Newest BRAC building opens at China Lake

Bettye Moody, head of the Propulsion and Energetics Division, cuts the ribbon Sept. 24 for the new In-Service Engineering Facility at China Lake. Cmdr. Lee Johnson, Naval Air Weapons Station executive officer looks on. Photo by Mike Johnson.

Date: 04-Oct-10
News Release Number: ECL201010041

Navy officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Sept. 24 for the In-Service Engineering Facility onboard Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.

"Our mission here is to make sure the men and women in the fleet can use and deploy their weapon systems to support and promote peace around the world," said Scott O'Neil, Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division executive director. "The fundamental purpose of this building is to support that mission and I envision a lot of work being done in this facility directly in support of the warfighter."

The 20,000-square-foot facility, located at the NAWCWD China Lake Propulsion Laboratory, will be used for in-service engineering sustainment, including the inspection, maintenance and packaging of bombs and missiles. It will accommodate up to 30 personnel, and consist of three large, open-bay work areas, storage rooms, and support areas.

"What we do is all about the warfighter," said Dave Janiec, director for the Weapons and Energetics Department of the Naval Air Systems Command at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division. "This facility will be key because we expect to be doing even more with existing weapons and working to extend their lives."

The facility is part of the overall Base Realignment and Closure 2005 plan that makes China Lake the Naval Integrated Weapons and Armaments Research, Development, Acquisition, Test and Evaluation Center of Excellence. It is the third of 10 BRAC construction projects at China Lake.

"We're welcoming this facility into the China Lake family," said Bettye Moody, head of the Propulsion and Energetics Division "This building will allow us to enhance our current capabilities and improve our efficiency in the assembly and disassembly of systems."

The prime contractor for this $9 million project was Barnhart Inc. KMA Architecture and Engineering provided architecture and engineering services for the design/build project.

"As we head into the last year of BRAC 2005 execution, the completion of this project symbolizes the combined efforts of a dedicated team of people," said Ruth Hogan, head of the Weapons and Armaments Implementation Team for NAWCWD. "Every person on this team demonstrated a level of commitment that went above and beyond."

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