Meeting highlights ongoing projects
By Steve Herring
Published in News on September 25, 2016 1:45 AM
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Goldsboro Mayor Chuck Allen, right, Col. Brian Armstrong, center, vice commander of the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and Chief master Sgt. Shane Wagner, command chief for the Wing, talk following Thursday's meeting of the Base/Community Council at the Goldsboro Event Center.
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Wayne County Commission Chairman Joe Daughtery, right, addresses the Base/Community Council at the Goldsboro Event Center during its Thursday morning meeting at the Goldsboro Event Center. Also speaking were, from left, Col. Eric Jenkins, commander of the 916th Air Refueling Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base; Col. Brian Armstrong, vice commander of the 4th Fighter Wing at the base; and Goldsboro Mayor Chuck Allen.
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Col. Eric Jenkins, center, commander of the 916th Air Refueling Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, makes a point Thursday's meeting of the Base/Community Council at the Goldsboro Event Center. Others are Brian Armstrong, left, vice commander of the 4th Fighter Wing at the base, and Goldsboro Mayor Chuck Allen.
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Col. Brian Armstrong, vice commander of the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, updates members of the Base/Community Council during their Thursday morning meeting at the Goldsboro Event Center.
Members of the Base/Community Council Thursday morning were updated on ongoing projects in Goldsboro, Wayne County and on Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
Goldsboro Mayor Chuck Allen, Wayne County Commission Chairman Joe Daughtery, Col. Brian Armstrong, vice commander of the 4th Fighter Wing, and Col. Eric Jenkins, commander of the 916th Air Refueling Wing, spoke during the council's quarterly meeting at the Goldsboro Event Center.
Wing Commander Col. Christopher Sage went to Washington, D.C., because one of the base's fighter squadrons won a big award, an Air Force level award, Armstrong said.
"The 336th Fighter Squadron was awarded the David C. Schilling Award for the most outstanding contribution in the field of flight," he said. "That is a big deal.
"They went to the Air Force Association Conference. That award was presented by our air combat commander, Gen. (Herbert) Carlisle. So we are really proud of that squadron and the fact that they won that award."
The wing will participate in the USO Salute to Freedom Gala where Tech Sgt. Alfred Greene II, a pharmacist, will be honored as a service member of the year, Armstrong said.
"That is a big event, and we are proud of him," Armstrong said. "One of the major events coming up that we are excited about, and I think you guys are excited about, too, is the Wings Over Wayne Air Show which will be on the 20th and 21st of May.
"We are real excited about having the Navy Blue Angels here, and we will have a bunch of other great flying acts and static displays."
Many military retirees live in the area so one initiative is working with retiree organizations on base, Armstrong said.
"We have a Make it Better program for our airmen on base," he said. "It is a club program. We are trying to extend that to some of our retirees. We think there are a lot of opportunities to engage with our retirees.
"For our families, we have a very cool indoor playground that is under construction. So if you think about the McDonald's indoor playground and multiply that by three or four, that is the size of this indoor playground."
It will be finished in the fall, he said.
"It will have Wi-Fi," he said. "It will have a little bit of opportunity for meetings to go on while the kids are running around."
The base continues to hold its Hearts Apart dinners -- dinners hosted on base for family members whose loved ones are deployed, he said.
Another initiative is spouse employment.
"We are working closely with the city and Chamber of Commerce," he said. "So we are looking forward to promoting that."
Currently the wing has about 300 people deployed around the world, including the 335th Fighter Squadron that is deployed to the Middle East, flying over Iraq and Syria, he said.
"I am really proud of this squadron because I think a lot of the videos you are seeing in the news and on the TV is of Strike Eagles in the 335th Fighter Squadron.
"Obviously our training mission never stops. We have two squadrons here that are dedicated to training all of the F-15E air crews. They are doing really good work."
A lot of work is being done on the airfield including maintenance, he said.
"So there is a lot of work that you will never see, but it is going on out on the airfield to make sure that everything is working good," Armstrong said.
A new community center, complete with a pool is under construction and should be completed by August 2017, he said.
As for the city, work continues on improving the city's appearance, Allen said.
"We are really proud that we were one of 10 Main Street Communities in the country," Allen said. "We are hoping we win that. We won't know until May, but we are in competition as a Great American Main Street.
"A real, real big announcement is that we just got another $5 million TIGER grant. I think we are probably the only city in North Carolina to get it twice. We got it twice because we did so good the first time, and we have really good people in Washington, D.C., watching after us. That is a great thing. Basically, that will finish our master plan for downtown for the Center Street piece."
Allen urged support for a $7 million bond referendum for street resurfacing and another $3 million bond for the multi-sports complex that are on the Nov. 8 municipal ballot.
The multi-sports complex is a joint project with the base, and the county has loaned the city $3 million for the project, he said.
Other projects include a new design for Herman Park Center; smoke testing of the city's sewer lines; a program with Duke Energy to change street lights to brighter LEDs, about a $130,000 project; and the $800,000 greenway project on New Hope Road.
The city is still short about 15 police officers, but is working on policing including the new ShotSpotter program used to locate gunshots, he said.
But based on that program, most of the reports have been fireworks, not gunshots, City Manager Scott Stevens said.
The city is also looking at new cameras that can be located in high-crime areas, Allen said.
Daughtery said that work is progressing on the Maxwell Regional Agricultural and Convention Center that includes a partnership with the city, Wayne Community College and state legislators.
Approximately $8 million already has been secured for the $18 million project that should be completed by January 2018, he said.
Commissioners are working with the Wayne County Board of Education to select an architect for a new Meadow Lane Elementary School. That selection could possibly come as early as the first of October, he said.
That school system's facilities plan also will include a new gym and six classrooms at Southern Wayne High School, air conditioning the Rosewood Middle School gym and new classrooms that will eliminate 22 mobile classrooms and relieve overcrowding at schools in that area of the county, Daughtery said.
"With this phase it is going to bring, by my calculations, approximately $85 million in improvements in school facilities in a four-year period of time with no tax increase," Daughtery said. "I think that is a big accomplishment for this board of commissioners."
Jenkins, a reservist, said he will be active duty next year as he works to help stand up the integrated refueling wing as one of the active duty units is brought under the Reserve organization.
The active reserve presence will be little bigger next year, he said.
"Like the 4th Fighter Wing, we have about 100 people deployed right now," he said. "In addition, (we) have a Red Horse Squadron which is a civil engineer squadron that just deployed."
In terms of the integrated wing, Goldsboro will be a "little brighter spot" on the map, he said.
"We are the first wing to do this," Jenkins said. "Secretary (Deborah Lee) James, the secretary of the Air Force, has instituted this program, and we are the first pilot. Why that happened is because we have a great relationship with the 4th Fighter Wing. There are a lot of synergies that make us work well together."
Jenkins will be the first commander of the integrated wing.
It is a "big deal" for the active duty, reservists and for the National Guard, he said.
Seymour Johnson will also be the third basing of the new KC-46 Pegasus tanker, Jenkins said.
The new tankers will carry only 1 percent more fuel than the KC-135, but is going to be able to carry a lot more cargo, he said.
"What that means for this area and the 4th Fighter Wing, when they deploy, all of their stuff will be with them as they progress downrange as opposed to sending it earlier downrange and then catching up," he said.
Some things that will affect the community right away is a new $40 million hangar project that is under design, Jenkins said.
Flight simulators will be upgraded to allow simulators to be linked together from across the country, he said.