New TEC facility to build capacity

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Mike R. Smith
  • I.G. Brown Training and Education Center
MCGHEE TYSON AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Tenn. --  Base officials here just announced the early planning stages for a new, nearly 47,000 square foot dormitory and classroom facility at the I.G. Brown Training and Education Center.

"Currently, our in-resident throughput can exceed 4,000 service members, and this new facility will potentially enable a 30 percent increase, greatly increasing our capacity for training and educating America's Airmen," said Col. Tim Cathcart, TEC commander.

Maj. David Barrett, deputy base civil engineer, said in an email that the project is approved and appropriated as part of the President's fiscal year 2014 budget.

The National Guard Bureau issued "the authority to bid" Feb. 19, which allows the base to open the bidding process this spring for a multimillion dollar construction.

"Project documents have been finalized and base contracting is preparing the solicitation," said Barrett.

A color rendering of the multistory facility shows it at the open campus space between the current buildings.

The two new dormitory buildings are almost 28,000 square feet joined, and the new classroom facility adds nearly 19,000 square feet of learning space.

Barrett said that the projected groundbreaking is mid-July. Construction will likely take up to two years.

The TEC offers more than 18 enlisted professional military education courses - the Air Force's largest - and more than 40 professional continuing education courses annually to a Total Air Force student body. It also manages the TEC TV Warrior Network through HD broadcasts, virtual conferences and blended distance learning capabilities.