The National Security Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers broke ground on a $1.2 billion data center at Camp W.G. Williams National Guard Post. The massive, one million square-foot facility currently is the largest U.S. Department of Defense project in the nation.

“This will bring 5,000 to 10,000 new jobs during the construction and development phase,” Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said at the event. “Once completed, it will support 100 to 200 permanent, high-paid employees.”

More than 200 personnel attended the ceremony, including Utah Lt. Gov. Greg Bell and other state and local representatives.

The data center will be a state-of-the-art facility designed to support the Intelligence Community’s efforts to further strengthen and protect the nation’s cyber security.

“In an era when our nation and its allies are increasingly dependent on the integrity of information and systems supported, transmitted, or stored in cyberspace, it is essential that that space is as resilient and secure as possible,” said NSA Deputy Director John C. Inglis.

NSA is the executive agent for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and will be the lead agency at the data center. The facility will assist various agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, in protecting national security networks.

“There is a clear mandate for a public-private partnership – led on the government side by DHS – but supported by all elements of the U.S. government, to include federal, state and local organizations represented here today,” Inglis added.

Brig. Gen. Peter A. DeLuca, commander of the North Atlantic Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, attended the event and emphasized the teamwork necessary for a project of this size, and its importance.

“It is important for the Corps, our customer, and the nation,” DeLuca said.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the construction agent responsible for handling the acquisition and contracting process, design management and review, and project management. Two Army Corps districts serve on the Utah Data Center project delivery team – the Baltimore and Sacramento districts.