The approval process at Fort Sill and the Department of the Army is now complete. Final approval was signed off on in early January 2016 by the U.S. Army’s Installation Management Command. We received acknowledgement via email from the Fort Sill Museum Director on January 7th. The formal notification came by mail on January 13th.

Foundation Directors Roger Gilmore and Gary Noller traveled to the Fort Sill installation on February 3rd for a monument site meeting with the post Departmentof Public Works officials and both contractors doing the monument construction work (shown in photo above). The meeting involved discussions regarding the concrete pad dimensions and condition of the soil in and around the pad area. Based on the Department of Public Works engineer’s review, a slight change in the pad design is necessary to lengthen the entry sidewalk coming from the main walkway. Some soil grading work will be necessary at the back of the concrete pad to build up the slope to enhance drainage. Concrete base plans will be modified accordingly and forwarded to the post Department of Public Works for final approval.

The granite work on the memorial pedestals will commence in February and are expectedto take approximately five months to complete. The concrete contractor will pour the initial sub foundation structure in June. The finished sub foundation will be allowed to cure for three weeks before the pedestals are moved from their construction location in Granite, Oklahoma to the post for installation on the sub foundation.