DynCorp International started the renovation process on Building 457, the Bennie Davis Maintenance Facility, in March of 2019.
“DI won the Air Force Contract Augmentation Program (AFCAP) task order for recovery support at Offutt Air Force Base (AFB) in Nebraska on March 20, after the base was impacted by heavy flooding which covered some parts of the base in at least eight feet of water,” said Martin Lehman, AFCAP IV Offutt site manager. “We had an urgent task to return the base to normal operations with a clean and safe environment.”
Between March 21 and September 30, 2019, DI completed flood clean up – mitigation and remediation – in 35 buildings on the base, plus debris clean up and road clearing. The Bennie Davis Maintenance Facility was by far the largest building at 500,000 square feet.
“We started that building around March 28, 2019, and are handing it over completely finished this morning, almost exactly 16 months from the day we walked in,” said Lehman on July 29, 2020.
The DynCorp International team at Offutt worked through September clearing the food damage from the base before beginning the build-back phase. Build back consisted of 24 individual construction projects spread across the base and DI completed 16 of these projects to date, including the Bennie Davis building. The buildings with completed renovations ranged from aircraft hangars and offices to military working dog kennels, hazardous material storage facilities, electronic repair shops and the highly specialized construction of military intelligence facilities.
“We have had excellent subcontractors supporting us on this mission,” added Lehman. “DI uses local labor and small businesses whenever possible and I’d like to thank them for their remarkable support – Cotton Commercial Services out of Katy, Texas has a management team here, but all of their labor is local. The other two subcontractors are from the Omaha area, Elkhorn West Construction and Total Construction.”
“The team at Offutt has done tremendous work getting the 55th Wing back into fighting form and it has been my privilege to stay out of their way while they do it,” said Lehman.
The DI team also had an additional flood clean-up project beyond the standard base facilities. DynCorp International was asked to build critical infrastructure for the re-establishment of MILSTAR assets which were taken offline by the flood. MILSTAR (Military Strategic and Tactical Relay) is a constellation of military communications satellites in geosynchronous orbit, which are operated by the U.S. Air Force and provide secure and jam-resistant worldwide communications to meet the requirements of the U.S. armed forces.
“By completing this project, we assisted USSTRATCOM in reestablishing the National Security Network, providing critical national defense assets,” said Lehman. “There is still some work left to do, but the program is up and running. Our subcontractors, Planate Management Group and Sapper Construction, are doing a great job.”
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