ND Air National Guard breaks ground on new facility

"This building is going to set us up for 20 to 30 years of doing what Hooligans do best; Leading missions in the entire National Guard and the entire Air Force."

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — The Happy Hooligans of the 119th Wing break ground on a $17.5 million facility.

The construction project will be an operations facility for use by the 119th Operations Group at the North Dakota Air National Guard Base.

“The reason this is being built and the folks that deserve the most gratitude are the airmen. This is being built because of what you do each and every day. It’s easy to advocate for what you guys need because of what you do,” North Dakota National Guard Maj. Gen. Al Dohrmann said.

The new innovative building is only one of four military construction projects of the year for the entire National Guard and will help aid with everyday missions.

“This building is going to set us up for 20 to 30 years of doing what Hooligans do best; Leading missions in the entire National Guard and the entire Air Force and we’re super excited about it,” North Dakota National Guard Col. Mitch Johnson said.

North Dakota Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer say the new facility will have benefits far beyond North Dakota.

“Our armed services depend on you, our operators depend on you around the globe. You’re their eyes, their ears and we can’t have an interruption in that service and that’s what this is all about. You’re operating out of your existing operation center. This $17.5 million operation center and it will be turned key. You’ll go from operating from where you are right into the new center without missing a beat, without stopping the mission, without any mission interruption,” North Dakota Senator John Hoeven said.

“This that’s getting built and that that you’ve been operating in are all part of the future and the innovation that comes from operating these machines, from sitting in front of those monitors, from listening to the chatter, that’s special,” North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer said.

The project is expected to be completed by 2023.