, located off Patton Road on the north side of the arsenal. The projects depend on congressional approval of Pentagon budgets over the next decade or so.
The improvements would include new classrooms, work areas and could mean moving special electronics courses from other Army posts in Georgia and Texas to Redstone, school commander Col. David Hafele told The Times.
"We want to consolidate our operations here at Redstone on post and possibly bring in students I have at other posts," Hafele said. "We would have fewer facilities to manage and pay for. In the long run, it would mean a savings in operations costs."
The Army has about 700 soldiers and instructors at an electronics school at Fort Gordon, Ga., and another 100 at a special radar school at Fort Bliss, Texas. These schools are under the command of the Redstone Ordnance Munitions and Electronics Maintenance School.
The Redstone school has about 1,200 soldiers in classes at any one time during the year. Also, it has 149 civilians and 462 military faculty and staff members.
Hafele didn't have figures on possible savings but said, "Because the buildings are new, they will not cost as much to use as older buildings. In addition, we will be able to do our jobs more effectively here."
The electronics course movement more than likely would be tied to 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission decisions that Pentagon planners hope will consolidate military and civilian operations around the world, Hafele said.
U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, said Redstone construction projects that are planned or under way would improve Huntsville's ability to fend off proposals for reductions that could come from the upcoming round of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
Army and NASA construction plans could also lure new work to the area, he said.
"We as a delegation here have always worked hard to improve the infrastructure at Redstone Arsenal," Cramer said. "I think this has made us very attractive as an Army post. We've done the same at Marshall, and I think we are in good shape there."
Military construction money is coming from a shrinking budget. The Redstone munitions school dates to 1952, and the Army uses some of the same buildings soldiers trained in during the Truman administration. Like Redstone, other Army installations have buildings that were constructed in the early 1950s or during World War II.
The old buildings are expensive to heat and cool and were not designed for modern teaching methods, such as the use of computer networks, Hafele said.
"We will need to build new, modern facilities anyway. I'd rather it be done here at Redstone and consolidate the school with modern training areas. It would cost the taxpayer less in the long run to have them all here."
Moving training courses is only one aspect of the 20-year plan. The school is spread out over more than a mile on the north side of Redstone. The Army wants closer classrooms linked with walkways to improve soldier safety.
Troops come to the Redstone munitions school fresh out of basic training. New students are led from classrooms in drill formations along Redstone streets. Hafele said this can pose a safety problem, but at the moment it is the only way to get the students from place to place.
"We take all the safety precautions we can, but there is a danger to young soldiers that somebody will lose control of an automobile and plow into a formation of students," Hafele said. "We need to prevent that by getting them off the roads."
Most of the school improvement plan would be carried out over the next decade.
Major school projects in the plan include:
A $45 million project to replace several older classrooms with three 60,000-square-foot buildings equipped with modern classroom equipment and large work bays.
A $9 million replacement gymnasium with construction to begin in 2005.
A $4 million munitions training facility with construction to begin in 2006.
A $4 million facility to teach identification, packaging and transportation of hazardous biological and chemical materials. The training would not use hazardous material, Hafele said. Construction is to begin in 2007.
The rest of the plan includes spending $78 million more to build new administrative offices, soldier barracks and parade grounds. Relocation of other training courses and classroom expansion could occur in 2017-2023. But the main details cover only the next decade.
"It's a big effort," Hafele said. "We have the support of the local congressional delegation and the support of the Army garrison here. This plan will only strengthen the school and give the Army a better soldier."
