Groundbreaking ceremony held for new Military Department Investigative Agencies facility

  • Published
  • Headquarters Air Force Office of Special Investigations
Mr. Doug Thomas, Air Force Office of Special Investigations Executive Director, led a contingent of approximately 20 AFOSI personnel, including Chief Master Sgt. Chris Redmond, AFOSI Command Chief and headquarters directors to Marine Corps Base Quantico, where they participated in the MDIA facility groundbreaking ceremony.

The Collocate MDIA Project, as it's officially known, mandated in 2005 by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, requires that Headquarters AFOSI relocate to MCBQ no later than September 15, 2011, along with headquarters elements of the Army's Criminal Investigative Command, the Defense Security Service, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and elements of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Along with Colonel Charles Dallachie, MCBQ commander, Major General Eugene Payne, Marine Corps Assistant Deputy Commandant for Installations and Logistics and the other four MDIA representatives, Mr. Thomas spoke briefly regarding the symbolic importance of the ceremony and pledged AFOSI's full participation in and support of the collocation effort. Following the prepared remarks, senior agency representatives, including Mr. Thomas, armed up with shovels and jointly turned the first soil.

The groundbreaking ceremony marks the end of a challenging journey involving years of project conceptualization, the development of requirements, planning, organization, and design, and officially marks the beginning of the construction phase of the project. According to Mr. Andrew George, project manager for Hensel Phelps Construction Company, the general contractor, site preparation is nearing completion, the steel has been ordered, and the first concrete is scheduled to be poured as early as 1 December. As of today, the construction project remains firmly on schedule with delivery of the facility scheduled for no later than December of 2010. Despite persistent rumors to the contrary, there is currently no reason we should not be fully relocated into our new facility on MCBQ by September of 2011.