127th SFS Moves to New Facility

  • Published
  • By By TSgt. Dan Heaton
  • 127th Wing Public Affairs
SELFRIDGE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Mich. -- --  The 127th Security Forces Squadron has a new home on Selfridge Air National Guard Base.

The squadron, which provides security and law enforcement services to the base, has moved into a newly-renovated building on the base and marked the event with a ribbon-cutting ceremony of Dec. 4.

"Building 160 will now serve as part of the foundation for the 127th Security Forces" said Capt. Christopher Platz, commander of the SFS.

Col. Michael Thomas, 127th Wing commander, said Selfridge continues to play a unique role in the nation's security community, as it is home to all uniformed services and several Dept. of Homeland Security agencies.

"Without our Security Forces Airmen at the guard, we would be unable to fulfill our varied missions," Thomas said.

Among the dignitaries at the ribbon cutting ceremony was U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, who serves as chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee.
Levin said that the military personnel who serve at Selfridge perform two important tasks for the nation.

"You do more than defend and protect our country," the senator said. "You unite our country at a time when we are divided. You give the American people something in common that we can all rally behind."

The SFS' new home, Building 160, was originally built in 1933 as the first permanent post exchange on the base. Selfridge opened as a military airfield in 1917.

The historic nature of the building was preserved in the renovation, which included maintaining the aesthetic quality of the exterior façade of the original building and replicating the original windows using updated materials to meet today's environmental codes. An 2,800 foot addition that was built on to the 11,400 foot main structure was built with a more modern appearance, to distinguish between the original historic building and the modern addition.

The total cost of the SFS project was approximately $4.2 million.

In addition to offices, a roll call room and other general-use spaces, the facility contains rooms that can be used for police interviews, temporary detention cells and weapons storage.

The SFS moved to the new facility from Building 305, which will be used for office space in the future.

The SFS building is one of three major construction projects that have been taken place around the base.

Other ongoing work includes:

· Major renovation of the 107th Fighter Squadron operations building. That $7 million project has an estimated completion date of April 2012.

· Construction of a several buildings related to the maintenance and administration of aircraft munitions. The approximately $13 million project, which is being built utilizing a geothermal heating and cooling system, has an estimated completion date of October 2012.

Mead and Hunt served as the architectural and engineering firm on the SFS project. Greg Construction was the general contractor.