Contractors are completing finishing tasks at Kaiserslautern Military Community Center while movers bring in furniture and other furnishings to outfit the 350-room visiting quarters at the 844,000-square foot complex, according to an April 2 US Air Forces in Europe release. Last December USAFE officials said they expected the visiting quarters and some concessions to open in phases over this summer, bringing an end to doubts that there would be a successful conclusion to the problem-plagued KMCC development. Now, the VQ and other activities like the Sports Lounge, German Bakery, and Ramstein Tickets and Tours, are slated to open this spring. Opening over the summer will be largest Army and Air Force Exchange Service store in the world, Macaroni Grill, a food court, community bank, and another 51 vendor shops. “This is a very significant quality of life improvement for everyone in the [Kaiserslautern Military Community], as well as those traveling throughout Europe,” said Maj. Gen. Marc Rogers, USAFE vice commander. He noted, too, that having all these operations in one location, instead of spread across two installations, “makes sense in terms of maintenance and management.” Officials are timing opening of new facilities at KMCC with shutdown of the same and related facilities at their present locations. (USAFE report by Darlene Cowsert)
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…