Defense Related Industries (Travis Air Force Base)

Travis Air Force Base is making a difference and contributing locally

  • Over 26,000 people live or work on Travis, creating $1.6 billion in annual economic impact to the local community.
  • Travis remains the largest employer in Solano County with a workforce of 13,414 personnel. This number includes 7,200 active-duty military members, 3,096 Air Force Reservists, 1,828 civil-service civilians and 1,290 civilians in non-appropriated fund positions, contracts and private businesses.
  • Largest Medical Center in the Air Force (David Grant USAF Medical Center).
    • DGMC partners with the VA Northern California Health Care System to provide care to local Veterans, saving the taxpayer $9.6M annually.
  • Hosts 349th AMW, 621st CRW and more than 50+ partner units.
  • The partnership between Travis and Solano County generated 5,162 indirect jobs, totaling an estimated annual dollar value of $252,599,706. Indirect jobs are created to support an influx of people in the area.
  • Travis Air Force Base works with elected officials, decision-makers, and business owners to safely build green energy sites while mitigating safety incidents with radar and control towers.
    • Calling it ‘design in mitigation,’ it is a cooperative and collaborative approach by base officials and developers to attain a WIN-WIN situation.

Travis Air Force Base Airmen and the Community will introduce the world to the KC-46!

  • The KC-46A has significant refueling capacity, enhanced air refueling capabilities, improved efficiency, and increased aeromedical evacuation capabilities.
  • As new KC-46As are delivered, the Air Force needs to grow its tanker fleet to meet the 479 tanker requirement before it divests any aircraft.

Travis Air Force Base is making a difference globally

  • Operates and maintains 18 C-5, 13 C-17 & 27 KC-10 aircraft.
  • This year to date, 60th Air Mobility Wing has flown more than 2,000 sorties, totaling over 10,000 hrs.
  • Weekly, Travis C-5s delivers essential supplies to Coalition units fighting Da'esh on the ground and in the air in the Middle East.
    • KC-10 deploy regularly in support of Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve, where they refuel U.S. and Coalition fighter and bomber aircraft conducting missions over Iraq and Syria.
    • Travis supports the Pacific, allowing for a sustained flight for fighter and bomber aircraft in the region. Additionally, our aircraft transported U.S. Army Patriot Missile equipment to the Korean peninsula in January, making the largest modernization for the weapon system possible.

Overview of Travis AFB in Solano County

Travis AFB
2016 Avg. Annual Wages 2016 Avg. Annual Empl* Regional Gross Product (Output)
$62,016 2,425 $1.69 Billion
*Travis civilian employment; does not include active/reserve military.
Source: Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages, Economic Forensics & Analytics, Bureau of Economic Analysis

Defense Related Assets, Resources and Industry Groups

Travis Community Consortium (TCC)

Travis Air Force Base is the Gateway to the Pacific and stands at the ready to provide refueling, cargo, and medical evacuation support to our military personnel and allies worldwide.  The Travis Community Consortium was formed in 2003 to formalize our community’s support ensuring our Travis personnel are equipped and have the resources they need to meet the national security demands of today and the future.  TCC members include Solano County and its affiliated city governments, the Solano County Economic Development Corporation, and the Travis Regional Armed Forces Committee.  The TCC works closely with base leadership and our Congressional Delegation to advocate for the long-term sustainability of the installation.  Since the TCC’s inception, we have successfully executed a campaign to bring the next generation refueling tanker to Travis AFB, assisted the Air Force in the successful bed-down, in the early years of the 21st century, of the C-17 weapons system, and have also advocated with success for hundreds of millions in military construction appropriations to improve Travis AFB for generations to come. 

Travis Regional Armed Forces Committee (TRAFC)

TRAFC is now in its 17th year and was originally formed from the Solano County Armed Services Committee and the Military Affairs Committee of the Fairfield-Suisun and Vacaville Chambers of Commerce. It was designed to combine similar, but separate Travis Air Force Base support groups into a more effective regional voice.

Under the auspices of the County’s Chamber of Commerce, its membership is comprised of over 180 local business and civic leaders, including elected officials from throughout Solano County, the state, and federal governments. Its day-to-day administration is shared by the Fairfield-Suisun and Vacaville Chambers of Commerce. The committee is governed by an all-volunteer 18 member board of directors. The organization meets monthly at the Travis AFB Delta Breeze Club dining facility. At these monthly meetings, the group receives updates on Travis activities from the base’s Commanders from the 60th Air Mobility Wing, the 349th Air Mobility Wing, and the 621st Contingency Response Group.

10 Reasons why Travis Air Force Base remains vital to our national security…..

and is positioned to play an even larger role in the force reshaping and drawdown.

  1. Strategic Location. Travis is perched at the gateway to the Pacific Rim at a time when this portion of the world is gaining increased U.S. focus, militarily, politically and economically. Positioned near major seaports, railheads, interstate highways, three international airports within one hour’s drive, the Concord Weapons Station and San Joaquin Defense Logistics Agency Depots, it provides a powerful launching pad for delivering war material. It provides global reach through airlift and air refueling of military aircraft in combat or operating disaster and humanitarian relief. 
     
  2. Capability. With half the nation’s active duty C-5 airlifter aircraft and half the KC-10 air refueling aircraft, and the newest agile airlifter, the C-17, America doesn’t go to war without Travis AFB. Likewise, its deployable contingency response units open and operate distant and sometimes remote airfields on just a few hours’ notice. The Navy’s airborne fleet communication aircraft is based here.  One of the few remaining Air Force Medical Centers, David Grant has a modern seismic engineered hospital capable of responding to mass war casualties and or natural disaster. Its medical affiliation with the University of California at Davis and local trauma facilities places it in a unique position to train Air Force medical responders and its state of the art vascular surgery team and technology place it in the forefront of Air Force medicine.
     
  3. Real-estate. With more than 6,000 acres, Travis has ample physical space to accommodate new missions, new buildings, and aircraft parking.
     
  4. Infrastructure Improvements. Within the last decade, Travis Air Force Base has received hundreds of million dollars in installation improvements including: A new control tower and Radar Approach Control  facility, a KC-10 Cargo Loading Training Facility, replacement of the Aviation Fuel Distribution System on base and a new off base pipeline and storage facility, a Southgate Security and Taxiway by-pass project, a new Large Fire and Crash Rescue Station, a C-17 assault strip, the only one on the west coast, A Global Reach Deployment  Center, a two- bay C-17 hangar, C-17 flight simulator and hundreds of newly built military housing units under private management.
     
  5. Airspace and Training routes. Travis has existing low-level training with large amounts of open space near the base with local rules protecting it against encroachment.
     
  6. Community Support. Travis enjoys unmatched community support from local governments, school districts, houses of worship and business groups. The Travis Regional Armed Forces Committee, an element of the county’s chambers of commerce, provides the primary interface with the base and includes all city, county, state and federal elected officials. Likewise, is has a robust honorary commanders program marrying civic leaders with each military unit.
     
  7. Reserve Forces Multiplier.  Travis’ Air Force Reserve component amplifies the bases airlift, air refueling and aeromedical capability using the skills and talents drawn from the large metropolitan civilian base, thereby giving it the capability to handle additional missions and increased operating tempo. 
     
  8. Homeland Security Platform. Uniquely situated close to the state’s capitol and national landmarks such as the golden gate bridge, Travis provides a ready bed down location for fighter aircraft performing temporary combat air patrol as it did following 911. Its Explosive Ordnance demolition unit provides both the base and surrounding areas a vital resource.
     
  9. Off Base Housing. Ample off base housing is available within the required quick response commute to the base.
                       
  10. Continuing Education, Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation. There are a plethora of higher education programs with local classes where military members can advance their off-duty education including those in the bay area and the Sacramento Valley. Arts, entertainment and recreation opportunities abound, offering water and mountain venues unsurpassed in beauty and diversity. Solano Community College provides lower-division courses on base for military personnel. Learn more here.