Hanscom, Kirtland work together to ensure AFRL division's smooth move Published April 8, 2011 By Connie Rankin 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- As a result of the 2005 Congressional Base Realignment and Closure decision, directing the relocation of Air Force Research Laboratory's Battlespace Environment Division from Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., to here, people from both locations have collaborated to make this a smooth move to consolidate the Hanscom division with AFRL's Space Vehicles Directorate here. "I knew six years ago that this move would be a task beyond anything I have worked on," said Tom Pilson, Kirtland BRAC Transportation point of contact. Mr. Pilson is an engineering technician who works with AFRL's Space Vehicles Directorate as the senior facility manager. Once the Battlespace Environment Laboratory was completed in December 2010, the furniture started coming in and communications and Internet connections and minor modifications began. On March 28, 2011, the first of 74 semi-trailer trucks arrived from Hanscom AFB with laboratory equipment, 10- to 12-foot long optical tables, pumps, machine shop equipment, and five 23- to 53-foot long trailers for off-site experiments. "This is a one-of-kind move, and an exciting challenge to move high-end scientific equipment," said Zahid Ahmed, president of Rockey's Moving and Storage. First Lt. Rick Dunn came from Hanscom AFB to help with the move. "I wanted to help setup our laboratory equipment and ensure the facility had all the connections needed to support the equipment," said Lieutenant Dunn. The 145,000-square-foot building will house more than 300 people. "I arrived in July 2010 from Virginia, working with the National Reconnaissance Office, and inherited the duty as the landlord for the BEL," said Lt. Col. Curtis Martin, deputy division chief for the Environment Division and for Kirtland operations. "My primary goal is to take care of all the administrative details associated with making the transition to Kirtland, so that the scientists can continue to focus on doing their research without being overly burdened by the transition process," said Colonel Martin. Scientists in the Battlespace Environment Division study space weather and the ionosphere environment to forecast and mitigate the disturbances under the Space Weather Center of Excellence. The division also includes the Battlespace Surveillance Innovation Center, which develops space-based detection capabilities. The Improved Solar Observing Optical Network telescope project, at Sunspot in southern New Mexico, will also be moved to Kirtland AFB. This project is a collaboration between AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate and the National Solar Observatory. ISOON is a semi-autonomous, remotely commandable telescope, designed to study solar activity in support of space weather specifications and forecasts. ISOON can receive and analyze solar images and other data from a remote location. The BEL facility will also be used to conduct tests in high-vacuum environments calibration, chemistry and spectrometry, computer modeling, processing of space data, space operations, remote sensing and quantum computing. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for April 21, 2011. This building is the largest Air Force laboratory on the west side of Kirtland.