Up to $100M to Korte for US Army Ranger Facility at Fort Lewis
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The Korte Co. in St. Louis, MO won a $24.2 million firm-fixed-price construction contract for the construction of a 2-story standard design company operations facility for the US Army Ranger Support Company and Headquarters and Headquarters Company at Fort Lewis in Washington state. The estimated construction cost could reach $100 million.
Korte will build administrative areas in the facility, including offices, open office areas, conference rooms, latrines, showers, and lockers. The readiness areas will include TA-50 lockers, equipment layout areas, arms rooms, storage cages for NBC (nuclear, biological, and chemical) equipment, supplies, and communications equipment. The facility will include both secured and unsecured communications systems. Korte will demolition the 2 existing buildings, which total 101,536 square feet. Korte expects to complete construction by Feb 11/11. Bids were solicited through FedBizOpps with 9 bids received by the US Army Corps of Engineers Seattle District in Seattle, WA (W912DW-09-C-0020).
Fort Lewis is home to the 75th Ranger Regiment’s 2nd Battalion…
The 75th Ranger Regiment, composed of 3 Ranger battalions, is the premier light-infantry unit of the US Army. Headquartered at Fort Benning, GA, the 75th Ranger Regiment’s mission is to plan and conduct special missions in support of US policy and objectives. The Army maintains the regiment at a high level of readiness. Each battalion can deploy anywhere in the world with 18 hours notice.
Ranger battalions are light infantry and have only a few vehicles and crew-served weapons systems. Standard weapon systems of the units include:
- 84mm Ranger antitank weapons system (RAWS)
- 60mm mortars M240B machine guns
- 81mm mortars Mark 19 RP MM grenade launcher
- 120mm mortars Stinger
To maintain readiness, Rangers train constantly. Their training encompasses arctic, jungle, desert, and mountain operations, as well as amphibious instruction. The training philosophy of the 75th Ranger Regiment dictates the unit’s high state of readiness. The philosophy includes performance-oriented training emphasizing tough standards and a focus on realism and live-fire exercises, while concentrating on the basics and safety.
