$92 million facility slated for trauma research Published Jan. 15, 2008 By Elaine Wilson Fort Sam Houston Public Information Office FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (AFPN) -- The groundbreaking of a $92 million research center Jan. 11 marked the first Base Realignment and Closure construction project at Fort Sam Houston directed by the 2005 BRAC legislation. Once completed, the 150,000-square-foot Joint Center of Excellence for Battlefield Health and Trauma Research will be home to all Defense Department combat casualty care and trauma research missions. "This is not just one new building we're building here, this represents a major commitment and acknowledgement of the importance and the impact that trauma research has on all patients," said Army Maj. Gen. George Weightman, commander of the Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. Military leaders from the Army, Air Force and Navy, as well as community leaders participated in the ceremony to celebrate the start of construction on the joint center. The new facility, slated for completion in September 2009, signifies a "new era in military medical research," General Weightman said. The research center will enable research and development experts, scattered throughout the nation, to centralize efforts, which will improve efficiency, reduce duplication and enhance the collusion between them, the general said. By doing so, the DOD will ensure "we continue to provide the best research in an environment that will enable (medical experts) to extend the boundaries of research," General Weightman said. The center will be collocated with the Institute of Surgical Research, which falls under the general's command, and next to Brooke Army Medical Center on Fort Sam Houston. The ISR also will benefit from BRAC with a 5,000-square-foot renovation. Additionally, the research center adds 230 people to the 440 already working at the ISR, which totals "670 people dedicated to improving the quality of life of our wounded warriors," the general said. "Locating this facility here (with the ISR) at Fort Sam Houston is the absolute logical choice," he said. General Weightman attributed the high survivability rate of today's war in part to the ISR, which has steadily produced lifesaving products and technologies. Innovations include new field dressings and tourniquets, hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers with a two or three-year shelf life rather than 30 days, new methods for wound closure after a burn injury, and five interrelated computerized devices that allow medics to provide quality care to wounded service members at the point of injury. The focus of the ISR and the future focus of the new joint center will be on the delivery of immediate care for warriors who have sustained life-threatening injuries on the battlefield. "This is not just pie in the sky research ... (the ISR) has been saving lives and improving function every day since it has been open," General Weightman said. "It's just incredible, the comprehensiveness and far-reaching aspects." The combined research efforts of the ISR and the joint center will not only benefit military members, but also civilians as well. "While the causes of trauma are different, the responses are similar," General Weightman said. "And the interventions to save lives are remarkably similar. The fruits of this labor will help every civilian in this nation." The construction project is the first of many for Fort Sam Houston and San Antonio; all tied into the 2005 BRAC legislation. Over the next three years Fort Sam Houston will kick off 37 different BRAC-related construction projects. Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, will begin 14 projects and Randolph AFB, Texas, will begin eight. In total, the projects will cost more than $2 billion, the general said. "I can't think of a better investment of taxpayer's dollars," General Weightman said. "It reaffirms San Antonio's status as a global center of excellence." Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link) View the comments/letters page