Fort Benning officials to break ground on $30 million Maneuver Battle Lab simulations facility

In a move to consolidate the battle labs of the infantry and armor, the Directorate of Capabilities Development and Integration will break ground today on a $30 million Maneuver Battle Lab simulations facility at Fort Benning.

“All the battle lab facilities will be under one roof,” said Kristin Mack, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Savannah District.

The 88,000-square-foot building will feature a 200-person classroom, multiple large and small simulation bays that can be reconfigured for simulation experiments. It will be built on a site adjacent to the Smith Fitness Center on Dixie Road.

As part of the Base Realignment and Closure’s decision in 2005 to move the Armor School to Fort Benning, the new facility is a key piece in consolidation of the Infantry Center Battle Soldier Lab and the Armor Center Mounted Maneuver Battle Lab that relocated on post from Fort Knox, Ky.

Virtual simulations are now conducted at Mabry Hall, where about 160 battle lab staffers work in a cluster of buildings on post.

When the new facility is completed in fall 2012, the combined facilities will make the Maneuver Battle Lab the Army Training and Doctrine Command’s premier facility for experimentation and play a major role in all future Army experiments.

Mack said the cluster of buildings will be demolished after the new construction is completed.

Roy Anderson Corp., a company based in Gulfport, Miss., will build the new battle lab.

The company has experience in wide range of construction projects in the Southeast.

Projects have included government buildings, condominiums, health care centers and college football stadiums.

Some key initiatives of the Maneuver Center of Excellence include work on the squad, focusing on the Foundation of the Decisive Force, 21st Century Maneuver Training and Brigade Combat Team 2020.

Simulations can help shape the future capabilities and threats on an unknown battlefield.

In August the Maneuver Battle Lab conducted an exercise on Combined Arms Maneuver/Wide Area Security which involved 20 other organizations, including 10 Army posts linked to a computer network.

This story was originally published September 30, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Fort Benning officials to break ground on $30 million Maneuver Battle Lab simulations facility."