Army April 09 www. bus- ex. com 67 US Army Corps of Engineers – Fort Benning T he Base Realignment and Closure ( BRAC) program of the Department of Defense is bringing about sweeping changes at bases across the country. At Fort Benning, Georgia, the changes include an ambitious set of infrastructure and building projects that together constitute the largest active construction project in the southeastern United States. The more than $ 2 billion worth of work, all set to be completed within a six- year time frame, will pave the way for the Army's armor school to be moved to Fort Benning from Fort Knox in Kentucky. The result will be more highly integrated training between infantry and armored divisions, says George Condoyiannis, area engineer with the US Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District. Condoyiannis, a professional engineer who leads the Fort Benning team, has been overseeing work there since 2005, when he returned from Iraq. In that time, the construction oversight staff has tripled as the amount of work being done each year has more than quadrupled. " Since infantry and armored divisions fight together and depend on each other in combat situations, the Army realized it made perfect sense to train them in a more integrated way," Condoyiannis says. The move will bring some 30,000 troops, family members and civilian support personnel to the Georgia installation and create the Maneuver Center of Excellence. That means not only major construction projects to build troop barracks and training facilities, but also upgrades to just about every network supporting the sprawling military post, from roadways to communications networks. Specific projects include a $ 245 million As part of a sweeping effort to realign Army bases across the country, Fort Benning is seeing some $ 2 billion worth of infrastructure and facilities construction. Keith Regan learns how the US Army Corps of Engineers is using an all- hands approach to managing the work Buildingfor tomorrow's

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