Alyssa Tolman
Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Cheyenne
(TNS)

CHEYENNE — A new $140 million helicopter and Tactical Response Force operations facility at F.E. Warren Air Force Base officially opened Friday, marking a major step in the base’s 90th Missile Wing’s nuclear deterrence mission, as well as a transition from its decades-old UH-1N Huey helicopters to the modern MH-139A Gray Wolf.

The facility was celebrated with an on-base ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by military leaders, elected officials, community partners and representatives of the organizations involved in designing and constructing the building.

The new facility was built for the Gray Wolf, which is replacing the 57-year-old Vietnam-era Hueys that have served at F.E. Warren for decades.

“The Gray Wolf represents the future of security of America’s intercontinental ballistic missile enterprise,” said U.S. Army Corps Engineers Deputy Commander West Lt. Col. Elijah McMahon during the ceremony. “This facility ensures that those airmen have the modern infrastructure they need to train, maintain and respond whenever called upon.”

37th Helicopter Squadron Lt. Col. Steven Bennett, who spoke with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle after the ceremony, said the Air Force has been discussing replacing the UH-1N since the 1990s.

After years of canceled replacement efforts driven by congressional, budgetary and policy considerations, Air Force officials held a competition in 2018 and 2019. The Gray Wolf was ultimately selected as the replacement aircraft and has since gone through the procurement and testing process.

The first Gray Wolves are now arriving at Warren.

The new facility that was unveiled Friday is necessary because the Gray Wolf is larger and has different maintenance requirements than the Huey, Bennett said. Warren’s existing helicopter hangar, located elsewhere on base, was not designed to accommodate the new aircraft.

The new building includes specialized spaces — including a carbon fiber shop — that are needed to maintain the more modern aircraft, Bennett said.

But other officials said during the ceremony that the building is more than a simple helicopter hangar.

Col. Bryant Bevan, commander of the 582nd Helicopter Group, described it as a helicopter and Tactical Response Force operations building serving the broader nuclear security mission at F.E. Warren.

The facility brings together the 37th Helicopter Squadron and the 90th Security Forces Group’s Tactical Response Force. The partnership was demonstrated during the ceremony when commanders from the two organizations cut opposite ends of the ribbon.

“Symbolically, you saw the 37th helicopter squadron commander cut one end of the ribbon, and the 90th (Missile Security Operations Squadron) commander cut the other end,” Bevan said. “That was on purpose, because we’re in this together. We’re ready to do the work.”

The base’s primary mission is carried out by the 90th Missile Wing in support of the U.S. Strategic Command’s nuclear deterrence mission. The base represents the ground-based leg of the nation’s nuclear triad, operating and maintaining intercontinental ballistic missiles, Bennett said.

The mission requires ensuring those weapons remain ready, secure and reliable. The new helicopter facility is intended to support that mission by providing modern infrastructure for air crews, maintainers and defenders.

Bevan described the facility and Gray Wolf as tools that will support what he referred to as the Air Force’s “fly, fix and fight” priorities.

Inside the building, he said, air crews will operate the new aircraft, maintenance personnel will keep the fleet ready and Tactical Response Force defenders will be prepared to respond when needed.

“We can have the fanciest building with the fanciest helicopter, but it means nothing without the people who are operating out of it 24/7/365,” Bevan said.

The facility itself took around three and a half years to construct.

Construction officially started March 31, 2023, although the project team began assembling in late 2022 after receiving a notice to proceed in October of that year.

The construction team included the Army Corps of Engineers, general contractor company Conti Federal Services and numerous trade partners, many of them from Wyoming, and some from Colorado.

Peter Ceribelli, CEO of Conti Federal, and other project officials credited the close coordination among those groups with helping keep the project on track.

Jason McDonald, the project manager who led Conti Federal’s team from the beginning of the project through its completion, was also recognized for his leadership.

“It takes tremendous leadership to build a project like this,” Ceribelli said of McDonald. “And (McDonald) did a great job providing that. He was the constant from day one to today. … He’s done a tremendous job leading the team. This was not an easy project to build, and he was largely responsible for the leadership and driving the activities.”

At the height of construction, approximately 200 people were working on the project at one time, McDonald said. Overall, roughly 500 to 600 workers participated at various points as different construction crews moved through their portions of the project.

McDonald also highlighted the project’s safety record, saying the team recorded 1,376 days without a lost-time injury or reportable incident.

Ceribelli said the project ultimately succeeded because of the people involved.

“It’s been a long and, at times, very challenging road to get here,” Ceribelli said during the ceremony. “But today, we can say we made it.”

The new facility will now serve as a home for the personnel responsible for operating, maintaining and supporting the Gray Wolf as F.E. Warren AFB continues its transition to the modernized helicopter fleet.

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