Hill Air Force Base breaks ground on $1.2B investment in aircraft maintenance facilities

SALT LAKE CITY — Hill Air Force Base officials broke ground earlier this month for a multi-year project encompassing a $1.24-billion investment in aircraft sustainment.

Hill Air Force Base is known as a hub for military aircraft maintenance, and this new project will further expand its capabilities with a full depot-level maintenance complex for F-35 and T-7A aircraft.

"(Hill Air Force Base) has adequate facilities, but with the growing program ... adding more modern facilities allows them to execute their full program," said Col. Bob McTighe, commander of the Sacramento District Army Corps of Engineers.

On May 18, base officials hosted a groundbreaking to kick off the first phase. Anticipated to take about two years, the East Campus construction crews are working on "all the groundwork and prep," or utilities, such as water, power, communications, roads and other foundational infrastructure improvements to allow the facilities to actually come online.

"This is a good first step. Any project like this large-scale is all about momentum and getting shovels in the ground," McTighe said. "People are excited about this. We are excited about this."

The infrastructure is an important first milestone for the development's "long‑term, mission‑critical modernization effort supporting the Ogden Air Logistics Complex," which is the largest tenant organization at the base and employs more than 7,000 military, civilian and contract workers.

The East Campus project is in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District to support "future 5th‑generation aircraft sustainment operations" and strengthen the Air Force's "expeditionary and air superiority missions."

In total, the new campus will have eight buildings that provide maintenance and fleet readiness for F-35 and T-7A aircraft. It will be located on the east side of the base near the golf course. Base officials are aiming for full completion in 2032.

The new facilities will include a maintenance hangar, composite repair facility, egress facility and canopy repair facility for F-35s and a T‑7A depot maintenance complex. These "mission-critical facilities" will impact how the Ogden Air Logistics Complex sustains the nation's newest fighter and trainer fleets, the base said.

McTighe said the project will impact the local economy with construction bringing in new jobs and local utility companies working as subcontractors.

"They're able to leverage people with expertise on the ground that are already working in the area, and it just expands their role," he said. "It'll no doubt bring jobs for architects, engineers, laborers and the full gamut of construction for each of these projects."

McTighe explained that the base issued a single-award task order contract to HHI Corporation for the project, which he says is a "unique way of doing things" that will benefit the base.

"It's the right way of doing things. It allows us to leverage expertise from the local area that knows Hill Air Force Base, who have been working on Hill Air Force Base," McTighe said. "It allows us to bring their capabilities to bear more rapidly, and that's what it's really about — it's doing things differently to make sure that we efficiently deliver quality projects on time and within budget."

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