Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake is another step closer to restoring full mission capabilities for base operations and its largest tenant, Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD), after celebrating the ribbon cutting of the South Airfield Complex on Nov. 7 to mark the completion of six projects that make up the complex.
This cluster of projects represents the single-largest contract of the Earthquake Recovery Program. The program was established after Ridgecrest was rocked by back-to-back magnitude 6.4 and 7.1 earthquakes in July 2019, causing widespread damage across the installation.
Following the earthquakes, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) established Officer In Charge of Construction (OICC) China Lake to manage the $2.7 billion reconstruction and repair of damaged facilities. The program identified 29 projects that had to be addressed to bring NAWS China Lake and NAWCWD back online.
“Between the design, construction, and the installed specialized equipment within these facilities, the South Airfield Complex represents a nearly $1 billion investment for the Navy,” said Capt. Nathan Hardy, Resident Officer In Charge of Construction (ROICC) China Lake. “I have had the privilege of supporting this program and this project in a variety of roles since the establishment of OICC China Lake in the summer of 2020, and it has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see these projects through from start to finish.”
The South Airfield Complex includes a fire rescue station, an air operations air traffic control tower, new hangars, and laboratory facilities. The contract was awarded in September 2020 and broke ground in March 2021 on what was once an empty 200-acre site.
Capt. Laurie Scott, NAVFAC Southwest Commanding Officer, was the NAVFAC Southwest Operations Officer when the earthquakes struck. He was part of the team that developed the multi-billion-dollar recovery program within four months of the earthquakes and stood up the integrated NAVFAC/NAWCWD in August 2020 as the OICC’s first commanding officer.
“I can remember March 9, 2021 like it was yesterday when we broke ground on this parcel, and in just over 1,300 days we are delivering the Super Bowl of projects,” said Scott. “By fully integrating NAVFAC and NAWCWD professionals, it allowed us to award all projects on time, pioneer new integrated processes, embrace and implement innovative construction management technologies in the field, and most importantly, we were able to attract top-tier civilian leaders from both organizations to work in partnership to deliver this one-of-a-kind construction program.”
Earlier this year, the OICC transitioned to a ROICC structure, a significant milestone that indicates that most of the Earthquake Recovery Program projects are complete, or nearing completion.
A total of 24 of the 29 projects within the recovery program have been turned over to their tenants. The remaining projects are on schedule to be completed in the summer of 2025, and the final project in early 2026.