Mar. 31--VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Oklahoma Strategic Military Planning Commission approved late last week $142,000 in funds to support operations at Vance Air Force Base and Enid Woodring Regional Airport.
The commission continues to work toward another $10-$20 million in grants and projects in the Enid area.
Mike Cooper, city of Enid military liaison and chairman of Oklahoma Strategic Military Planning Commission (OSMPC), said the commission approved new rules for its board and commissions to meet virtually, allowing OSMPC to continue business while complying with coronavirus COVID-19 prevention distancing guidelines.
In its online meeting on March 26, 2020, Cooper said OSMPC approved funds to help pay for the cost of completed improvements at the Woodring's terminal building and to help pay for a mapping project designed to deconflict industrial development with military airspace.
Other projects still in the works, Cooper said, are an intergovernmental support agreement for the city of Enid to help Vance Air Force Base construct a new dormitory and future grant applications for the federal Defense Community Infrastructure Program.
Woodring improvements
OSMPC voted last week to approve the last of three installment payments to help offset the cost of the $2.7 million new terminal building construction project, which opened to the public last August.
OSMPC's installment payments -- the first two of which were around $140,000 each -- went specifically to offset the cost of a debriefing room, in the terminal building, used by Vance instructors and student pilots conducting training flights at Woodring. The last of the three installments was $125,000.
Along with the previously constructed joint-use hangar, runway extension and parking apron, Cooper said the debriefing room is a valuable addition to Woodring and to the mission capability of Vance Air Force Base.
Digital mapping
Another $17,000 was allocated Thursday to fund Vance's share of matching costs for a $1 million grant from Department of Defense to conduct digital mapping of all military training routes, airspace, drop zones, bombing ranges and runway approaches.
Cooper said Altus Air Force Base, Tinker Air Force Base, Fort Sill and the Oklahoma Air National Guard also contributed to the match necessary to secure the $1 million grant.
When completed, Cooper said the digital mapping project will be made available to all state agencies and also to private sector industry so developers, especially in the wind energy sector, can see if their planned construction conflicts with required offsets from military airspace long before they've invested significant money in planning the project.
"That will be a great asset to our airspace protection effort," Cooper said. "Our number one military training asset in Oklahoma is our airspace, and this will be a great tool in protecting that."
Dorm project at Vance
OSMPC continues to work with the city of Enid and Vance on a planned intergovernmental support agreement to build a new dormitory on base at an estimated cost of $9.8 million.
Under the tentative plan, the city would finance and execute construction of a new 100-bed dormitory on base. The project would be funded upfront by the city, and it would be paid back by the Air Force throughout a 10-year period.
Cooper said if the project was completed using military construction, it likely would cost as much as $18 million.
For now, Cooper said the proposal still is being assessed by the federal Office of Management and Budget.
Defense Community Infrastructure Program
Cooper said the federal government has allocated $50 million for grants to local communities to incentivize projects that improve infrastructure for military facilities.
He said Enid's Kaw Lake water project is a likely candidate for a grant through the program, since the water pipeline and treatment plant would extend the viability of water supply to Vance Air Force Base.
Criteria for the grant applications are expected in the next several weeks, and Cooper said he expects the first round of grants, which will go in a 10-year annual cycle, to be in the $5-$10 million range.
Neal is health, military affairs and religion reporter and columnist for the Enid News & Eagle. Follow him on Twitter, @jamesnealwriter, and online at jamesrneal.com.
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