Workers continue new hangar construction for the aviation brigade at Fort Riley on Dec. 9. Army officials estimate they have completed half of a .7 billion construction boom started to handle the return of the 1st Infantry Division to Fort Riley.

Fort Riley ? Army officials said last month that they are about halfway through a $1.7 billion construction boom that was started to handle the return of the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley.

About $500 million worth of those projects were related to the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure decisions to bring additional soldiers to Fort Riley, including the return of the 1st Infantry Division from Germany.

That move began in 2006 and will push the soldier population to about 19,000 by 2013. In addition to the growth at Fort Riley, established in 1853, surrounding communities have invested hundreds of millions more on housing, schools and other infrastructure to handle the military’s influx.

‘Money is still tight’

A month ago, construction crews were working on a number of facilities, including new hangars, operations centers and headquarters for the division’s combat aviation brigade.

Col. John Dvoracek, deputy garrison commander for transformation, said all of the funding from federal sources remained on track. Additional spending will be coming in future years for improvements on Custer Hill, the main area where units are.

“There’s a lot of the old stuff on the hill that we’ve got to do something with,” he said. “Money is still tight for the government regardless of where you are working.”

Dvoracek said the work on the aviation projects would be completed in 2010. None of the 110 helicopters that will be housed on the post are at the airfield. They are either in transit from Iraq or being refurbished elsewhere in the United States.

Construction figures

The 2,400-soldier unit recently returned from more than 15 months in Iraq. New buildings and improvements to the airfield were made to handle the soldiers and their helicopters. A challenge has been synchronizing the building projects with the return of the soldiers.

Construction included providing approximately 5 million square feet of parking and taxiway pavement, four hangars and 32 headquarters and support buildings.

“There are a lot of moving parts, and sometimes having all the elements here means you have to juggle things to make it work,” Dvoracek said.

Additional construction yet to begin includes a $404 million hospital to replace Irwin Army Community Hospital, which was built in the 1950s and is the second-oldest in the Army. It is needed to handle the increased soldier and family populations related to Fort Riley’s growth. Construction is scheduled to begin in the fall 2009 and be completed within five years.

Other projects on post are related to the Army’s efforts to modernize, transform and grow its forces. Units are getting new facilities to conduct soldier training, repair equipment and improve efficiencies. Barracks are being built for single enlisted soldiers, each with private bedroom and shared bathroom and kitchenette areas.

‘More balanced use’

The post will see another surge of soldiers as the Army moves its adviser training mission from Fort Riley to Fort Polk, La. When it does, the 1st Brigade of 1st Infantry Division will vacate Camp Funston and grow to about 3,500 soldiers, fielding tanks and armored fighting vehicles.

Funston, which has a mix of temporary and permanent structures, will see a variety of uses including preparing Reserve and National Guard units for deployments.

It could also become a center for giving noncommissioned officers advanced education instead of sending them to other Army posts for schooling.

“As the global war on terrorism comes down, and it will eventually, you will see a more balanced use of that facility,” Dvoracek said.