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Yeager Airport earning reputation as home base for military training operations
Yeager Airport earning reputation as home base for military training operations
By Rick Steelhammer Staff writer Jun 25, 2020
Less than two years ago, military use of Charleston’s Yeager Airport was generally limited to C-130 flights operated by the home-based 130th Airlift Wing and sporadic refueling stops by military aircraft passing through the area.
“Back then, we’d get maybe two or three transient military aircraft a week stopping in to refuel,” said Nick Keller, Yeager’s director. “So far this month, we’ve handled more than 100.”
In the past 20 months, aircraft from at least 126 military aviation units and thousands of Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard aircrew members, support teams and trainees have spent time at Yeager Airport.
The increased military presence at the Charleston airport is no lucky accident.
In his prior role as the airport’s assistant director, Keller and current Assistant Director James “Buzz” Mason, a former Navy helicopter pilot, spearheaded a marketing effort to bring in more military traffic. But before pitching the airport as a training base, they needed to develop some unique selling points and hone some existing ones, which they accomplished with help from Yeager’s governing board, National Guard officials and area coal companies.
In February, 2019, the airport signed lease agreements for five inactive surface mines in Boone and Logan counties identified as being suitable to serve as remote military training sites.
{snip}
By Rick Steelhammer Staff writer Jun 25, 2020
Less than two years ago, military use of Charleston’s Yeager Airport was generally limited to C-130 flights operated by the home-based 130th Airlift Wing and sporadic refueling stops by military aircraft passing through the area.
“Back then, we’d get maybe two or three transient military aircraft a week stopping in to refuel,” said Nick Keller, Yeager’s director. “So far this month, we’ve handled more than 100.”
In the past 20 months, aircraft from at least 126 military aviation units and thousands of Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard aircrew members, support teams and trainees have spent time at Yeager Airport.
The increased military presence at the Charleston airport is no lucky accident.
In his prior role as the airport’s assistant director, Keller and current Assistant Director James “Buzz” Mason, a former Navy helicopter pilot, spearheaded a marketing effort to bring in more military traffic. But before pitching the airport as a training base, they needed to develop some unique selling points and hone some existing ones, which they accomplished with help from Yeager’s governing board, National Guard officials and area coal companies.
In February, 2019, the airport signed lease agreements for five inactive surface mines in Boone and Logan counties identified as being suitable to serve as remote military training sites.
{snip}