AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy. --
Soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade are able to reduce their rapid deployment time due to a $4.5 million warehouse project that stores their equipment at Aviano Air Base.
U.S. Army Garrison Italy, working together with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Air Force, recently completed the warehouse. While an Army building on an air base may sound unusual, Army paratroopers routinely use Aviano for training and deployments.
Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commander, U.S. European Command & Supreme Allied Commander Europe, led the Oct. 9 ribbon cutting, alongside senior U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army and Italian military leaders. More than 100 people, to include U.S. and Italian employees of both Caserma Ederle in Vicenza and Aviano AB, listened as Cavoli discussed the importance of the new infrastructure.
In early 1991, while serving as a Vicenza-based lieutenant in a U.S. Army airborne battalion, Cavoli sat along the airfield with 1,100 fellow paratroopers at Aviano, surrounded by supplies, waiting to deploy to Northern Iraq, he said. Serving as the air operations officer at the time, Cavoli oversaw the inspection and loading of his unit’s gear.
“It began to rain and the idea came that at some point we should build something here,” Cavoli said.
Many years later, planners had similar thoughts and the warehouse project came into being. Construction began in the Fall of 2022 and the warehouse was completed ahead of schedule in the Spring of 2024. It offers more than is 13,450 square feet of space.
The new structure supports 173rd contingency operations and allows the unit to deploy more rapidly to contingency missions in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. USAG Italy runs all deployment operations supporting the Southern European Task Force, Africa’s early-entry command post mission, the North-West African response force and U.S. European Command’s crisis, contingency, and the deterrence response force.
USACE’s Europe District, who delivers engineering solutions to support U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa, oversaw its construction. Europe District Deputy Commander Lt. Col. John Kline was on hand for the opening.
For Evan Taylor, USACE’s resident engineer for projects in Italy, the project’s completion was successful because of hard work and cooperation between the Italian design and construction firms, U.S. Air Force and U.S Army representatives, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Taylor saw it grow from its groundbreaking to the ribbon cutting.
“When we started, this was a parking lot, a blank space of land,” Taylor said. “In the matter of a year and a half we were able to construct a fully functional warehouse that can help support the troops in fulfilling their mission.”
Having supplies prepositioned nearby the airfield enhances the Army’s role as a power projection platform, by reducing response times and offering leaders strategic options. Capt. Danielle Bauer, commander of Kilo Company, 173rd Brigade Support Battalion, calls it a “crucial hub for the rapid outload of equipment,” because it increases the unit’s storage capacity, streamlines logistics and enhances interoperability with the Air Force.
Among those who took part in the afternoon event were Maj. Gen. Andrew Gainey, SETAF-AF commander and Command Sgt. Maj. Reese Teakell, SETAF-AF’s senior enlisted leader. Col. Scott Horrigan, USAG Italy commander and Col. Joshua Gaspard, commander of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, joined Cavoli for the ribbon cutting, alongside Gainey and Brig. Gen Tad Clark, commander of the 31 Fighter Wing. Before departing, Cavoli recognized several people personally and thanked the entire group.
“This work you do here, that’s represented by this building, is a great example of people stepping up and fulfilling the expectations that populations have for us to provide for their defense,” Cavoli said.