Photo By Jeremy Todd | Military officials break ground on a new $21.9 million veterinary center at Fort...... read more read more
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FORT BELVOIR, Va. — Behind the secure gates of Fort Belvoir, ground has been broken for a new $21.9 million veterinary center that will transform medical care for the military's four-legged service members. The planned facility, with its advanced surgical suites and specialized rehabilitation areas, represents the Department of Defense's commitment to maintaining the health of its vital canine force.
"Military working dogs have a strategic importance in what we do, not only here in CONUS but OCONUS as well," said Col. Cassandra Mims, Deputy Chief of Design, Construction and Activation for Defense Health Agency. "They deserve the greatest care that our human counterparts do."
The project addresses a critical need in the National Capital Region, where the current 30-year-old facility, commissioned in 1994, struggles to meet post-9/11 security demands and modern veterinary requirements.
"The security threat is different now, and it's been changing every time," said Col. Justin Schlanser, the 29th Chief of the Veterinary Corps and Commander of Public Health Command East. "The requirements are much more extensive than when the original facility was built."
Bringing these expanded requirements into reality has required careful coordination between multiple stakeholders.
"I'm kind of like the middleman between the using agency and the contractor," said Captain Victor Valentin-Torres, a military project engineer for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District. "Everything that happens daily, I need to manage and disseminate it in different ways, so everyone is informed, and everything is actioned appropriately."
The new 21,950-square-foot facility will nearly triple the size of its predecessor, serving as the primary medical facility for over 60 military working dogs stationed across the National Capital Region's most critical security posts, including the Pentagon, Quantico Marine Corps Base and Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall. Its reach extends far beyond these immediate locations.
"MRC East goes from Fort Belvoir to Fort Drum, from Maryland all the way to almost Connecticut," Valentin-Torres said. "There's different vet clinics around those areas, but the main hub will be this facility."
Currently, military working dogs needing advanced care must often travel to the Holland Military Working Dog Hospital in San Antonio, creating logistical challenges for units in the eastern United States. That's about to change.
"This hospital is going to be almost a second Holland Hospital,” Schlanser said. ”State-of-the-art here on the East Coast
The facility will serve as a hub for multiple federal law enforcement agencies whose working dogs are critical to national security. These include dozens of K-9 teams from the Secret Service, Transportation Security Administration, Border Patrol, and other Department of Homeland Security components operating throughout the eastern seaboard.
Maj. Sarah Watkins, Deputy Commander for Veterinary Readiness Activity, described the innovative design:
"What they created was built around a central core of treatment that contains all our ORs, procedure rooms, diagnostics, imagery and laboratory."
Designing such a complex facility presented unique challenges, Valentin-Torres explained.
"The hardest part for this project was the design, getting all this cool stuff that they need into this space — the huge wish list into a reality," he said. "When you sit down on a design conference and go room by room, the user starts saying, 'we need this because we don't have it here, but we have this requirement.' That development starts changing, and you quickly start running out of space."
The project will also enhance military veterinary medicine training capabilities.
"This will increase the number of veterinarians that are able to come into the military," Valentin-Torres said. "That actually impacts the whole veterinary corps, because those officers will go out to different locations, but they're all going to be educated in this area."
The expansion brings sophisticated capabilities previously unavailable in the region: two surgical suites with three operating tables, a dedicated orthopedic suite, a specialized intensive care unit and physical therapy facilities designed for military working animals. Advanced diagnostic equipment will include endoscopy services, digital radiography, and ultrasound imaging.
The center will also serve military families' pets, with five examination rooms for privately owned animals — up from three — and four dedicated exam rooms for military working dogs, an increase from one. Two procedure rooms will feature wet tables and mobile lift procedure tables.
Beyond clinical care, the facility will serve as the headquarters for veterinary public health operations across the eastern United States, including food safety inspection and force health protection services. This consolidation streamlines command and control of veterinary services across the region while improving coordination with federal partners.
"As the Hawaiian saying goes, 'many hands make the load light,' and indeed, many stakeholders from DHA, Augusta T. Medical Center, and DPW have contributed to reaching this milestone," said Bernadette Osterhaus, a project manager in Baltimore District’s Capital Area Program Office. "Once constructed, this facility will not only provide significant improvements for the Military Working Dogs but will also benefit the military members and their families who will have access to it."
Baltimore District Deputy District Commander Lt. Col. Mark Pollak also pointed to strong collaboration in reaching this project milestone.
"The team has worked closely with stakeholders on specific requirements. It's that partnership that brings these projects to an effective conclusion."
The Fort Belvoir Veterinary Center, scheduled to begin construction in Spring 2025, signals a deep commitment to veterinary medicine, Schlanser said.
"This shows the military is willing to put resources into this mission. We think you're important, we're going to upgrade your facilities so you can perform the mission you need for national defense."
| Date Taken: | 12.05.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.05.2024 15:14 |
| Story ID: | 486744 |
| Location: | FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 222 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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