December 3,
2008: The new base for the 2,200 soldiers of the U.S. Army 7th Special Forces
Group will cost nearly $400 million, and contain 5.1 million square feet of
indoor space (for everything from offices to workshops and training
facilities). The troops will be accompanied by over 4,000 dependents.
Construction will be completed in three years.
All this was
mandated by a round of base closings three years ago, a process that also
involves moving some units around. In this case, the army unit was moved to
Eglin Air Force Base, which had a lot of spare space for the Special Forces
Group and its training requirements. Army bases are not particularly expensive,
although Special Forces troops need additional floor space for training and
equipment. Moving into a newly built base can be a hassle, but it's also a
little morale boost, as most existing bases are quite old, and much patched up.