KILLEEN-FORT HOOD REGIONAL AIRPORT

JOINT USE INITIATIVE

IT STARTED WITH A SOLDIER AND HIS DUFFLE BAG……

….AND 10 YEARS LATER:

Killeen-Fort Hood Regional

Skylark Field

SKYLARK FIELD (FORMERLY KILLEEN MUNICIPAL AIRPORT

- 4900 foot usable runway

- Landlocked at North and South approaches by two 4-lane highways

- Significant issues with weather, limited visibility, weight, etc.

- Army initially not disposed in favor of joint use of Robert Gray AAF & Congressional prohibition from commercial aviation at RGAAF

- Thresholds for Regional Jets compounded issues

- Only feasible option: elevate and extend runway 500 feet (+ 500 foot RSA) to the north over Business 190. TxDOT opposition due to cost.

….in 1997, Fort Hood agreed to “look” at joint use. TxDOT & FAA supported

- March 2000: Congress passed the Aviation Investment and Reform for the 21st Century Act (AIR-21) increasing funding and number of slots for the Military Airport Program (MAP).

- MAP: set-aside of the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) provides financial assistance to the civilian sponsor of military airfields being converted to, or that have been converted to civilian or joint use airfields.

ROBERT GRAY ARMY AIRFIELD

- Formerly Gray AFB/Killeen Base

- named for Capt Robert M. Gray, US Army Air Corps and a Killeen native – flew on the Doolittle Raid in April 1942; KIA in Burma in October 1942.

- Former U.S. National Stockpile Site for storage of nuclear weapons

- Transferred to Fort Hood in the early 1960s

- Tenant units: 504th Military Intelligence Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division Combat Aviation Brigade, Texas Flight Detachment

- 10,000 ft X 200 ft runway; fully instrumented, ATC Radar Approach Control for assigned airspace, Hood & Gray AAFs, and civilian facilities.

17 JUNE 2000:

- Department of the Army and City of Killeen, TX signed

-- Joint Use Agreement

-- 50-year Lease between the Army and the City for 76.571 acres of Fort Hood property for Joint Use airport.

OFFSETS: (deemed Fair Market Value)

- construct and maintain an east parallel taxiway with full access and use by Fort Hood.

- shared normal routine maintenance and repair of the runway to meet FAA part 139 standards.

-- grading/filling of lips and protrusions

-- runway, taxiway, distance remaining signs, and apron lights

-- slurry sealing, glazing or crack filling

- 22 mowings of 345 acres per year

- painting/marking of runway, taxiways and aprons

Partnership with Fort Hood

Partnership with Fort Hood

BOTTOM LINE:

- A win-win for the Army and the City of Killeen

- what started as solving a Soldier’s problem resulted in a regional joint-use airport.

- ability to expand in response to future growth