ALTUS - Community and local government leaders received assurances during their annual Quail Breakfast in Washington, D.C., that Altus Air Force Base will continue to play a vital role in the military’s training and preparedness.
About 30 civic and city leaders made the trip to the nation’s capital where they met with military and congressional leaders over a span of five days, said event organizer and Altus physician Joe Leverett.
“It was a great accomplishment for us to go there and talk to high-ranking officials at the Pentagon and with our congressional delegation/' he said. “We were very diligent about who sat next to who at the breakfast. It’s amazing what you can get done in a social gathering.”
About 110 people attended this year’s quail breakfast. The annual event started in 1962 when the Altus contingent took their own quail and provided a meal of fried quail, eggs and biscuits and gravy. The breakfast was not held for two years because of the pandemic.
The Altus group met specifically with event host and U.S. Senator James Lankford, General David Allvin and other high-ranking Air Force officials and U.S. House members Stephanie Bice, Frank Lucas and Kevin Hern. Allvin made comments to the Altus group about the air base and its “greatness.”
“We’re blessed to have a (congressional) delegation that is defense friendly,” Leverett said. “He reminded us that the Altus base is a vital and crucial air base within the Air Force and that was good news.”
Quoting figures from the Air Force, Leverett said the Altus base provides a daily economic impact of $1.5 million and more than $600 million a year. In addition, Leverett said 70% of the Air Force’s mobility crews are trained at Altus.
Top Air Force brass have continued to praise the relationship between the community and the local air base, including a new housing development and a new elementary school that will be built with bond money approved by Altus voters.
The housing development, known as The Trails at Veterans Court, is an ongoing project with the city providing the infrastructure. The bulk of the infrastructure has been completed with 20 homes finished. A total of 156 homes are planned for the development’s first phase, City Manager Gary Jones said.
The development consists of 28.67 acres with The Trails comprising the project’s first phase. Room exists within the development for more homes, which could consist of multifamily and single- family dwellings. Preliminary plans are underway for the development’s second phase.
Meanwhile, the air base and its families will be the beneficiaries of the new elementary school, Altus Mayor Robert Garrison said in a previous interview. The Air Force will contribute $40 million toward the cost of the new school, which will include a full-size cafeteria, auditorium, gymnasium and enough saferoom space to accommodate everyone on the base if a tornado were to hit. The existing school is at least 50 years old and has had only minor renovations during that time, Garrison said.