Ribbon Cutting Ceremony marks new building opening

  • Published
  • By Brooke Davis
  • Eastern Air Defense Sector
The Eastern Air Defense Sector officially marked the completion of the new headquarters building with a ribbon cutting ceremony Oct. 2 at 9 a.m.

The building currently houses EADS' headquarters support and command staff as well as Security Forces and operations personnel.

Local community leaders came out to participate in the ribbon cutting, including Honorable David Valesky, New York State Senate, Honorable Joseph Griffo, New York State Senate, Assemblymember RoAnn Destito, 116th Assembly District, Honorable James F. Brown, Mayor of Rome, and Honorable Anthony Picente, Jr., Oneida County Executive.

Also attending the ceremony was Brig. Gen. André Viens, deputy commander, Continental United States North American Aerospace Defense Command Region, Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. Col. Anthony Basil, New York Air National Guard chief of staff, attended the ceremony representing the unit's Air National Guard ties.

At the ceremony, unit leaders highlighted that the building consolidates all personnel into one area, addressing force protection concerns.

"The new building will allow us to bring our people together "under one roof" rather than dispersed throughout the Griffiss Technology and Business Park. This will enhance communication, improve security and in general, offer a better quality of life for the EADS team," explained Col. John Bartholf, EADS commander. "From a force protection perspective, this facilitates consolidation and allows us to provide greater security for both our people and the critical infrastructure we employ to defend our nation."

Projects planned for the new building include installing flagpoles, an updated entrance sign reflecting the unit's recent name change, an F-4 static display and 9-11 Memorial. The F-4 is scheduled to be transported to the Mohawk Valley Community College's Mechanical Technology Aircraft Maintenance program where it will be restored by a former F-4 crew chief.

The 9-11 Memorial will be displayed on the first floor of the new headquarters building and will feature artifacts from the World Trade Center, Pentagon and the United 93 crash site. Once the memorial is complete, it will be dedicated to those that lost their lives on 9-11.

The Sector began transitioning into its new headquarters building June 8. Design concepts for the new building were created six years ago, and phase one construction officially began after a groundbreaking ceremony April 10, 2007.

Phase two of the construction began May 2. Phase one cost approximately $3.5 million and phase two cost approximately $6.6 million. The total square footage of the building is 27,800 square feet.

EADS is a joint, bi-national organization currently manned by New York Air National Guardsmen, Active Duty U.S. Air Force, Navy, Army and Coast Guard; Canadian Forces, federal civil servants and civilian contractor personnel. The unit employs approximately 400 personnel.