AFWERX Fuses Talent for Tyndall Rebuild

by: Veronica Kemeny, AFIMSC Public Affairs Support Contractor

Tyndall leadership has their eye on June for the AFWERX Fusion event in Las Vegas, Nevada -- an event that will pave the way for the Base of the Future.

The Air Force Innovation Hub, known as AFWERX, is bringing more than 200 Industry partners and military service members together to bring innovative ideas to the forefront at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

There have been several challenge definition workshops leading up to the AFWERX Fusion event that brought industry, academia, civic and military leaders together to define a series of challenges for industry to address when building the Base of the Future.

“The team specifically looked at where to house 2,000 construction workers that will be building the multi-billion dollar base,” said Brig. Gen. Patrice Melancon, executive director of the Tyndall Program Management Office. “Out of this final workshop the new Tyndall Rebuild Accommodations Village, also known as #TRAV, was born. This will likely end up being a hybrid solution for the TRAV. We definitely want to have part of it on the 29,000 acres of Tyndall property housing these workers.”

Several civic leaders including members of the Military Affairs Committee, Bay Defense Alliance, and U.S. Congressman Neal Dunn’s office participated in the workshop.

“I was honored to be a part of the final AFWERX workshop,” said Stacie Galbreath, Councilwoman for Parker. “The program brought together a creative output that will surely assist the military in making the best decisions for project TRAV. I am looking forward to the potential economic boost to the city of Parker with the influx of construction workers that will be housed on Tyndall.”

It has been sixteen months since Hurricane Michael hit the base and the marathon work to recover and rebuild has been nonstop.

“There are still a lot of hard questions but we have a great team from the military side, the community side and our industry partners,” Melancon said. “We are not done with the tough parts yet but we are making good progress on those hard questions and the culmination with many potential solutions will be announced at the AFWERX Fusion event and we hope to make awards to industry on the spot in June to assist us with the rebuild.”

Tyndall is paving the way for the future of how bases around the AirForce might look, Melancon said.

“I hope Tyndall becomes a benchmark for other bases looking to recapitalize,” Melancon said. “They will look to us on some of the innovation and technologies we are going to try to infuse into the rebuild. Everyone assisting in the rebuild brings ideas to the table and the realm of the possible is endless. Every step of the way has been collaborative and transparent.”

Tyndall PMO Engineers overseeing these AFWERX challenges are looking forward to the June event.

Tyndall leadership along with several industry and civic leaders from Bay County attended a Challenge Definition Workshop on Logistics and Construction for the Tyndall Rebuild at the Air Force Innovation Hub located in Las Vegas. Nevada, in February. The workshop brought industry, academia, civic leaders and military leaders together to develop market research that will define a series of challenges for industry to address when building the Base of the Future.

Air Force Photo Courtesy Photo from AFWERX

“The Fusion event in June will provide an excellent forum for us to incorporate the latest and greatest ideas from industry into our Base of the Future rebuild,” said Lowell Usrey, Tyndall PMO innovation cell lead. “Our collaboration with the AFWERX team has enabled development of concepts and connection to visionaries that wouldn’t have been otherwise possible.”

The $4.25 billion fully funded Tyndall Rebuild is moving forward at lightning speed.

“The Air Force’s Innovation Hub continues to bring the best and the brightest together to work on behalf of moving forward the Tyndall Rebuild,” said Col. Brian Laidlaw, 325 th Fighter Wing Commander. “I am proud of the leaders at Tyndall, in our community, and across industry. They have poured their hearts into making Tyndall stronger than ever. We remain focused on making the base ready to catch its first F- 35s in September 2023. As we march down the path to get there, we look forward to incorporating innovative answers from industry in the wake of this AFWERX Fusion event.

Building the Base of the Future is the theme at the June AFWERXFusion event, where Melancon will deliver a keynote address. Thetwo-day event in Las Vegas will also feature Laidlaw and John Henderson,Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environmentand Energy.

For more information on the AFWERX Fusion event, go to www.AFWREXFusion.com. For information on the progress of the Tyndall rebuild visit: www.afimsc.af.mil/TyndallPMO/ or www.facebook.com/TyndallPMO/