Mr. Troy Collins

The speaker will be Troy Collins, Fort Bliss program director, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.Cost: $18 for members, $36 for nonmembers.Information and reservations: 629-6711.

Work soon will begin on a staggeringly larger project - the $2 billion to $3 billion expansion of Fort Bliss to house the 1st Armored Division, according to Troy Collins, Fort Bliss program director for the Corps of Engineers.And that's good for local business even before the soldiers start spending money in the city because, Collins said, the federal government mandates that 24 percent of the contracts must go to small businesses - a category that includes local merchants and contractors.The Biggs project is for a brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, formed under the Army's Modular Force transformation program, and just over 80 percent complete.The major Bliss expansion will be for 1st Armored units being relocated from Germany and Korea.Pentagon officials have said the moves would transform the post into a major mounted maneuver-training installation.Collins said the Corps and Fort Bliss have completed the planning for the 1,500-acre expansion and officials now are putting together contract packages.

Hiring localWhile a land development-engineering contract has already been let, Collins said the bulk of the contracts would be let beginning in about five months. In addition, he said, the Corps will be looking to hire contract administrators and construction representatives to do quality management."We'd like to hire as many locally for these jobs as possible," Collins said."If we have 90 positions, we'd like them all to be local because there's a cost savings by hiring local - we don't have to pay to move people."The project is to allow Fort Bliss to accommodate an influx of as many as 25,000 troops under the Pentagon's latest round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC).It will take time, Collins said, adding, "Everyone recognizes that as the brigade teams come in, the permanent facilities will not be ready.So the temporary village (on Biggs), as we've come to call it, will be used for swing space while these incoming units are waiting on their permanent facilities."Work on the temporary village - which includes 392 barracks, 13 laundry facilities, 20 storage buildings, 13 dayroom facilities and 65 administration buildings - in addition to a 32,500-square-foot dining facility and five 10,000-square-foot tensioned fabric structures for combat vehicle maintenance - has been under way since August, and should be completed by May 6, Collins said.
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About 18 months ago, the company completed a similar, though smaller, project at Fort Stewart, Ga., home of the 3rd Infantry Division, the largest army installation east of the Mississippi River, Collins said.
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Collins said the Army Corps currently has about 10 people overseeing the temporary-village project.

Col. Timothy White, the deputy garrison commander for base transformation at Fort Bliss, along with Troy Collins, Fort Bliss' program director for the Army Corps of Engineers, are slated to speak about Base Realignment and Closure during the event at noon Monday at the Airport Holiday Inn, 6655 Gateway West.

Troy Collins, P.E., the corps' Fort Bliss program director said even though the first BCT complex won't be ready until September, the first battalion for that first BCT should be finished by the end of the month.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and construction contractors are building complexes for seven BCTs.
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"The El Paso workforce of contractors, subcontractors and suppliers is meeting the challenge and working toward this Fort Bliss expansion on schedule," said Collins.

"The El Paso workforce of contractors, subcontractors and suppliers is meeting the challenge and working toward this Fort Bliss expansion on schedule," said Troy Collins, P.E., the corps' Fort Bliss program director.

The completion of the first complex is one part of the major expansion the post will see over the next six years.

In 2005, changes in Base Realignment and Closure created the Fort Bliss Expansion Program.While a number of U.S. military installations across the globe were closed or cut back, Fort Bliss welcomed new units and took on new missions.

Through a combination of military construction money and BRAC funding, Corps of Engineer contractors will build $4.4 billion in construction projects between 2005 to 2014 - or, an average of about $13 million every week, Collins said.
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Collins said even though it will be months before the first BCT is ready, the first battalion for that first BCT should be finished by the end of the month.Soldiers are also set to move into one of the already-completed barracks buildings this week.

So far, contractors have put between $500 million and $600 million in the ground, Collins said.

Work will begin on a staggeringly larger project the $2 billion to $3 billion expansion of Fort Bliss to house the 1st Armored Division, according to Troy Collins, Fort Bliss program director for the Corps of Engineers.And that's good for local business even before the soldiers start spending money in the city because, Collins said, the federal government mandates that 24 percent of the contracts must go to small businesses - a category that includes local merchants and contractors.Collins said the Corps and Fort Bliss have completed the planning for the 1,500-acre expansion and officials now are putting together contract packages.The project is to allow Fort Bliss to accommodate an influx of as many as 25,000 troops under the Pentagon's latest round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC).Work on the temporary village - which includes 392 barracks, 13 laundry facilities, 20 storage buildings, 13 dayroom facilities and 65 administration buildings - in addition to a 32,500-square-foot dining facility and five 10,000-square-foot tensioned fabric structures for combat vehicle maintenance - has been under way since August, and should be completed by May 6, Collins said.

Work will begin on a staggeringly larger project the $2 billion to $3 billion expansion of Fort Bliss to house the 1st Armored Division, according to Troy Collins, Fort Bliss program director for the Corps of Engineers.And that's good for local business even before the soldiers start spending money in the city because, Collins said, the federal government mandates that 24 percent of the contracts must go to small businesses - a category that includes local merchants and contractors.Collins said the Corps and Fort Bliss have completed the planning for the 1,500-acre expansion and officials now are putting together contract packages.The project is to allow Fort Bliss to accommodate an influx of as many as 25,000 troops under the Pentagon's latest round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC).Work on the temporary village - which includes 392 barracks, 13 laundry facilities, 20 storage buildings, 13 dayroom facilities and 65 administration buildings - in addition to a 32,500-square-foot dining facility and five 10,000-square-foot tensioned fabric structures for combat vehicle maintenance - has been under way since August, and should be completed by May 6, Collins said.

Troy Collins, Resident Engineer

At this time, the Chair recognized the following members of the audience: Ms. Becky Lupes, Air Quality of the FHWA, Ms. Lori Morel, TP & P of TXDOT, LTC Sean Lewis of Ft. Bliss, Mr. Troy Collins, Program Director for Ft. Bliss, Mr. Lorenzo Reyes of the Upper Rio Grande Workforce, and Mr. Kevin Buntz of Sun Metro

Troy Collins

Corps of Engineers