General Hyten visits JSpOC, headquarters consolidation project sites

  • Published
  • By Capt. Nicholas Mercurio
  • 14th Air Force Public Affairs
The Joint Space Operations Center, 14th Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) and Joint Functional Component Command for Space headquarters consolidation project was on display, here, Mar. 28, during a visit by Air Force Space Command Commander General John Hyten.

General Hyten was briefed on the status of the project which includes renovation of existing base facilities as well as consolidation of equipment from the Launch and Test Range System.  He also toured the three facilities, Buildings 7000, 7015 and 7025, involved in the project, which reached major milestones in 2015 and has project managers eyeing continued success for 2016.

The ultimate goal of this consolidation project is to resolve ongoing power and infrastructure deficiencies in the current home of the JSpOC, a synergistic battle management and command and control system which provides a focal point for the operational employment of worldwide joint space forces.

Specifically, the renovation of Building 7000 will significantly reduce mission risk for the JSpOC by providing a more stable mission platform from which to operate. Two key aspects of the renovation are a complete rework of both the electrical and mechanical systems in the building, upgrading systems and installing redundancies to improve functionality and resiliency of critical systems.

The project will also geographically co-locate the 14th AF (AFSTRAT) and JFCC Space Commander and his staff with the JSpOC, bringing all the mission functions together under one roof.

Commenting on the importance of the JSpOC move and headquarters consolidation, Lt. Gen. David Buck, 14th AF (AFSTRAT) and JFCC Space commander said, "As a commander I must have the ability to command and control my forces.  By consolidating my ops center and headquarters staff I will be able to ensure timely and efficient information flow which will bolster the fidelity of our common operating picture and the speed of decision-making.  This will only serve to enhance our ability to deliver timely and synchronized space effects to the joint and coalition warfighter."

"There has been a lot going on with regards to the consolidation project and we had a tremendous level of support from the 30th SW units in coordinating their personnel and equipment moves out of B7000 to their new homes in B7015 and B7025 for Phase I," said Col. Barnabas Dudas, director, 14th AF, JFCC Space and JSpOC consolidation program.  "The 30th Operations Group and Space and Missile Systems Center continued their Range System move plans allowing us access to the 2nd and 3rd floors of B7000 in mid-December to begin Phase II of the project." 

Also during 2015 there were several key aspects of the Building 7025 (Western Range Operations Control Center) project completed such as the Missile Defense Agency Range Data Control Center on June 30, 2015.  Lastly, as of Dec. 15, 2015 the Building 7000-proper project commenced Phase II of construction, which includes access to the second and third floors. 

In 2016, the Range Systems will continue to be moved out allowing access to the basement and 1st floor of B7000 to begin Phase III on 1 May 2016.  As part of the transition and construction process there will be launch range downtime at Vandenberg AFB from Mar. 8 to mid-August 2016.  The launch schedules have been updated with the downtime taken into account. 

"We are confident we can hit all our milestones and meet the timelines necessary to keep range downtime to an absolute minimum," Dudas said.