Construction of the Air Force Technical Applications Center’s new headquarters complex is set to begin next spring at Patrick AFB, Fla. This will be the Air Force’s largest construction project within the United States, reported FloridaToday.com, citing Brig. Gen. Ed Wilson, Patrick’s base commander. “It’s a $150 million-plus project,” he said. AFTAC is the surveillance organization that monitors for nuclear weapon detonations worldwide and nuclear treaty compliance. Its new HQ complex will comprise at least three buildings and a parking garage. It will be located farther west on base property, at a greater distance to a busy public road than the current four-story headquarters building. The Air Force anticipates that the construction will be done by the end of 2012. AFTAC employs about 940 military and civilian personnel.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. still “believes” in his mantra of “Accelerate Change or Lose”—and indicated the doctrinal changes it produced when he was Air Force Chief of Staff played a role in the service’s recent response to Iran’s aerial assault on Israel, he…