General Carter F. Ham, commander of U.S. Africa Command, hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to open the newest building for the command at RAF Molesworth in the United Kingdom on August 2, 2011.

The event was attended by more than 300 people including a number of British civic leaders from the local community.

"You here at Molesworth play a vital role in the command," Ham said. "I am awfully proud of what you have accomplished so far and with this new building and improved working conditions, I expect even more."

The new building is 42,500 square feet with the latest technology that allows the best communication and collaboration back to the command headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany and with other mission partners around the globe.

"I truly believe our new building increases our ability to execute our mission," said Colonel Michele M. Cook, commander of the Intelligence Directorate Molesworth (J2-M). "In today's information age it is imperative that we stay integrally linked to our headquarters."

Prior to the opening of the new building, the members of J2-M were separated across the installation in 7 different outdated buildings including a World War II aircraft hangar.

"It is so nice to be able to walk around the new building and talk to the entire workforce face to face," said Jim Cashwell, Deputy Director for J2-M. "I have already seen an increase in morale and that will surely lead to an increase in productivity."