Hill's mission is changing: Can you see it?

  • Published
  • By By James Sutton
  • Director, Plans and Programs
"Oh that a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a Heaven for?" ... Robert Browning's words seem pretty pretentious two centuries after they were written, but they translate into one word -- vision.

Vision? Why bother daydreaming about what should be next? Simple: Without vision we can't see, much less reach, our mission goals. So isn't this just a "boss" thing? Absolutely not! Having vision is everyone's duty and employing it is how we get our jobs done efficiently.

I've worked with quite a few visionaries at Hill Air Force Base whose ability to conjure what seemed impossible yielded very real accomplishments. None of them were "bosses."

Several of these ideas will come to life here in the next few weeks -- and they are spring-loaded to span years and decades into the future. Here's what to look for ...

Falcon Hill -- developing the west side

Congress passed an awkwardly worded law a few years ago that seemed pretty vanilla at the time. These few words, however, captivated an inventive group of men and women at Hill. They could see past the legalese into possibilities for our future.

Today's result is the Falcon Hill project -- redeveloping Hill's entire west side as the largest enhanced use lease program in Department of Defense history. It will develop 550 acres of the west side of Hill for private and public use. It has spawned the creation of a unique new State of Utah entity, the Military Installation Development Authority, to assist in this development that will ultimately support Air Force mission requirements. And it will mean jobs, a tax base and security for you, your children and very likely, your great-grandchildren.

The program enjoys broad state and community support and promises to provide strong revenue to the base -- Air Force value for the first 180 acres alone is $152 million. It will eventually replace 1.5 million square feet of aging office space in the 1200 area where many of you work today. Some 200,000 square feet of new office space will be built in the first phase of construction.

Building starts this spring with the first facility set to open in summer of 2010. Watch for a new West Gate, buildings on the hill east of the gas station, and a new security forces/OSI building north of the BX. Then, the south end of the 1200 zone will start disappearing ...

A handful of people made a difference, sparked by personal and collective vision.

Energy independence

The same kind of vision that could imagine Falcon Hill out of 550 sagebrush-covered acres is now being directed with laser intensity at the goal of achieving energy independence for Hill and other Air Force-owned properties in Utah.

Hill has already been a leader in this arena. With the Air Force's three-pronged Energy Strategy as guidance, we've reduced our energy demand by about 10 percent over the past five years. We've increased our energy supply (what we produce on base) to about 17 percent of the base's total energy load. We have saved $4.2 million annually in energy-saving performance contracts, nearly $1 million in municipal solid waste incineration and $500,000 from recycling. Landfill gas generators generate power today and a new solar array is springing up north of Wardleigh Road.

But that's just a start. Today's vision includes comprehensive development of innovative energy sources like solar, wind, geothermal and biofuels across our vast land footprint. Energy will be produced in such volume as to secure our complete independence from the energy grid. Further, we expect to be net producers of power -- the revenue from which will be used to further reduce demand by improving existing facilities and, perhaps, building new ones.

Without fanfare, Hill's energy experts huddled together with state and academic representatives during an Energy Summit in January. They'll expand those stakeholders to industry, finance and other federal, state and local agencies for an Earth Day Energy Forum on April 22. Teams growing from this effort are already engaged in technology assessment, project planning, and financing for each reasonable opportunity.

For all of us it means harnessing the sun, the wind, and the earth itself to achieve energy independence here. Once again, the collective vision and genius of small teams is making a revolutionary difference. That's imagination.

Changing the face of what we do ...

One day a few years from now, Hill AFB's 388th and 419th Fighter Wings will stable a new warhorse: The F-35 Lightning aircraft, the Joint Strike Fighter. Three squadrons will begin arriving in 2014 to create an operational wing that will be complete just eight years from now. About that same time Hill's 309th Maintenance Wing will start depot level maintenance, repair and overhaul efforts on that same jet. As announcements last week indicated, Hill will soon begin serving as the primary repair location for all low observable composite constructed aircraft.

Turning these few words to reality will require collective vision and effort: vision to create an efficient capability unencumbered by stale thought and policy; effort and patience to suffer the inevitable delays and setbacks. The vision, effort and patience needed begins at the shop floor -- not in some boss' office.

So, some English poet from the Victorian era apparently had the right idea. If we can imagine it, we can achieve it, he said. A lot of folks here at Hill AFB know this intuitively. And they create successes every day. It doesn't require wild imagination -- only a willingness to consider the possibilities, say something, volunteer to help and be patient.

All this is really happening. Here. And now.

What do you see?