The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has officially broken ground on a major new training center at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) in Anchorage, Alaska. The project, announced in a Sept. 23 USACE news release, represents one of the largest recent military construction efforts in the region and will provide joint forces and coalition partners with cutting-edge simulation capabilities.
The facility — called the Joint Integrated Test and Training Center - Elmendorf — is estimated to cost $332 million upon completion. The core construction contract, worth approximately $290 million, was awarded in July to ASRC Builders-Caddell, a joint venture between Anchorage-based ASRC Construction and Montgomery, Alabama-based Caddell Construction. The higher $332 million total reflects the project’s current working estimate, including additional costs beyond the contract amount.
Cameron McLeod, public affairs specialist for the USACE Alaska District, confirmed to Construction Dive via email that the $290 million figure is tied to the awarded contract, while $332 million accounts for projected total expenditures by completion.
Once finished, the center will be the first of its kind, purpose-built to support joint and multinational force training with advanced simulation technologies. JBER is the largest military installation in Alaska and a critical hub for U.S. defense posture in both the Pacific and Arctic regions.
The 150,000-square-foot, two-story facility will be engineered for extreme cold weather and outfitted with:
These features will enable warfighters to rehearse complex, multilateral scenarios in a safe but realistic environment designed to replicate contested battlespaces.
“This ultramodern facility and the servicemembers that will execute its missions and operations will usher in a new era of military readiness,” said Col. Jeffrey Palazzini, district commander of USACE’s Alaska District, in the news release.
The training center is part of a broader push by USACE to modernize military infrastructure and leverage new technology. Recent initiatives include:
With the groundbreaking now complete, construction at JBER will move forward in phases, with teams focusing on cold-weather durability, integrated digital infrastructure, and multi-force compatibility.
Once operational, the facility is expected to bolster interoperability between U.S. forces and allied partners, helping service members prepare for evolving defense challenges in the Arctic, Indo-Pacific, and beyond.
Originally reported by Matthew Thibault in Construction Dive.
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