Going back to 2012, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District, has partnered with Joint Base Charleston on many projects. These projects range from small jobs such as repaving a bridge or remodeling short stay rooms to bigger jobs such as building brand new living quarters and replacing all the lights on the flightline.
JBC’s facilities support more than 90,000 service members and civilians, as well as their dependents. The 24,000 acre base not only has full-time permanent personnel, but also some that come for a short time and need a place to stay. The new Visitor’s Quarters will help accommodate the base’s large population and its guests.
“The biggest project we have done with JBC is building the Visitor’s Quarters,” said Dan Klingshirn, USACE project manager. “The Visitor’s Quarters will be a 266 room hotel on the Charleston Air Force Base valued at $59 million. It will be used for personnel who are coming to JBC on official business, such as meetings and trainings.”
Klingshirn said the most exciting project for the Corps is the water intrusion repairs project at the Naval Health Clinic.
“The project grew in scope as more leaks were found in the building and it took several years from the time forensic investigation started to the time the construction contract was awarded,” said Klingshirn. “The building will remain operational as the contractor replaces the entire exterior enclosure. There will be a lot of moving parts, but our team in the field is up to the challenge!”
The partnership between the Corps and JBC started back in 2010, when the 628th Civil Engineer Squadron commander
approached the Corps about executing some projects. The squadron was overwhelmed with work and had hiring restrictions in place, so they needed to find another way to execute the workload.
“We have established a great relationship based on trust and we’ve built confidence in each other by meeting the commitments we make on both sides,” said Klingshirn. “Since the Corps has delivered on promises over the years, JBC’s trust in us has increased and we’ve seen the corresponding increase in workload. It’s a win-win situation because we serve as ‘overflow capacity’ for their CES staff when there are too many projects to handle, allowing us the opportunity to serve
military customers locally.”
Working with a joint base instead of a traditional base gives the Corps the opportunity to work with many different customers. JBC has Air Force, Navy, Army, Marines and Coast Guard units, as well as 60 mission partners, opening numerous partnership opportunities.
“We value our relationship with every customer at JBC,” said Klingshirn. “We take pride in helping solve some of their toughest facilities problems.”