This artist rendering shows the inside and outside of a Field Accommodation Dugout to be built and installed near the Ukraine-Russia border by the Bizzell Corporation, which is based in Cheyenne, Wyo. (Bizzell Corporation)
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Tribune News Service) — A company headquartered in Cheyenne that specializes in intelligence, training, logistics and cybersecurity for the Department of Defense was recently awarded a military contract to assemble bunkers for the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The Bizzell Corporation, founded by military veterans in 2012, has been contracted to supply the Ukrainian military with 100 Field Accommodation Dugouts. These portable bunkers, constructed like cargo containers, are designed to be buried underground near the Ukrainian border to provide a small living shelter for soldiers on the front lines.
It’s a significant contract for Bizzell to receive, especially considering it’s a service that wouldn’t normally fall within the company’s realm of responsibility.
“Senior leadership has done this work from being former military and having a staff of a lot of former military, but the company, as a whole, has not (done something like this),” said Jessica Underwood, chief development officer.
“We do logistics,” she continued. “That’s one of the things that we do function in, especially in Eastern Europe. We have a really solid partnership doing both ground and air logistics.”
Underwood said the company is poised to utilize relationships in Eastern Europe to fulfill the contract.
The dugouts are constructed and retrofitted in Ukraine and come fully stocked with a wood-burning stove, ventilation system, solar energy, bunk beds and storage space. Bizzell is responsible for facilitating the acquisition of materials and development of these boxes on the front end of the operation.
The orders are completed in installments of 20 units at a time. The first order is scheduled to be delivered by May 31. Underwood said that there’s currently no concern that Bizzell will have difficulty producing units on schedule, which demands subsequent shipments of 20 units every month through September.
If the government is satisfied with the first 100 units, there’s an option to procure another 100-unit batch. Depending on how the rest of the process goes, Bizzell could end up striking more federal contracts down the line.
“I think it opens us up for additional opportunities that not a lot of people can say they’ve done,” Underwood said. “This kind of work, this isn’t something that’s regularly outsourced. I think there’s a uniqueness here that positions us well for future work of similar scope.
“It’s good work. It’s one of those things you can feel good about at the end of the day.”
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