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A rendering of the planned training facility at the 106th Rescue WIng in Westhampton.
The U.S. Army has awarded a $15.5 million bid for a new, state-of-the art 28,000-square-foot facility for the 106th Air National Guard Rescue Wing at Gabreski Airport in Westhampton.
Replete with a 3,000-square-foot fitness facility for airmen, the building will replace a structure known as Building 250, which is over 60 years old and hasn’t been renovated since the 1980s.
In a state of disrepair, the building’s “mechanical and plumbing systems work marginally, at best, and some restrooms have been permanently closed, as they cannot be economically repaired,” the Air National Guard’s 2019 construction appropriation documents inform. The report also noted that mechanical failures and poor energy efficiency in the building result in high operating costs and the potential to negatively impact the base’s rescue and training missions.
It houses four 106th Rescue Wing Units — the Logistics Readiness Squadron, Civil Engineer Squadron, Security Forces Squadron, and Communications Flight.
Because its setback from the base perimeter is out of compliance with newer Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection standards, Building 250 will have to be torn down and a new facility constructed. The new building will house the Security Forces Squadron and Communications Flight units. Separate new facilities will be constructed for the Logistics Readiness Squadron and the Civil Engineer Squadron.
Originally tabbed at $20 million, the bid awarded to Kallidus Technologies has come in almost $5 million below budget. Based in Lowell, Massachusetts, Kallidus Technologies, Inc. provides design and general construction services across a wide range of industries, according to its website.
“The brave men and women who serve our nation at Gabreski Air National Guard Base have earned nothing less than the highest quality training and state-of-the-art resources they need to do their jobs safely and effectively. This continued federal investment in the 106th Rescue Wing ensures it will continue to play a vital role in our national security at home and abroad and, coming in under budget, is an efficient use of Long Islanders’ hard-earned tax dollars,” U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin told The Press after announcing the bid award.
“I believe this building will be an absolute difference maker for the folks out there getting after their mission,” the unit’s spokesman, Captain Michael O’Hagan, said Monday.
With the motto “That Others May Live,” the 106th Rescue Wing deploys worldwide to provide combat search and rescue coverage for the United States and allied armed forces. It augments active duty forces during war, national emergencies and increased national security. It provides emergency relief support during national disasters.
The 106th assisted in battling the 1995 Sunrise Wildfires, and was first on the scene after the crash of Flight 800. It assisted with the recovery of wreckage from John F. Kennedy Jr.’s plane when it crashed in 1999. On September 11, 2001, the 106th was the first ANG personnel at the World Trade Center.
Guardsmen from the base deployed to rescue flood victims after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2007, pulling victims to safety aboard two of the 106th’s HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters. Members of the 106th similarly deployed to Florida and North Carolina in 2018 to assist victims of Hurricanes Michael and Florence. The prior year, the wing deployed 126 airmen, three HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters and two HC-130 search and rescue aircraft to the Caribbean in the aftermath of hurricanes Maria and Irma. The unit flew cargo missions delivering vital aid to U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and its aircraft took part in the evacuation of American civilians from St. Maarten.
October 2012 saw 150 airmen of the 106th Rescue Wing deploy as part of more than 2,300 soldiers and airmen to prepare flood defenses before Superstorm Sandy made landfall.
This year, members of the rescue wing assisted with the statewide response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
