Beale housing project breaks ground

After six years of planning, visiting Air Force personnel and their families will be able to stay in new quarters at Beale Air Force Base during their temporary assignment.

The temporary lodging project will feature 34 units, an increase of eight. The project broke ground May 8. Fourteen units will be petfriendly and two will be handicap accessible.

Lt. Col. Matthew Mountcastle, 9th Force Support Squadron commander, who oversaw the final stages, said the project required many levels of approval and wing leadership justified the upgrade because of dated housing from the 1960s on base.

“The new temporary lodging facility improves comfort, safety, and utility reliability for our guests,” Mountcastle said in an email. “Repair costs and man hours will be drastically reduced as upkeep will be much lower and less demanding."

The new facility is meant for visiting airmen and their families, he said. While assigned to Beale, the modern units will aid in the airmens’ transition into day-to-day life at the military installation.

"This was a long process spanning six years of hard work and negotiations between the Air Force, the Army Corp of Engineers and contractors,” Mountcastle said.

The project has been underway since September 2011, he said, when meetings began between wing leadership, Air Force services activity representatives and architects.

The project has seen support from the newly formed Beale Improvement Group, which addresses airmen requests for added amenities and upgrades to the base.

Capt. Shaler Mortensen, part of the command action group overseeing BIG, said the organization receives direct feedback from airmen and researches the feasibility of the request before implementation.

“The program right now is still in its infancy. Many of the suggestions will require more than eight months (the age of the BIG Idea) for implementation,” Mortensen said. “Many will take a year or two because of funding and contract requirements.”

The group received 135 requests so far and has completed tasks such as extending medical clinic hours, changing signs at the Grass Valley gate for easier traffic flow and fixing multiple pot holes, he said. BIG is currently working on installing artificial turf on the football field.

“What makes the BIG Idea unique and effective is the suggestions do not go into a suggestion box that get read by a front line supervisor,” Mortensen said. “It goes to the office that handles special projects for the wing commander and from there it goes to the functional squadron commander for consideration and assignment." Marysville office, 1530 Ellis Lake Drive Business hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

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