B3T: maintaining and improving Buckley

Published April 13, 2016
By Airman 1st Class Gabrielle Spradling
460th Space Wing Public Affairs

BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Through the Building a Better Buckley Together initiative, 460th Civil Engineer Squadron airmen and civilians have completed numerous projects to improve the base. The initiative was set in motion by Col. John Wagner, 460th Space Wing commander.

"The 460th Civil Engineer Squadron always does projects to make the base a better place to be, but it's more of a public campaign to get the word out to the public about what CE as a whole does for this base," said Mike Bock, 460th CES design and construction chief.

B3T has provided many solutions for issues that hindered how people live and work.

According to Bock, past projects include: quality of life projects in the dorms and Bldg. 730, landscaping, repairing electrical transformers to increase resiliency, annual striping and paving projects, curb and gutter work, carpet and painting, sealing concrete buildings, replace oil and water separators, fix roofs, HVAC and boilers replacement and adding new bunk rooms and interior renovations to the fire station.

The advances made around base aim to not only improve the issues, but to also maintain the high standards Buckley already has.

Some of the current developments on base include finishing the renovations to the dorm bathrooms, the realignment of Telluride Street and purchasing land plots around base to prevent encroachment.

"The intersection of Telluride and Breckenridge is closed from now until roughly May 18," said Bock. "We are completely replacing the pavement in the intersection and then straightening Telluride Street. That is our biggest contracted project right now."

Many B3T projects are planned to take place on Buckley AFB, however funding slows down the process of getting them all completed.

Lt. Col. Cynthia Clefisch, 460th Civil Engineer Squadron commander, explained that a major project that is planned for the upcoming years is to renovate the 6th Avenue Gate area to improve the traffic flow. It is a major project that is completely planned and funding is the last obstacle to overcome.

"The 6th Ave project is a series of improvements that basically realigns the road system," said Bock. "Plans include a traffic circle for the intersection, large curve in the road, move the visitors' center to the Mississippi Gate, redo the ID check area and adding another lane. In total there are about seven or eight total projects planned. They are planned projects for fiscal year 18 through fiscal year 22, but they are not funded yet."

The goal of the projects involved in B3T are to make Buckley AFB the best it can be in the long run, even if getting there is challenging.

Both Bock and Clefisch asked that those living and working on Buckley AFB be patient with B3T projects and the construction, because the tasks are designed to improve the way of life and work.

"B3T basically tries to make improvements to base," said Clefisch. "It ties back to the wing mission of 'Maximize missile warning and delivering outstanding installation mission support' and helps us accomplish that mission."