Bradley construction update, CIRF’s Up! Published March 6, 2010 By Tech. Sgt. Joshua Mead 103rd Airlift Wing, Public Affairs BRADLEY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, East Granby, Conn. -- The Centralized Intermediate Repair Facility is scheduled to break ground for an 8.3 million dollar transformation of their current building, Saturday March 6, 2010, marking the beginning of a new era for the 103rd Airlift Wing. Included in the 17,000 square foot expansion will be additional work space, offices, training and break areas and renovations to the existing 13,000 square feet. Additionally, a T-9 Engine Test Cell is being relocated from another Air National Guard unit and installed on a new foundation here. The end product will be a whole, brand-new facility with roughly 80 fully-trained technicians, said Maj. Wayne Ferris, commander of the 103rd Maintenance Squadron. Ultimately, taking a small jet engine shop and turning it into a production facility. As the first major construction project using primarily military construction money and money from the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure decision, the new CIRF will facilitate the repair of the engines for 78 Air National Guard A-10s, as well as some from active-duty units. The active-duty engines were added to the mission after Ferris arranged and discussed with active-duty counterparts in fall of 2009. Initially, the active duty was happy, said Ferris, but now they are receiving our product and they are ecstatic. Active-duty Airmen will not be the only happy troops once the facility is complete. Airman 1st Class Daniel Davila, an aerospace propulsion mechanic with 103rd Maintenance Squadron, said he wanted to see the final project and how it all comes together. During drill weekend it's crazy, said Davila, we have like 80 plus people, with about eight engines. The new facility will give us a good opportunity to get dirty and get some hands-on training to sign off on our training tasks. "The CIRF mission is to overhaul TF-34's at the intermediate maintenance level. CIRF personnel will induct an engine from a base with either a troubleshooting problem or an 'out of time' condition, where one or more time tracked components have run out of life. The purpose of the operation is turning each engine serviceable with optimum performance and the longest life expectancy possible," said Staff Sgt. Steven Sevigny, aerospace propulsion work leader with the 103rd Maintenance Squadron. "This is a great move for the Connecticut Air National Guard. We actually are a team player with the active duty as well as the Guard and Air Force Reserve. So as far as future outlook and viability, we're going to be viable for decades," said Ferris.