Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas -- Renovations have begun to turn Laughlin’s enlisted dormitories’ dayroom into an expanded kitchen.
Recently one of the two dormitories closed, leaving only one open kitchen available for residents.
“There is no dining facility on base, and the approximately 100 dorm residents currently share one small kitchenette area,” said Hamilton Duncan, 47th Civil Engineer Squadron engineering flight chief. “[The current] area allows only two people to cook at a time. The new kitchen’s open configuration and multiple appliances will be able to accommodate multiple residents at once.”
The project took nearly six months to plan and is scheduled to be completed by the end of January 2016.
“Converting the rarely used dayroom area to a kitchen will improve the quality of life for Airmen,” said Duncan. “It will allow more residents to prepare meals at the same time, save them gas and money by eating in versus driving to town to a restaurant, and provide more options to prepare healthy meals, which will increase their physical well-being.”
Airmen in the dorms range from Airmen to Senior Airmen, and most are coming from technical training school.
“For a lot of the Airmen, it's their first time away from home without mom and dad around,” said Staff Sgt. Peter Weaver, 47th Civil Engineering Squadron airman dorm leader. “So giving them a place like the new kitchen to set up shop and take pride in, or just to have that feeling of being at home can really go a long way in their transition to being on their own.”