ARPC in the 1970s - total force concept and the move to Lowry

  • Published
  • By Mark Nelson
  • Air Reserve Personnel Center Historian
BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. --  (This feature is the third of a monthly series celebrating ARPC's 60th birthday. Each month will highlight a new decade until ARPC's 60th birthday which is March 1, 2014.)

Members of the Air Reserve Personnel Center experienced significant changes during the 1970s from a shift in strategy of a new total force concept to their physical move to Lowry Air Force Base.

With lessons learned from the Vietnam War and President Richard M. Nixon's mandate to end the draft and form an all-volunteer military, a Department of Defense commission was formed to focus on contributions of Reserve components which set the stage for the new Total Force Concept.

The term total force first appeared in 1953 when the Air Force used it to describe its approach to employing Reserve components. But it wasn't until 1970 when Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird made the Total Force Concept a DoD policy.

Under total force, active forces would see reductions in overall strengths and capabilities along with increased reliance on combat and combat support units of Guard and Reserve forces. As part of the new policy, reserve forces would also receive and operate same types of equipment that active duty units had, rather than older, less-capable hand-me-down equipment it had used before.

ARPC became a major player in the total force plan since an increased reliance on reserve forces meant those units had to thoroughly train and prepare to augment the active forces. Headquarters Air Force Reserve was responsible for unit training programs and ARPC was responsible for managing individual Reserve programs.

The center had maintained and managed personnel records of individual reservists since its inception, so it was logical for ARPC to assume responsibility for the management of individual Reserve training programs as well. To accomplish this task, ARPC formed the Directorate of Individual Reserve Programs in July 1970.

In a similar vein, the center became the single manager for the Air Force Reserve judge advocate, chaplain, and medical individual Reserve programs in September of that same year. These changes meant an increased workload and the need for additional personnel.

With those changes came another difficult challenge. The center and the Air Force Accounting and Finance Center had jointly occupied a World War II-era converted warehouse facility at 3800 York Street in north Denver since 1953 and those facilities were rapidly deteriorating.

A July 1970 report by the Air Force Inspector General outlined several deficiencies at the York Street location. These included inadequate parking, no room for expansion, dangerous internal traffic issues due to the facility's layout, and excessive maintenance costs. More seriously, the report highlighted inadequate and outdated heating, cooling and fire protection systems as well as limited security. The Air Force decided to examine the feasibility of relocating ARPC and AFAFC to the former Lowry Air Force Base in southeast Denver.

In August 1973, an environmental impact study was completed, congressional hearings were held, and the Air Force and city of Denver appeared poised to move ahead with the project. The study concluded that the move would only increase traffic in the area by ten percent, a modest increase.

However, local neighborhood groups around Lowry protested that the traffic flow would increase greatly and that the facility would cause visual and noise pollution. These upper middle-class residents argued their property values would plunge and they threatened legal action to stop the project.

Military and civilian leaders were concerned that if the move was halted, construction funding would be lost and the facility would have to move out of Colorado. This action would cause the loss of 1,800 jobs and threaten the existence of ARPC.

To find a compromise, Air Force representatives met with neighborhood groups and the Denver Planning Commission in March 1974. According to the 1974 ARPC annual history, the group's arguments about increased traffic and lowering of property values masked another, more ominous complaint. Some local residents bitterly complained that many of the center's employees were "heavily disadvantaged people," a subtle reference to the fact that 26 percent of ARPC and AFAFC's employees were minorities.

This blatant expression of intolerance threw the meeting into pandemonium, but eventually, cooler heads prevailed and order was restored. During the meeting, Air Force representatives and critics compromised on several issues.

To make the facility visually pleasing, designers relocated the parking lots to make them less visible and agreed to place 12-foot high landscaped berms between the building and neighborhoods. A park-like environment was created with the installation of a man-made lake, tennis courts and a game field. The $20 million building contained about 600,000 square feet of usable space.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held May 24, 1974, and the building was finally completed by late summer of 1976. ARPC's move began on Sept. 1 and lasted five days.

Employee desks were labeled and masking tape marked the proper location of each furniture and equipment on the floor of the new building. A large ramp was built from the parking lot to the third floor windows, an ingenious and time-saving alternative to moving every item by elevators. The move cost exactly $239,474. It was the largest federal agency move in the history of Colorado at that time.

On Sept. 30, the new building was formally dedicated. Employees held a popular vote to select an appropriate name for the new facility and Centennial Building was the winner. This was because 1976 was the bicentennial of American independence and the centennial of Colorado's admission to the Union. However, Air Force naming regulations required that buildings be named for deceased Air Force personnel. Thus, the building was named the Gilchrist Building after Maj. Gen. John R. Gilchrist, the first commander of AFAFC.

During the decade of the 1970s, ARPC changed a lot, but its mission remained the same. Throughout our 60 years of existence, ARPC has served generations of Airmen and will continue that service well into the future.