KIRTLAND Air Force Base, New Mexico – The Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Albuquerque Office (DTRA-ABQ) will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday, June 12, 2024, for the agency’s new multi-use building on Kirtland Air Force Base. The 76,000 square foot facility will be home to more than 300 U.S. military personnel and DoD civilians and includes unclassified and classified work spaces and meeting rooms, administrative offices, and a seismic laboratory.
“This new building will make a big difference for DTRA’s people and our Countering WMD (weapons of mass destruction) mission,” said DTRA Director Rebecca Hersman. “Part of our organization has proudly called Kirtland home for eight decades. This state-of-the-art building provides our people with a modern home for carrying out their global missions.”
Expected to be fully operational in the second half of 2024, the building will house current DTRA employees in Albuquerque and DTRA members currently at Eglin Air Force Base near Pensacola, Florida. That move will bring team members of one of DTRA’s specialized research and development offices together under one roof.
“This will have a tangible impact on our DTRA teammates and missions,” said Dr. Gary Hook, chief of DTRA’s (R&D) Test and Assessment Department. “We have some very unique testing facilities around here, we work very closely with the Department of Energy labs, the services and academia, and we’re excited to have a new, modern, secure and efficient place to carry out our mission.”
Initial design by JACOBS Engineering began in 2019. Built by the Hensel Phelps Construction Company, the building incorporates new DoD high performance and sustainable building requirements, including a solar parking structure, contains electric vehicle (EV) charging stations for ultra-efficient government EVs, and was previously recognized by the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) with a merit award for Best Design in 2022.
DTRA’s economic footprint in New Mexico, centered in the Albuquerque area, is estimated to be more than $100M annually. In addition to more than 300 civil servants and uniformed service members that live nearby, DTRA executes more than $50M in government contracts every year, conducts counter-WMD research efforts, and is home to the DoD’s only Defense Nuclear Weapons School, which has been training America’s nuclear forces since 1947.
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DTRA provides cross-cutting solutions to enable the Department of Defense, the United States Government, and international partners to Deter strategic attack against the United States and its allies; Prevent, reduce, and counter WMD and emerging threats; and Prevail against WMD-armed adversaries in crisis and conflict.