TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE — When the Pentagon needs to move its military forces anywhere in the world or get humanitarian relief where it’s needed, it’s Team Travis, the active duty and Air Force Reserve service members of Travis Air Force Base, who gets the call.
The base’s global reach has ensured Travis has been an essential part of the American military team as well as the Pacific Coast’s major air mobility hub since World War II, handling more cargo and passenger traffic than any other military airport in the country.
It is home to the 60th Air Mobility Wing and the Air Force Reserve 349th Air Mobility Wing, whose service members and civilian workers work side by side to provide the nation with air transport and air refueling resources needed to undertake military and humanitarian missions anywhere in the world.
Along with its East Coast counterpart, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, Travis is the backbone of the Air Force’s strategic airlift, aerial refueling and airfield management for ongoing operations in Southwest Asia, the Horn of Africa and other hotspots in the ongoing war on terror.
Originally known as the Fairfield Army Air Base, Travis was established on the east side of Fairfield in 1942 as part of a network of bases to protect the San Francisco Bay Area from the Imperial Japanese navy in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It soon transformed into the major jump-off point for air transports headed into the Pacific war zone.
After a postwar stint as a Strategic Air Command Base, Travis returned to become one of the busiest military air terminals in the world, supporting every military operation from the Korean War through the present operations in the Middle East.
The base’s economic impact on the area in 2013 amounted to $1.62 billion, which includes spending on service members’ health care, on-base construction and facilities maintenance, payrolls and services contracts, according to the latest report released in October 2014.
Travis Air Force Base holds a workforce of 14,353 that includes 7,393 active duty, 3,257 Air Force reservists, and 3,692 civilian personnel. Travis has long been and continues to be the county’s largest employer.
Former 60th Air Mobility Wing commander Col. Corey Martin said that the key to Travis’ success has been “the exceptional partnerships we have across the base, county and state.”
“We are proud to serve the Air Force and our local partners as the largest single contributor to Solano County economic activity,” Martin said in the economic report. “We deeply appreciate your continued support of our airmen, soldiers, sailors, Marines and civilians. As we build on our foundation of excellence, we look forward to the continued partnership with each of our Solano communities.”
It is also estimated that approximately 45,339 retirees who live within 50 miles of the base generated about $779.6 million in business at Travis and in the surrounding region in 2013. More than 56,855 civil service retirees who live in the same area generated about $1.2 billion.
David Grant Medical Center is the Air Force’s largest medical facility on the West Coast. It not only serves the medical needs of military services members throughout the Pacific and the western United States, but also cares for more than 105,000 Tricare beneficiaries and veterans.
David Grant works with the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has co-located a growing number of services to care for an estimated 377,000 veterans in the region.
The base’s airfleet includes the C-5 Galaxy jet transport, the C-17 Globemaster III jet transport, the KC-10 Extender air tanker and the Navy’s E-6B Mercury reconnoissance and communication aircraft.
Travis Air Force Base at a glance
- Established: June 3, 1943
- Size: 6,383 acres and 1,790 buildings
- Workforce: Approximately 7,400 active-duty Air Force personnel; 3,250 Air Force Reserve personnel and 3,690 civilians
- Major units: 60th Air Mobility Wing (commander Col. John M. Klein Jr.); 349th Air Mobility Wing (commander Col. Raymond A. Kozak)
- Website: www.travis.af.mil
