Military & Civilian Leaders Break Ground On New Sentinel Training Facility

LOMPOC, Calif. (KEYT) - Vandenberg Space Force Base is hosting a “Golden Shovel” groundbreaking ceremony today for a new 160,000-square-foot training facility. 

The Air Education and Training Command Sentinel Formal Training Unit will consolidate instruction for both missile operators and maintainers.

The facility represents the largest Sentinel military construction project at Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The LGM-35A Sentinel is the U.S. military's next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system. 

It’s designed to replace the aging Cold War-era Minuteman III. Vandenberg serves as the primary operational test launch and evaluation base for this strategic deterrence modernization program.

Once built, the integrated campus will combine Initial Skills Training for missile operators with technical training for missile maintainers to support the onboarding of the Sentinel program.

Air Force Global Strike Command, Sentinel Task Force Detachment nine organized the event in coordination with Space Launch Delta 30 and Air Education and Training Command.

Military and civilian leaders will be in attendance to celebrate another step forward in Vandenberg’s growth.

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