711 HPW looking forward to first classes

  • Published
  • By Daryl Mayer
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  Fresh off the first anniversary of the unit's standup, the evolution of the 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright-Patterson continues with the announcement of the first classes here.

The U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine supports the Air Force with research, consultation, and academic instruction. The school's first classes to be taught in Ohio are scheduled to start in December 2010, beginning with the Bioenvironmental Engineering Advanced Measurements Course which will hold 25 students.

In January 2011, the first classes for newly minted airmen coming from basic training will begin. Approximately one hundred new airmen will attend Public Health and the Bioenvironmental Engineering apprentice courses. An additional one hundred students, primarily Air Force enlisted, will be attending either the Bioenvironmental Craftsman, Bioenvironmental Measurement, or Hearing Conservation Certification courses.

"This is an exciting time for the 711th Human Performance Wing," said Thomas S. Wells, 711 HPW director. "These classes represent the first significant mission activity to transition from Texas to the Wright-Patt area. Over the last year, we developed a detailed transition plan that coordinates the movement of people and equipment with the preparation of facilities and scheduling of inbound students--it all begins to happen next year."

Under the terms of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure law, units from Brooks City-Base, Texas; Mesa, Arizona; Holloman AFB, New Mexico; and Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, were designated to join existing elements of the Air Force Research Laboratory's Human Effectiveness Directorate to define Wright-Patterson as a Center of Excellence for Human Performance.

"Every day when I drive to work, I see the progress on construction of the 680,000 square-foot complex," Mr. Wells said. "While it is perhaps more difficult to see the progress happening in the unit itself, scheduling these classes is tangible proof that our consolidation here in Ohio is underway."

The establishment of the wing brings nearly 1000 new jobs and $200 million in construction projects to the Miami Valley. 

Because the new HPW complex isn't scheduled to be complete until mid-2011, the initial classes will be held at the nearby Kettering Business Park. Since the business park is a former government facility, the Air Force still holds a no-cost lease for the space.

"There is a natural break in the class schedule that makes January 2011 an opportune time to move the students, but our new facility won't be ready then," said Jacque Fisher, 88th Air Base Wing BRAC director. "The availability of this former government facility made this an attractive solution in terms of taxpayer savings."