Oklahoma Air Force bases provide important role in communities economic development and create civic pride

For the next two months, the Municipal Messenger will feature Oklahoma communities who are home to military installations.  The stories will focus on the economic development impact and the importance the bases mean to each community.

Part I

Oklahoma’s three active U.S. Air Force bases play an important role in training pilots and servicing sophisticated aircraft. But each base also has a special relationship with its home city, which relies on the installations for jobs, development and civic pride.

Home to nearly 6,500 personnel, Altus Air Force Base primarily provides specialized undergraduate pilot training, including forces on the KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft and the C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft.

A combination of classroom, simulator and inflight training is offered for students who will be deployed across the world.

Established in 1943, the base has a strong connection to the city of Altus and the surrounding community, which includes hosting an annual cattle drive and student pilots hosting service projects during the holidays.
“It’s really awesome seeing the military and local community come together,” said Airman first class Grace Tinkey, a student assigned to the 97th Training Squadron, who traveled to a nearby children’s home last Christmas to deliver toys.

Altus Mayor Jack Smiley said the city values its relationship with the base and feels a responsibility to look out for it.

“Taking care of Altus Air force Base is a big part of our economic development strategy,” Smiley said. “This would include being watchful of any project that might build something tall in their air corridors.”

Over the past three decades the city has bought up land around the base to create a buffer zone.
A city of less than 20,000, Altus faces many of the same challenges of other rural southwestern Oklahoma towns – population loss, a cyclical energy sector and difficulty attracting new industry.

But Altus Air Force Base offers an economic injection to be envied by other rural communities.

“While everyone would like a GM to come build a plant in their town, Altus Air Force Base is our GM, Smiley said. “We do not have the available workforce to attract a large manufacture. Altus Air Force Base is our largest employer.”

While it may not be too common for a small city mayor to work closely with the federal government, Smiley travels annually to Washington, DC and The Pentagon. He also talks regularly with the offices of Oklahoma’s two U.S. Senators, all to maintain support for the base and encourage new development.

The Air Force’s replacement of its mid-air refueling fleet brought new aircraft to Altus last, which Senator Jim Inhofe called “a great day for Altus Air force Base.”

Tinker Air Force Base – More than twice the size and part of the Oklahoma City region, Midwest City is vastly different from Altus. But like Altus, its identity is deeply tied to an air force base. “We are closely tied to Tinker in so many ways,” said Midwest City Mayor Matt Dukes. In 1941, the U.S. War Department announced it had selected the Oklahoma City region for a new air material depot. A new air maintenance depot was announced the following year, giving birth to Midwest Air Depot, now Tinker Air Force Base.

“About 1 in 12 citizens of Midwest City are associated with Tinker, so based on that, Tinker drives our overall economic development,” Dukes said. “Without Tinker, Midwest City would not exist as it is today. All of the development we have been able to accomplish has been driven by the overall impact of Tinker.”

Dukes attends bi-weekly meetings with all the commanders of the tenant units at Tinker, including the base commander. The city and base constantly share information with one another about new developments and programs.

In addition, the Midwest City Chamber of Commerce is a strong partner with the base. The chamber hosts many annual events and activities for the base, including the annual Tinker and the Primes event, which attracts hundreds of aerospace, defense and government contracting businesses seeking opportunities with Tinker.

Nearly 100 miles northwest of Midwest City, Enid is home to Oklahoma’s third air force base and its mayor, George Pankonin, is a veteran of the Air Force who previously worked at Vance Air Force Base.

Since his election last year, Pankonin has worked to strengthen the relationship between the city and Vance, which graduates pilots in its training program every three weeks. Enid city hall has a reserved parking spot for Vance’s wing commander, the senior officer on the base, who is also an ex-officio member of the city council.

Pankonin said people will sometimes question the amount of attention the city gives to Vance, but he reminds them that the base contributes $280 million a year to the local economy.

“That’s a big piece of money for a town of 50,000,” Pankonin said.

The mayors of Altus, Midwest City and Enid said the local air force bases feel like an extension of the city, not just because of the economic and employment impact, but because so many of their residents are part of the base.

“The base participates in our local community events and are as part of the community as someone that has lived here forever,” said Smiley, the mayor of Altus. “The captain of the football team or the homecoming queen are just as likely to be a military kid as a local. We consider them local and part of the family, while they serve in Altus. “The way we interact with our air force base is a culture that our forefathers passed along to all of us.”