AFTAC Breaks Ground On a New Facility

Jul 11, 2011, 12:20 p.m.

An Aerial View Looking Northwest

Brevard County, Fla. — By MARY BROTHERTON

On Friday, June 17, Patrick Air Force Base held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new AFTAC facility on an 11-acre parcel on the west side of South Patrick Drive between the Department of State aircraft hangars and the 45th Space Wing Security Forces Complex. AFTAC is an acronym for Air Force Technical Applications Center. There will be two major facilities that will host the AFTAC Operations Center (AOC).

The AOC is a sophisticated information technology system that communicates with a network of subsurface, ground-based, and space-based sensors to make up the United States Atomic Energy Detection System.

The HQ replacement facility is 276,000 square feet. Additionally, there will be a 38,000-square-foot analysis laboratory. In addition to administrative space for nearly 1,000 employees, there is also a large industrial area which supports AFTAC's logistics functions.

According to sources at PAFB, Congress has authorized $158M for this project. Hensel Phelps of Orlando was awarded the contract. Much of the work on this project will be completed by local companies providing a positive financial impact within the community. Approximately 45 new civilian authorizations have been added to operate

the analysis laboratory.

The existing facility was constructed almost 60 years ago and is costly to operate and maintain. With the expansion of AFTAC's mission over the past three decades, staff and functions have outgrown the current facility, which will be demolished once construction and transition is completed in 2013 or early 2014.

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