Ossoff to announce Gillem forensics upgrades

U.S Senator Jon Ossoff will hold a press conference Thursday at Fort Gillem to announce permanent facilities for Army forensic investigators stationed there. Ossoff had requested $24.7 million for “permanent facilities for the Defense Forensic Science Center’s (DFSC) Forensic Exploitation Directorate (FXD) and [to] provide facilities for the authorized expansion of assigned personnel.“

The Defense Forensic Science Center’s Forensic Exploitation Directorate, or FXD, travels the globe to do forensic investigations, whether in standing facilities or portable field labs.

As part of the U.S. Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, the FXD investigates war crimes, terrorist attacks, and counterinsurgency operations through tools like DNA, latent fingerprint, chemical, and weapons analysis.

On May 16, Ossoff introduced and Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock cosponsored S.1620, the Fort Gillem Forensics Laboratory Upgrades Act, which would amend the Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, extending authorization for construction at Fort Gillem.

As of press time, that bill had been referred to the Senate Committee on Armed Services, but the text of the bill had not yet been published, according to the Library of Congress.

In 2016, contractors were hired to fix a number of issues at the aging facility, including problems with generator power, HVAC, and standing water.