Upon commissioning on Gemini South, FLAMINGOS-2 will be one of the most powerful wide-field near-infrared imagers and multi-object spectrographs ever built for use on 8-meter-class telescopes. In order to take best advantage of the strengths of FLAMINGOS-2 early in its life cycle, the instrument team has proposed to use 21 nights of Gemini guaranteed time in 3 surveys -- the FLAMINGOS-2 Early Science Surveys (F2ESS). The F2ESS will encompass 3 corresponding science themes -- the Galactic Center, galaxy evolution, and star formation. In this paper, I review the design performance and status of FLAMINGOS-2, and describe the planned FLAMINGOS-2 Galactic Center Survey.
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