Tinker AFB

[Pete]

Tinker is such a godsend for OKC and the state.

26,000 steady, well-paying jobs with benefits. And more to come.

In West OKC you have Hobby Lobby, Amazon and a ton of other distribution centers.

In addition to the huge amount of state employees, all of this is why OKC is way more economically diversified than in the past and the primary reasons our employment numbers are always strong.

[chssooner]

Tinker is such a godsend for OKC and the state.

26,000 steady, well-paying jobs with benefits. And more to come.

In West OKC you have Hobby Lobby, Amazon and a ton of other distribution centers.

In addition to the huge amount of state employees, all of this is why OKC is way more economically diversified than in the past and the primary reasons our employment numbers are always strong.

All of this is spot-on, Pete! And another bonus, Tinker is ALWAYS hiring more people, like always. There are large career fairs for Tinker jobs frequently! Companies open up shop there all the time, without much fanfare, as well. Sure, you have the Boeing's and Northrop Grumann's that get publicity (deservedly so, especially Boeing, since they have many thousands of employees near and on Tinker), but there are plenty of companies on Tinker, or very near it, that have 100s and 1000s of employees (I live at 89th and Sooner, so I see it almost daily).

[dcsooner]

Tinker is such a godsend for OKC and the state.

26,000 steady, well-paying jobs with benefits. And more to come.

In West OKC you have Hobby Lobby, Amazon and a ton of other distribution centers.

In addition to the huge amount of state employees, all of this is why OKC is way more economically diversified than in the past and the primary reasons our employment numbers are always strong.

+1 and too many zeros

[snark0leptic]

And a complete interchange rebuild was just announced by ODOT for Douglas and I-40. Douglas will probably just be its own gate, stifling traffic connections to MWC from I-240 that would normally take Douglas.

As an occasional commuter of this route, Sooner Rd is the initial alternative, but not looking forward to going through more of the middle of MWC just to get out south.

[MWC59]

Re: Tinker AFB
With the closing of Douglas Blvd. they need to upgrade Post Rd. and add interchanges at I-40 and I-240

[BoulderSooner]

Tinker is up to 31,000 employees

[BoulderSooner]

Re: Tinker AFB
With the closing of Douglas Blvd. they need to upgrade Post Rd. and add interchanges at I-40 and I-240

I don’t think so.

[Pete]

Tinker is up to 31,000 employees

26K is the number the Chamber used but I'm not sure how they are calculating that.

In any event, Tinker is a massive economic engine.

[PoliSciGuy]

I wonder if this is expansion to prepare for servicing the new B-21 bomber

[shawnw]

Good point. All other bomber PDM is here so it only makes sense for B-21 PDM to be here a well. It'd be different if either B-1 or B-2 were immediately retiring but I'm certain there will be overlap so B-21 will need it's own facilities. That said, seems like B-21 will resemble B-2 greatly so perhaps it wouldn't be much to adapt B-2 facilities for B-21.

[LakeEffect]

I wonder if this is expansion to prepare for servicing the new B-21 bomber

From 2018: https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/y...tealth-bomber/

[BoulderSooner]

Good point. All other bomber PDM is here so it only makes sense for B-21 PDM to be here a well. It'd be different if either B-1 or B-2 were immediately retiring but I'm certain there will be overlap so B-21 will need it's own facilities. That said, seems like B-21 will resemble B-2 greatly so perhaps it wouldn't be much to adapt B-2 facilities for B-21.

PDM for the B-2 is in Palmdale california ..

[shawnw]

Oops, SSM is here (like B-1, where I worked), so presumed PDM was here (like B-1).

[BoulderSooner]

Oops, SSM is here (like B-1, where I worked), so presumed PDM was here (like B-1).

B-2 software dev ops are at Tinker and so sometimes they come here for a software test/upgrade ..

IIRC the entire B-21 Depot will be located at TAFB

[Plutonic Panda]

^^^^^
From the image in this article it looks that way:

https://www.airforcemag.com/article/...r-takes-shape/

[shawnw]

B-2 software dev ops are at Tinker and so sometimes they come here for a software test/upgrade ..

IIRC the entire B-21 Depot will be located at TAFB

Yes I participated in joint initiatives in 1083 a few times

[BoulderSooner]

Yes I participated in joint initiatives in 1083 a few times

a few jobs ago i used to go over that way quite a bit .. but now i am on the other side of base ..

[HOT ROD]

26K is the number the Chamber used but I'm not sure how they are calculating that.

In any event, Tinker is a massive economic engine.

26K civilian.

[bombermwc]

Re: Tinker AFB
With the closing of Douglas Blvd. they need to upgrade Post Rd. and add interchanges at I-40 and I-240

AMEN, there are a LOT of us that use Douglas to get to MWC from the southside and this is going to suck for us. At least put ramps at Post and get it up to 4 lanes BEFORE you close Douglas. MWC already has post at 4 lanes from 29th (the MWC line), north). With the increased traffic Post will get, it's going to HAVE to happen OKC.

Sooner is already EXTREMELY busy and has a lot of stop lights too. So using it as the alternative isn't an option. And it would really suck to have to add 2 miles to everyone's trip to go east and then west to get around this new closure.

And the closure isn't even needed. There are still so many options that are available that would keep Douglas open. There's no shortage of land on base. It's just more land-grabbing because they know if they ask, they will get it because no one wants to give any inkling of push back so we keep Tinker here. We're getting bullied into this.

[BrettM2]

The base has wanted to close Douglas for years due to the transfer of aircraft between Boeing and the main depot. If they're adding more maintenance/contractor capability on the east side, it makes more sense (both practical and security) for the base to close the street to public access to allow that to happen.

[Pete]

Recent aerial that shows the work north of the old GM plant. My goodness, this operation is just a massive financial engine for the OKC area with much more planned.

[mugofbeer]

It's amazing to review an outline of just how much is done at this base. For example, losing the GM plant was a huge blow but now they build two different aircraft engines there.

The former GM plant and building 3001 are both around 2.6 million sqare feet under roof.

[AFCM]

Half of Tinker’s E-3 airborne surveillance jets would be cut under Air Force budget proposal.

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/y...dget-proposal/

[PoliSciGuy]

Half of Tinker’s E-3 airborne surveillance jets would be cut under Air Force budget proposal.

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/y...dget-proposal/

They'd replace them with E-7 Wedgetails, though obviously it's no guarantee that Tinker would be home to the new aircraft. This was an interesting part of that article:

Airmen at Tinker spoke to Air Force Times in July 2021 about low morale that has long plagued their AWACS units and is exacerbated by the stressors of an old, sometimes unpredictable aircraft. When asked what could be done to improve the culture there, multiple people said getting rid of the E-3 would be ideal.

Seems like this is a move that needs to happen.

[BoulderSooner]

Half of Tinker’s E-3 airborne surveillance jets would be cut under Air Force budget proposal.

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/y...dget-proposal/

doubt that survives Inhofe and the committee but either way wedgetail is coming to Oklahoma soon