Construction is underway on a new 160,000-square-foot training facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base that will support the next generation of missile operators and maintainers.
The Air Education and Training Command’s Sentinel Formal Training Unit is expected to train an estimated 300 to 400 students in nuclear missile operations and maintenance for the Sentinel program.
The Sentinel program is designed to replace the Minuteman III, which has been part of the nation’s nuclear deterrent since the Cold War.
Lt. Col. Suzanne Lamar, Commander of Air Force Global Strike Command Sentinel Task Force Detachment 9, said Vandenberg was selected for the training mission because the base already trains missile operators and maintainers on the Minuteman III system.
“There’s an actual program called strategic basing. They will assess the locations that are being considered, and Vandenberg was selected,” Lamar said. “We currently train Minutemen for their initial skills training here for both the same maintainers and operators.”
Lamar said the new facility is expected to cost approximately $113 million and will serve as a unique training location for the Sentinel program.
“This one is one of a kind,” Lamar said. “So we have called this the formal training unit.”
The facility will include hands-on training.
“There will be virtual training capabilities through simulators that allow technicians and the operators to get that hands-on training before they go up to do the system in its operational environment,” said Lt. Col. Luke Oman, Commander of the 532nd Training Squadron.
The Sentinel training mission will initially operate alongside training for the Minuteman III system as the Air Force transitions to the new weapons system.
“For us, Sentinel is going to be a parallel weapons system that we’re going to start training once that comes online,” Oman said. “We’re going to have Minuteman III operators. They’re going to be learning a new weapon system and then learning how to train the future generation of nuclear warriors.”
Col. James Horne III, Commander of Space Launch Delta 30, said the expansion could bring hundreds of additional full-time personnel to the base.
“You are looking at an additional 300 to 500 folks for full-time bases to stand up this program to train the operators and maintainers, and so that’s going to be a big economic impact in the community,” Horne said.
The groundbreaking marks the official start of construction on what Vandenberg officials describe as the base’s largest Sentinel military construction project to date.
Once completed, the facility will consolidate initial skills training for missile operators and technical training for missile maintainers into a single, integrated campus.
Construction is expected to be completed by early 2030's.
