Q1: Who is the lead contractor awarded the bid?
The Department of the Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman as the prime contractor for the Sentinel Engineering and Manufacturing Development contract in September 2020. Northrop Grumman has partnered with Bechtel for portions of the Sentinel infrastructure design and construction. During the ongoing program restructure, the Air Force is evaluating using alternate contractors to design or construct portions of the infrastructure program.
Q2: How many contractors are going to be on this project?
The Air Force estimates the project will employ between 2,000 to 3,000 contractors during the construction phase. Overall, the Sentinel program will involve nearly 10,000 people across the U.S. working directly in support of the program.
Q3: How can local businesses become partners on the project?
Small businesses interested in doing business with Northrop Grumman should visit Doing Business with Northrop Grumman. Completing this form will start the process and ensure Northrop Grumman and its subcontractors have good contact information for the small business and an understanding of their capabilities. Additionally, for small businesses or vendors interested in bidding for Government contracts, check the https://sam.gov website for active solicitations.
Q4: Will the project partner with the school district and local colleges for training?
Workforce development in the region is key to successfully fielding Sentinel, and the project will seek opportunities to partner with career and technical education programs at high schools and community colleges in the area.
Q5: Where will employees or workers come from? Will there be local recruitment of employees?
The project is committed to hiring qualified local employees. However, if there is a shortage of skilled trades in the region, employees will come in from other areas of the country to support the project.
Q6: How many people will be coming and where will they be housed?
The number of contract employees working on the project is not expected to exceed 3,000 people. Notionally, most employees hired for construction would be housed at a workforce hub.
Q7: Where will the people be housed for the duration of the project?
Most employees (up to 3,000) will be housed in workforce hub locations established in the vicinity of construction activity. Those locations have not been fully developed; however, the contractor and the program office will stay engaged with the community as that information becomes clearer. Some employees will be hired from local communities, and it is assumed they already have housing.
Q8: At what tempo/timeframe should the selected community for the workforce hub plan for a permanent presence versus fluid use of the area?
At this time, a decision has not been made on temporary or permanent housing locations. Based on current projections, work that will require an increase in workforce in the F.E. Warren region will begin in 2027 and be completed in the mid-2030s timeframe with work in Montana and North Dakota starting after the 2027 timeframe.
Q9: Has there been a final location determination on the proposed workforce hub?
A final determination has not been made regarding the location of the proposed workforce hubs. As we get closer to the determination of the locations, we will work with Northrop Grumman to actively engage with those impacted communities.
Q10: How does the Air Force plan to provide water/wastewater utilization and demands, along with increased demand on public power/electricity/natural resources, and ensure these local systems are able to support the needs of the contractor workforce?
The Sentinel contractor has the capability to build a workforce hub that is entirely self-sufficient, to include the use of ground water wells and generated power, if necessary. The Sentinel contractor may choose to use local utilities where adequate capacity and infrastructure to support the hub exists. The best approach to wastewater treatment at the hub is still being evaluated by the Sentinel deployment planning team.
Q11: Is it realistic to think that much of the footprint will remain as permanent fixtures upon the completion of the Sentinel buildup? Are there any discussions on what this phase could look like (i.e., responsibility for ownership or assumption/removal of temporary facilities, substances, material, etc.)?
While the contractor has the capability to completely restore the workforce hub site to its previous configuration, the Air Force and the Sentinel contractor are committed to working to find potential alternatives that best meet the needs of the local community.
Q12: Coupled with such significant population increase, does the Air Force plan on engaging the community on increased demand for public safety and emergency services?
Over the last two years, the Air Force, with support from its industry partners, has been executing an ongoing, comprehensive engagement plan to keep local communities informed of the projected impacts of the Sentinel project. The Sentinel project has been working closely with local elected officials, landowners, chambers of commerce, and interested members of the public in both virtual and face-to-face meetings (to include several public hearings and town halls) to address concerns, answer questions and explain projected impacts to local communities. The Air Force understands that communities across the region are concerned about the burden the project may place on local first responders and is working with the contractor to minimize the impacts as much as possible. Additionally, Sentinel anticipates developing a community relations panel to work more closely with local officials to address these types of concerns.
Q13: How does the Air Force plan to provide support for childcare, school/faculty demands, recreation, and regional public transportation systems that may be strained by the contractor workforce?
Most employees directly associated with the Sentinel project will not bring families with them to the area and will have little impact on local schools. Some of the employees working directly on the project will be hired from the local area and therefore will not add any additional students to the schools.
The Sentinel project plans to provide its own transportation when moving employees to and from work locations across the missile fields, and this same transportation will be used to move employees to authorized locations throughout the region.
The Air Force anticipates there will be an option for managed transportation to allow the workforce into various towns in the region to shop, see a movie, grab a bite to eat, attend places of worship, etc.
Q14: Is the Air Force planning to help communities pay for the upgrades necessary to support this project?
The Air Force is in the process of exploring a range of potential options to help communities deal with some of the impacts associated with the fielding of Sentinel. The projected economic impacts on the region are captured in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (see Table 3.11.13 Proposed Action IMPLAN Model Output for F.E. Warren AFB Off-Base Construction, page 3-507) for the project, which was completed and released March 31, 2023, and can be viewed at https://www.afgsc.af.mil/Sentinel/Environmental-Impact-Statement/. The Environmental Impact Statement process projects the following economic impacts to the region for the off-base construction: an additional 6,202 direct and indirect jobs, a total of $588,369,466 in total labor income added to the region, and a total of $1,168,778,536 in total output from the project. For supporting analysis and more specific details about the impacts, a comprehensive review of the applicable portions of the Final Environmental Impact Statement is recommended. In addition, a supplemental environmental impact statement is due to be released in August 2025.
Q15: Will workers in the field installing Sentinel be restricted to their work site due to security? Will there be much, if any, interaction between the laborers temporarily located in the area and local businesses?
The workers in the field installing Sentinel systems will indeed be subject to certain security restrictions due to the sensitive nature of the work. These restrictions are necessary to ensure the safety and security of both the personnel and the equipment involved in the installation process. While the primary focus will be on the work site, there will be interaction between the laborers and local businesses. This interaction will likely be in the form of obtaining essential needs such as food, and other basic services and entertainment.
Q16: If not, do we have any details into length of stay or positive economic impact on each area?
Current plans call for portions of the workforce to begin work in the Wyoming/Nebraska/Colorado region as early as 2027 until the mid-2030 timeframe with follow-on work for all the impacted locations throughout Montana and North Dakota to occur in subsequent years. The projected economic impacts are captured in the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the project, which was completed and released March 31, 2023, and can be viewed at https://www.afgsc.af.mil/Sentinel/Environmental-Impact-Statement/. The Environmental Impact Statement process projects the following economic impacts to the region for the off-base construction: an additional 6,202 direct and indirect jobs, a total of $588,369,466 in total labor income added to the region, and a total of $1,168,778,536 in total output from the project. For supporting analysis and more specific details about the impacts, a comprehensive review of the applicable portions of the Final Environmental Impact Statement is recommended. In addition, a supplemental environmental impact statement is due to be released in August 2025.
Q17: Does the Air Force have a plan or timetable for communicating the extent to which the upcoming project will interact with, boost, or otherwise disrupt the current status quo in impacted areas?
The Air Force, with support from its industry partners, has been executing an ongoing, comprehensive engagement plan to keep local communities informed of the projected impact of the Sentinel project over the last two years. The Sentinel project has been working closely with local elected officials, landowners, chambers of commerce and interested members of the public in both virtual and face-to-face meetings (to include several public hearings and town halls) to address concerns, answer questions and explain projected impacts to local communities. Much of the information on community impacts is provided in detail in the publicly available Final Environmental Impact Statement, which was completed and released March 31, 2023, and can be viewed at https://www.afgsc.af.mil/Sentinel/Environmental-Impact-Statement/. A supplemental environmental impact statement is due to be released in August 2025. Additionally, Air Force Global Strike Command has established this publicly available website with answers to many of the questions local communities have been asking.
Q18: Is there a full timeline for the Sentinel emplacement?
The Department of Defense reviewed the Sentinel program following a critical breach of the Nunn-McCurdy statute. The Department has certified the Sentinel program as essential to U.S. national security and directed the Air Force to restructure the program to address the root causes of the breach and establish an appropriate management structure to control costs. Further details of the restructure plan will be available after an updated acquisition strategy is approved by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment.
While construction of some facilities is underway, the Air Force is working to restructure the Sentinel program. Once restructure is complete, the finalized baseline schedule for transition, including construction and deployment activities, will be established.
Q19: How will the Air Force keep my cattle and family safe when construction to install the cables begins? Will fencing or other safety measures be installed?
Safety of the workforce and the public is of paramount importance to the Air Force and its industry partners. Each Air Force construction site will have a documented safety plan to protect workers and provide necessary safeguards for the surrounding environment. The Air Force will ensure landowners have the details of the plans when they are developed.