Pensacola’s Corry Station is experiencing growing pains. So much so, that the dormitory facilities at the nation’s leading cyber warfare schoolhouse are overcapacity and overflowing with students.
Incoming servicemembers attending training at the installation are required to live in on-base housing, which is currently served by several multi-story dormitories. According to Navy officials, currently, rooms in the dorms often have three students assigned instead of two. This exceeds criteria, can make learning difficult, and is not good for student health. Quality of life can also suffer, affecting academic performance and preparation for the fleet.
An $18 million contract was recently granted to allow Corry Station to construct a new multi-story “A” school unaccompanied housing facility on the base, deemed crucial to the air station’s mission.
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels fly over Corry Station, Pensacola. (Special to The Pulse)
“This project is vitally important for the information warfare students at NAS Pensacola, Corry Station to provide additional berthing capacity for a national training mission that continues to grow,” said NAS Pensacola Commanding Officer Capt. Christopher Martin. “It is the last in a series of seven berthing projects at Corry Station to meet student loading numbers.”
The Information Warfare Training Center (IWTC) at Corry Station trains “A” school students reporting directly from boot camp. The facility provides training in the fields of cryptology, information operations, and information technology. The coursework combines technology, innovation, and science to produce highly-trained enlisted personnel required to ensure dominance in the information fields.
“This facility will allow us to get back to Navy berthing standards for our student Sailors aboard Corry Station,” said NAS Pensacola Housing Director Bob Crist.
The new facility will feature a brick veneer exterior finish and include 108 double-occupancy rooms and a lobby/reception area. The rooms will include space for a two-person bedroom, a bath, two closets, refrigerator, and a microwave oven. The small businesses awarded under the contract include Pensacola-based Whitesell-Green Construction, Inc., among other U.S.-based contractors.
This project will provide unaccompanied housing quarters space for 216 students. Construction is expected to be completed by June 2019.