The Federal Building, originally the Burroughs Building, was a Cold War military computer systems building on the

Ent Air Force Base Ent Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located in the Knob Hill neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado. A tent city, established in 1943 during construction of the base, was initially commanded by Major General Uzal Gira ...

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. It was built in 1962 to be used by

Burroughs Corporation The Burroughs Corporation was a major American manufacturer of business equipment. The company was founded in 1886 as the American Arithmometer Company. In 1986, it merged with Sperry UNIVAC to form Unisys. The company's history paralleled many ...

for its project to build an automated facility to take input, like satellite and radar information, and instantaneously assess its degree of combat importance. The program was designed in conjunction with Air Force 425L System Project engineers and was an important component in

North American Aerospace Defense Command North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...

(NORAD)'s command and control system. It was an Ent Air Force Base building until 1975 when the base was inactivated. It then became an off-base installation to the Peterson Air Force Base. Over the next several decades there were varying uses for the building by the federal government. After 2007, the building was vacated and in 2009 it was sold.

Ent Air Force Base

Burroughs Corporation was awarded a contract to develop a

(NORAD) command and control system for its Combat Operations Center. The construction project, to be completed in 1964, included construction at the underground (

Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station (CMSFS) is located in Cheyenne Mountain on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in unincorporated El Paso County, Colorado, next to Colorado Springs, The Cheyenne Mountain Complex, an underground facilit ...

) facility and two other phases of the project. The system, designed in conjunction with Air Force 425L Systems Project engineers at Burrough's high speed computer complex in Massachusetts, was to be "an automated facility for centralizing the evaluation of critical aerospace surveillance points, providing computations in one-millionth of a second." Its sources of information included radar and satellites. The or two-story Burroughs Building was constructed in 1962 on 1.7 acres for the

, as designed by C. Dewey King. The building included offices and laboratories for NORAD's electronics and communications systems. It was owned by Davis-Becker Construction company, who then leased it to Burroughs. In 1970, a Museum of Heritage collection was built for the Fourteenth Aerospace Force in Ent Air Force Base's Burroughs Building. The collection consisted of items from personnel who served with the Flying Tigers or its forerunner the American Volunteer Group in China. The displays—including Chinese coins, patches, flying jackets, and flags—were to be completed September 1970. The

Army Air Defense Command Army Air Defense Command, previously Army Anti-Aircraft Command, was a major command of the United States Army which existed from 1957 to 1974. The previous ARAACOM was created in 1950 and was redesignated ARADCOM in 1957. It was formed to command t ...

, part of

North American Air Defense Command North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...

and

Continental Air Command Continental Air Command (ConAC) (1948–1968) was a Major Command of the United States Air Force (USAF) responsible primarily for administering the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve. During the Korean War, ConAC provided the necessary augm ...

, was inactivated at Ent AFB on January 4, 1975. The Fourteenth Aerospace Force at Ent Air Force Base was inactivated and its personnel and units were reassigned to Air Defense Command on October 1, 1976. Ent Air Force Base was declared excess. In December 1976, personnel were moved to Peterson Air Force Base and the

Chidlaw Building The Chidlaw Building is a former United States Air Force facility located in the Knob Hill neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The building was close to, but not within, the Ent Air Force Base complex, and was leased by the military for ...

, near downtown Colorado Springs.

Peterson Air Force Base

In 1975, the Ent Air Force Base and the NORAD headquarters moved to the Peterson Air Force Base Ent Building. Until February 28, 1975, Peterson Field was an off-base installation of Ent Air Force Base; the commander of Ent oversaw Peterson Field. On March 1, 1975, Peterson Air Force Base became a primary installation and assumed Aerospace Defense Command functions that had been performed by Ent Air Force Base, which became Ent Annex, an off-base installation of Peterson Air Force Base. In 1975, the data processing building was completed. The Federal Building was an off-base facility of

Peterson Air Force Base Peterson Space Force Base, previously Peterson Air Force Base, Peterson Field, and Army Air Base, Colorado Springs, is a U.S. Space Force Base that shares an airfield with the adjacent Colorado Springs Municipal Airport and is home to the N ...

. In 1993, Kaman Sciences Corporation was awarded a contract to maintain communications mission firmware and software at the Federal Building, Peterson Air Force Base, and Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base. The Federal Building was included in Peterson Air Force Base's Economic Impact Analysis in 2009.

General Services Administration

By 1998, the building was owned by the United States

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...

and leased to the Air Force Space Command. Bayshore Industries was awarded a contract by the U.S. General Services Administration to maintain and operate the Federal Building in 2006. The building was fully occupied until October 2006 by the Space Command. The

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

occupied approximately 15% of the building until June 2007.

United States Northern Command United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) is one of eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense. The command is tasked with providing military support for non-military authorities in the U.S., and protect ...

hosted a Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration, an annual event, on June 18, 2007 at the Federal Building. It was a media event to present emerging technologies of command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance solutions (C4ISR) for military and

homeland security Homeland security is an American national security term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" t ...

applications. It was also a venue for

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

, local and federal law enforcement, emergency personnel, and partner systems. The purpose of the event included evaluation of interoperability within the coalition and international community, such as

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

(NATO) members, Canada, and the United Kingdom. A simulated hostage demonstration was held at the building. The Federal Protective Services and General Services Administration occupied a small portion of the building until their leases expired at the end of September 2007. A bill was introduced in 2007 by Senator Allard and under consideration to transfer the building to the United States Paralympics, Incorporated, a subsidiary of the United States Olympic Committee. The GSA sold the building, which had been vacant since 2007, in 2009 for $890,000 through its online auction.

Ent Air Force Base

Peterson Air Force Base

General Services Administration

References

Further reading