Major infrastructure upgrades are underway at Ellsworth Air Force Base just outside of Rapid City.
Alongside the coming B-21 bombers, it ushers in a new era for the state’s lone military instillation of its kind.
This wave of base improvement projects begin with reconstruction on Runway 31 on the Air Force Base. Base officials invited media to attend a groundbreaking ceremony Friday.
Col. Derek Oakley, commanding officer of the 28th Bomb Wing, said it’s a necessary measure while the B-1 Bombers are temporarily stationed in Grand Forks.
"The big project is we’ve gotta replace the center 75 feet of our runway, about a foot down, for the entire length," Oakley said. "It’s about 13,500 feet, so about two-and-a-half miles worth of runway that’s gotta be redone. It’s actually not a factor of a new airplane, it’s the duration of the concrete associated with the runway itself. About every fifty years you’ve gotta redo a runway, and we’re a little over forty years into our runway.”
It’s the first time Ellsworth hasn’t hosted B-1 Bombers in nearly 40 years, though there are about 3,000 US servicemembers still supporting the mission on base currently.
Colby Larson is engineering flight chief with the 28th civil engineering squadron. He said as work gets under way, it’s a matter of integrating the new developments while remaining on-cost.
“Weather is always a big impact to our projects," Larson said. "Here in South Dakota, West River, we can always see that change day-to-day, hour-to-hour. Funding impacts, working through the day-to-day intricates of what’s going on with each project and trying to continue construction with the mission happening and minimize impacts to the current mission with the B-1s.”
Among other items, these projects represent a billion-dollar investment in the base as it prepares for the next generation stealth bomber.
With legislative session underway, some West River lawmakers are highlighting Box Elder and Ellsworth Air Force Base as targets for investment.
However, that hasn’t come without questions from the public. Col. Oakley said growth on base means growth in South Dakota.
“With that increase in airmen, also comes an increase in families that will come in," Oakley said. "Spouses and children. We expect to see an increase of about 4,000 total.”
Oakley, who spoke to lawmakers at the beginning of session, said he wants to connect his airmen to South Dakota and the state’s lawmakers.
“While we’re here, we are residents, so trying to take care of our airmen and their families as they look at growth and the things they need," Oakley said. "The big things I’m always talking about is support to our airmen and families, and a lot of that is spouse employment, that’s early childhood education, that’s school districts.”
Oakley said support for the Ellsworth community directly translates to support for Box Elder and Western South Dakota.