Commentary: Upgrades at Pease Airport essential for military and civilian operations
More than 30 years after the Air Force base closed, Pease remains a critical hub for military operations in the United States. It houses the Pease Air National Guard Base, which is the home of the 157th Air Refueling Wing (ARW), a unit of Air Mobility Command and New Hampshire's only Air National Guard Base.
The Wing is an integral component of the overall defense of our nation and worldwide partners. The Wing provides inflight air refueling, passenger and cargo airlift, and life-saving medical evacuation capabilities. Additionally, as part of the cooperative agreement with the Pease Development Authority, the Wing provides fire crash rescue and air traffic control services. The Wing's state mission provides military support to civilian authorities such as COVID-19 support and emergency response to natural disasters.
I had the privilege of serving as Commander of the 157th Air Refueling Wing at Pease for more than a decade, from 1986 to 1996. During this time, Pease transitioned from an active Air Force Base to a civilian airfield and surrounding corporate, business and government facility. With the FAA designation of Pease as a civilian, commercial and business airport came the requirement of a “fixed base operation” (FBO) facility to provide aviation services to civilian based and transient military, commercial and business aviation. I hope to see the operations at Pease International Airport continue to evolve and improve to support the Air National Guard and the airport's current and future tenants and visitors.
An integral part of these improvements would be to welcome a new world-class FBO with vision and resources to continuously improve its capabilities and services to the Seacoast aviation and business community. We are fortunate to have one — Million Air — who wants to partner with Pease to help us continue to improve ground support and the overall airport experience for all branches of the armed forces and civilian and business operations.
Over the last few decades, I've seen the tremendous success of the redevelopment of the former Air Force base into a thriving economic hub for the Seacoast and New Hampshire. We should be very proud of what the PDA has accomplished, and I trust that they will continue to carefully develop the Pease International Airport with the same principles of growth, opportunity and innovation that the rest of the Pease Tradeport cultivates. The recent airport improvements which include ongoing environmental remediation, $85 million airfield infrastructure upgrade and terminal expansion are positive actions. But we can, and must, do more to improve aviation ground support and the Pease FBO facilities to meet future demand.
Recently, I have noticed several local commentary pieces relating to concerns with the Million Air proposalfor a second FBO at Pease. In order to better understand these concerns and comments, I was able to review the Million Air proposal as presented by the local and reputable engineering firm assisting on this project – Hoyle, Tanner Associates - and I encourage others do so as well. Fuel storage and refueling capabilities are a necessary component of any airport. Million Air’s engineers have designed a state-of-the-art facility with redundancies and monitoring systems to manage the storage and handling of jet fuel, de-icing fluid and other products. With its additional provision of retention berms, double-walled tanks and piping, oil stop valves, oversized spill containment chambers, and oil water separators, the proposed new fuel facility will be environmentally safer than the aging − and together, much larger − fuel farms that the existing FBO provider has been operating at Pease for more than a decade.
From my perspective and operational aviation experience, Million Air’s business model, track record, financial resources, modern FBO facilities, and leading customer services will enhance the type of commercial, business and transient military aviation that will better serve the needs of the Seacoast community. This is an opportunity to take another step forward in better positioning the Pease International Airport to realize its promising future.
Major General (ret) Joseph K. Simeone has been a part of the Seacoast community since 1966 as a result of his assignment to Pease AFB as a KC-135 Navigator and has lived in Stratham since 1980. In 1970, he transferred to the NH Air National Guard at Pease where his duties included Chief of Current Operation, Chief of Maintenance, Director of Operations and Wing Commander. Following promotion to General Officer status, his assignments were Chief of Staff of the NH Air National Guard, Air National Guard Advisor to USAF Strategic Plans (Pentagon) and Air National Guard Advisor to Air Mobility Command and US Transportation Command (Scott AFB) with concurrent assignment as Deputy Adjutant General for the NH National Guard. He is now retired.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Commentary: Pease Airport upgrades essential for military, civilian operations
