Move of lab’s division generates about 100 jobs Published July 25, 2007 By Michael Kleiman 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, New Mexico -- When the Air Force Research Laboratory's Battlespace Environment Division relocates here by September 2011, approximately 100 high-tech civilian positions will be created by the move. During a meeting July 11 with government, academic, business and community leaders, representatives from the laboratory and the 377th Air Base Wing discussed the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission-mandated transfer of the organization and the potential employment growth it could provide to New Mexico. "Our Space Vehicles Directorate's Battlespace Environment Division, now located at Hanscom AFB, Mass., is scheduled to move to Kirtland AFB in a very short four years time. To accommodate the organization's transfer, new facilities must be built, current personnel will be relocated, and highly technical, as well as traditional staff positions will need to be filled," said Maj. Gen. Ted Bowlds, commander of Air Force Research Laboratory. "The move also provides us in the Air Force and New Mexico's academic and scientific communities with exciting opportunities. Obviously, it will also offer a significant economic impact to both the Albuquerque area and the State of New Mexico," he said. Upon arriving at its new home, the division, comprised of approximately 240 federal government and contractor personnel, will occupy a $43 million, state-of-the-art, 145,000 square-foot building, which is scheduled for groundbreaking next year on the installation's west side. The organization's primary research tasks involve specifying, forecasting, mitigating and exploiting near-Earth and space environment impacts to enable future generations of space systems to operate in those environments.