ALCOA, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Air National Guard broke ground Monday on an $8 million operations facility for its KC-135 Squadron as part of a base expansion that will add 128 jobs.

Col. Timothy T. Dearin, commander of the 134th Air Refueling Wing at the McGhee Tyson Air National Guard, said the Air Guard expects to occupy the new structure in about a year and secure three new aircraft. The air base, which already employs about 1,600 full- and part-time workers, is being expanded to help make up for base closings overseas and at a similar facility in Meridian, Miss., officials said.

"This secures our base and gives our men and women a new place in one of the most beautiful spots in the country," U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said Monday. "This unit has gotten busy because more than 20,000 Tennesseans will have been mobilized for either Iraq or Afghanistan by the end of next year."