Joint Base Andrews, Md. - Joint Base Andrews is receiving new temporary trailers this year to accommodate the transition of the 459th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron into a new building.
The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Baltimore District awarded the construction contract for the temporary trailers on behalf of the Air Force Reserve Command and the 459th Air Refueling Wing.
“The existing AES facility is scheduled to be demolished as a part of a Military Construction (MILCON) project that will replace the current building 3744.” said project manager, Michael Coats, PE. “The temporary auditorium space being used now is not adequate nor conducive to the AES mission.”
The current building in place for the 459th AES was deemed unusable with several code violations and hazards which is why it is being demolished and rebuilt rather than renovated.
“The building was classified as inoperable due to numerous items such as roof leaking, cracked foundation, a man hole in which the building is caving into, gas leaks and the foundation is just overall lacking structural integrity,” said Major Emily Wagner, Assistant Director of Operations for 459th AES.
Maj Wagner with the help of the Command Staff, is heavily involved in the planning and designing portion of the project and has been overseeing the current build of the trailers.
“There were a couple of delays with COVID-19 because risks needed to be mitigated due to desks being close together which caused a couple of design changes” said Wagner. “Luckily, COVID has not affected the pace of production too much because of the telework option which let us still have our design team meetings.”
The trailers are scheduled for occupancy between the months of February and March of 2021. However, the construction of the new building will take closer to three years to complete.
“We talk about this every month during our commanders’ call,” said Wagner. “Hearing about the progress is giving us hope to just stick with it. It can only get better.”