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505th Command and Control Wing News

505th CTS re-opens newly renovated facility

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Andrea C. Posey
  • 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
The 505th Combat Training Squadron held a ribbon-cutting ceremony here, June 27, for the re-opening of the Air Component Control Facility, or the “Mezz”, after seven months of construction.

The 505th CTS is a tenant unit located here that conducts virtual exercises such as Blue Flag and the Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment. Exercises such as these train military members in planning and execution of joint operations for the Air Force, its sister services and coalition partners. They also provide readiness training for the Numbered Air Forces.

The $2.5 million renovation, which began in November 2015, was completed this month with the combined efforts of the 1st Special Operations Civil Engineering Squadron, the 1st Special Operations Communications Squadron and the 1st Special Operations Security Forces Squadron. These squadrons assisted the 505th CTS in constructing the operations floor. The building was also brought up to code with the Americans with Disabilities Act by installing elevators.

“We spent a lot of time planning, programming, installing and maintaining this equipment –and rightfully so because they are key tools of our trade,” said Col. David Austin, commander of the 505th Training Group.

Remodeling the “Mezz” has allowed the 505th CTS to centrally locate 100 computers, making them more accessible in a new user-friendly work space for the more than 100 people who work together to run a virtual exercise, says Lt. Col. Merrick Green, commander of the 505th CTS. This will make the squadron more efficient in supporting their six geographic combatant commands.

According to Green, the operations floor’s new setup will reduce the squadron’s set up and break down time by 50 percent during their 22 yearly exercises. Furthermore, the 505th CTS will also be able to support multiple exercises at once in the same room, without having to be reconfigured for each event.

“The renovations were needed to keep up with [the] increasing demand for live, virtual and constructive training -- to ensure a high-level operational command and control readiness is achieved,” Green said.

Additionally, in constructing the plans for the newly renovated “Mezz”, quality of life for the Airmen who participate in 24-hour shifts during exercises in the facility was an important factor. The new facility was built with bathrooms and a kitchen located on the same floor as the virtual world the Airmen conduct their exercises in.

“It is the people of the 505th who breathe life into [the equipment] and make the world turn for [these exercises],” Austin said.