2010 Annual Report - West Virginia Army National Guard - U.S. Army

West Virginia National Guard Annual Report 2010will house a large bay for aircraft inspection andrepair. The adjoining area will house specializedaircraft maintenance shops.Phase Two is underway and should becompleted and the facility ready for occupancyby October 2011. The new 71,600 squarefoot fuel cell hangar is estimated to costapproximately $22 million. The fuel cell hangarwill house additional specialized maintenanceshops. The base is striving in its design to ensurethat the new hangar will meet the requirementsfor a LEED certified “Silver” building and EPA2005 energy requirements, and will be amongthe most energy efficient and environmentallyfriendly facilities in the National Guard.Two other large projects are currentlyin the planning phase – a new base entrancefrom Coonskin Drive and an improvedcommunications facility. The Coonskin Driveproject will result in the base having a secureentry for Air Force and Army National Guardmembers. The project involves construction ofa new bridge into Coonskin Park, which willgreatly enhance access to the park for the public.The communications facility is under designand, when completed, will provide a centrallylocated system for both intra-base and off-basetelephone and computer communications.167th Airlift WingCol. Roger L. NyeCommand Chief Master Sgt. John H. Alderton30 31Airmen with the 167th Airlift Wing hadtheir mettle tested in 2010 during a variety ofmissions, both at home and abroad.The Wing -- based in Martinsburg -- gearedup for an Operational Readiness Inspection atVolk Field in Wisconsin. As the Wing rampedup training for the ORI, it simultaneouslyplanned for the inaugural Thunder Over the BlueRidge air show and open house, which wouldultimately attract more than 80,000 visitors tothe base during Labor Day weekend.One hundred eight Airmen from the Wingdeployed around the world in 2010. Twenty-fivemembers of the unit’s Security Forces Squadrondeployed to Eskan Village, Saudi Arabia, while15 firefighters were dispatched to Kuwait. EightAirmen from the Force Support Squadron alsodeployed to Manas, Kyrgyzstan.In January the Wing was used as a stagingarea to deploy much needed supplies to Haitiafter an earthquake devastated the area. Airmenwere responsible for ensuring that 385,000pounds of critical life-saving supplies weredelivered to victims by military and civilianaircraft. For six days hundreds of Airmenworked around the clock in an effort to loadmedical supplies and equipment, generators,air conditioning units, tents, food and waterfor humanitarian flights to the airport in Port-