The Stillman parade field on the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was the site of a groundbreaking ceremony Aug. 6 for the new Madera Cyber Innovation Center.
Academy Superintendent, Lt. Gen. Richard M. Clark hosted the afternoon event before a group of Servicemembers, distinguished guests and civilians.
This state of the art, 48,000-square-foot, three-story building will greatly enhance the Air Force’s cyber capability training efforts; and their new Cyberworx program which launched in 2016 and combines technical expertise from the Air Force, academia and private industry.
Funding for this new facility came from several sources including the Air Force, Department of Defense, and public and private donations. In addition, approximately 30 percent of funding came from the Air Force Academy Foundation.
Peter Sturdivant, chief, military construction USACE, Omaha District participated in the groundbreaking and was also one of several keynote speakers.
“While we manage many projects in the Omaha District, this one has a special place and is at the top of our commander’s priorities. Our purpose here, and on all of our projects, is to deliver and accomplish the mission assigned to us which we will do,” Sturdivant said. “I eagerly anticipate the start of construction and I especially look forward to attending the ribbon cutting.”
Also attending the ceremony were members from the Omaha District's Rocky Mountain Area office team who will be working together to provide management and oversight of the project.
The resident engineer for the office, Brian Felker, will supervise and be responsible for managing the construction of this project.
“This is an exciting project. The new academic facility will support cutting edge research and development, and education in the field of cyber warfare,” Felker said. “Contributions from the Air Force Academy Foundation will also provide various architectural enhancements, including additional square footage, an open multi-level atrium, a high-end glass curtain wall system, and a sculptural monumental stair.”
Felker added that this is an exciting project for the entire team, and in many ways reflects the longstanding partnership between USAFA and USACE. Prior to joining USACE, Felker worked in the civil engineer squadron at the Air Force Academy.
John Jaszkowski, project manager military construction, Omaha District is also an Air Force Academy alumnus and will help manage the construction of the new cyber innovation center.
“This has been a work in progress for the past four years. The Air Force Civil Engineer Center hired us at the beginning during the design stage to come out here and do this work for them” Jaszkowski said. “It’s been a long road coming, and it’s very exciting to be here at the groundbreaking and I look and to the next stage of the project.”
This $58 million military construction project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2024.