|
John Spratt has secured millions in funding for facilities at Shaw Air Force Base, near Sumter, helping Shaw not only survive five base closure rounds, but expand, creating jobs for the Sumter community. Over the next several years, Shaw is gaining 1,400 civilian and military personnel and 3,500-4,000 family members from Fort McPherson, Georgia.
When he came to Congress, John Spratt sought a seat on the Armed Services Committee for one main reason: to make Shaw his mission. Every year since, getting something for Shaw has topped his to-do list. First came a physical training center, a facility the Base Commander called "mission essential." Then, a new headquarters for 9th Air Force and a 20th Wing Command Center , to bed down both units securely at Shaw. Runways and aprons were repaved, a new control tower was built, a munitions storage facility, a security building, a fire training center, and a special operations center. Infrastructure – fuel storage tanks, sewage treatment plant, floodlights – were all replaced.
Shaw was made a better place to live. Enlisted dorms were rebuilt, a child development center was added, a new commissary and a shoppette/car center...a 20-acre recreational site was acquired on Lake Wateree, a new youth center was built, and $5.6 million secured for a new enlisted dining hall.
Topping it off – a swap of land at Myrtle Beach AFB for 13,000 acres in Manchester State Forest. F-16s from Shaw are now barely wheels up before they are over the Poinsett Bombing and Gunnery Range, a state-of-the-art range, which is second to none on the Eastern seaboard, and which will be vitally important to Shaw when the next base closure round comes.
Every year, Shaw pumps $400 million into Sumter 's economy, making Shaw an asset to our state as well as our nation.
John Spratt says, "So long as I serve in Congress, my mission is to keep it that way."
These are some of the projects John Spratt has sponsored and worked through Congress to help upgrade Shaw:
- $3.3 million for a new security building
- $1.0 million for a outdoor recreational facility
- $1.8 million for a shoppette/car care center
- $2.7 million for a new control tower
- $2.7 million for a child development center
- $2.2 million for upgrading fuel storage tanks
- $700,000 for a fire training facility
- $3.0 million for a waste water treatment facility
- $464, 000 for recreational cabins
- $5.7 million for dormitory alterations
- $4.4 million for improving enlisted personnel housing
- $580, 000 for low-explosive munitions storage facility
- $6.5 million for a central administrative facility
- $2.0 million for a special operations center
- $2.1 million for a new tactical fighter wing headquarters
- $840, 000 for floodlights for servicing aircraft at night
- $360, 000 for heating and air conditioning system improvements
- $450, 000 for a medical war reserve material facility
- $2.1 million to enlarge and renovate the Shaw gymnasium
- $2.3 million for continuing upgrades to the waste water treatment facility
- $8.8 million to improve three dorms for single enlisted personnel
- $6.0 million to build a new information warfare building
- $5.0 million for improved housing
- $2.0 million for a youth center addition
- $5.2 million to construct a new dining facility
- $5.8 million for a new education center
- $6.8 million for new aircraft maintenance facilities
- $8.5 million for a new Deployment Processing Center
- $3.4 million for new housing
- $2.5 million in new military hardware for Poinsett Range
- $3.7 million for a new library
- $3.3 million for a new sewer line
- $9.7 million for a new communications center for the 9th Air Force
- $6.3 million for a new underground munitions storage facility
- $9.3 million to expand the base by 46 acres
- $25 million to improve base facilities and ready Shaw for receiving the Third Army command
- $21 million to expand and modernize USAFCENT/9th US Air Force headquarters
- $9.9 million to refurbish and expand the physical fitness center to make room for the Third Army command
|
