Travis Air Force Base Today

Travis Air Force Base and its personnel play an important role in the Fairfield and Suisun City area. Located within the city limits of Fairfield and adjacent to Suisun City, the base impacts every aspect of the community.

Home of the largest Air Mobility organization in the United States Air Force, Travis AFB is more than 50 years old. What began as an isolated airstrip with only a few tarpaper barracks and maintenance hangars is now the site of one of the largest military aerial ports in the United States. Today, Travis encompasses 6,583 acres and includes a work force of approximately 7,700 active military, 3,500 civilians and 3,565 reservists.

The Air Force now expends more than $377 million on payroll and over $45 million on contracts to operate Travis. The actual economic impact on the immediate local area is calculated to be over $1 billion annually.

15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force
The 15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force is headquartered at Travis Air Force Base. The mission of 15th EMTF is to provide skilled in-place and deployable air mobility support forces to rapidly establish, expand, sustain and coordinate Air Mobility Operations in support of contingencies, humanitarian operations and exercises or war games. With an assigned military work force of 2,118 personnel and an assigned civilian work force of 422 civilians, the 15th EMTF's area of focus is in the Pacific, South and North America.

60th Air Mobility Wing
The 60th Air Mobility Wing is the largest Air Mobility organization in the Air Force, with a versatile all-jet cargo fleet of 37 C-5 Galaxy aircraft and an air refueling fleet of 27 KC-10 air refueling aircraft. As the host unit of Travis, the wing controls approximately $12 billion in total resources and handles more cargo and passengers than any other air terminal in the United States. Travis is the West Coast terminal for aero-medical evacuation aircraft that are returning sick or injured patients from the Pacific area.

Part of the Air Mobility Command, the 60th Air Mobility Wing is responsible for strategic airlift missions circling the globe. The unit's primary role is to provide rapid, reliable air mobility of American fighting forces anywhere on earth in support of national objectives. The wing also helps fulfill the global air logistics requirements needed to sustain the activities of the Department of Defense. Wing activity is primarily focused in the Pacific and Indian Ocean area, including Alaska and Antarctica. However, 60th Air Mobility Wing crews can fly support missions anywhere in the world to fulfill its vision of being "America's First Choice."

United States Air Force Band of the Golden West
The United States Air Force Band of the Golden West has been stationed at Travis since November 1979. The 50 member squadron performs music of virtually every style. Organizationally, the United States Air Force Band of the Golden West is comprised of the Concert Band, Ceremonial Band, the Commanders Jazz Ensemble, Travis Top Brass Quintet, the Golden West Wind Quintet and the Golden West Ramblers Dixieland Band. The Galaxy Showband was created in 1991 to meet the growing demand for popular music of all types.

In total, the components present more than 500 performances annually throughout California, Oregon, and Washington. The band assists in Air Force recruiting, community relations and supports military ceremonial events.

349th Air Mobility Wing (Reserve)
The 349th Air Mobility Wing (Reserve) is the largest Air Mobility organization in the Air Force Reserve. Its mission includes the airlifting of personnel and materials worldwide in support of the Air Force and Department of Defense. The 349th AMW is the first Reserve organization to qualify its members in the free world's largest aircraft, the C-5 Galaxy, and is the only unit in the Air Force Reserve flying the C-5 and KC-10. Aircrew and support personnel of the wing, upon recall, would be mobilized under the 60th AMW.

Since its relocation to Travis in 1969 from Hamilton AFB, California, the wing has grown to two C-5 and two KC-10 squadrons and three aerial port squadrons. The wing also has detachments in New Mexico and Washington State.

615th Contingency Response Wing
The 615th Contingency Response Wing is one of two Contingency Response Wings (CRW) assigned to the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command. Headquartered at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., the CRW’s primary mission is to employ rapidly deployable cross-functional teams to quickly open forward airbases in an expeditionary environment to meet combatant commanders’ needs. The 615th CRW reports to the 15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force at Travis AFB, CA.

The 615th CRW opens forward bases and extends existing AMC infrastructure via rapid forward deployment capabilities, and presents core airbase operating forces to war-fighting combatant commanders to meet the nation’s National Security requirements. The 615th CRW employs mission-ready airfield assessment teams, airfield operations, command and control, aerial port, and aircraft maintenance personnel, as well as airlift, weather, medical, intelligence, air traffic control, security forces, finance, fuels, supply and contracting personnel to project and sustain forces worldwide.

With an assigned military and civilian work force of more than 650 personnel, the 615th CRW is composed of three Contingency Response Groups, a Global Support Squadron and a command staff. The 615th CRW commander may deploy as the Director of Mobility Forces, a Joint Task Force Commander, or a Joint Forces Air Component Commander to rapidly establish air mobility operations in support of contingency efforts, humanitarian operations and combined, joint, and USAF exercises.

David Grant U.S. Air Force Medical Center
When the David Grant U.S. Air Force Medical Center opened its doors in December 1988, it marked the beginning of a new era in health care at Travis. The military and their families have available to them one of the most modern health care facilities in the nation. It is a far cry from the original Fairfield-Suisun base hospital first opened in 1943.

The modern four-level medical center (Building 777) is located off Airbase Parkway, one block from the main gate. It contains 3,662 rooms, 300 inpatient beds, 75 aero-medical staging flight beds, and 52 dental treatment rooms. The Department of Defense has designated the 60th Medical Group as the lead agent of one of the 12 divisions in the United States. There are many modern innovations within the medical center such as the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Unit, linear accelerators, and hyperbaric chambers. Travis is very proud of this facility, which serves military beneficiaries in eight western states.

The Travis AFB Museum was opened in 1987 through the efforts of the Travis AFB Historical Society and the Air Force. Its primary mission is to portray and help reserve the history of Travis AFB and the history of military airlift in the Pacific. It also presents exhibits on other aspects of the history of the Air Force. The museum's collection is composed of 31 aircraft, including fighters, bombers, trainers, transports, and utility planes. For more information call (707) 424-5605. A new AFB Museum is currently under construction adjacent to the base.

Travis Unified School District
Travis Unified School District serves a culturally and ethnically diverse community which is growing and changing demographically. There are four communities within the district: 39 percent are Vacaville residents, 4 percent are Fairfield residents, 46 percent are connected to Travis Air Force Base and 11 percent come to the district on inter-district agreements. Approximately 4,600 students are currently enrolled in the district.

The district has five elementary schools (K-6), a middle school (7-8), a high school (9-12), a continuation school and an adult education program. Six of the eight schools are California Distinguished Schools, and the Continuation High School was recognized as one of the top 10 Continuation Schools by the State of California in 1990. The district continues to maintain the highest test scores within Solano County.

The Travis Unified School District is proud of its excellence in academic, extracurricular and athletic programs. GATE enrichment is offered at the elementary and middle school levels. Honors classes are offered at the high school. School nurses, counseling, speech therapy and psychological services are available to students, as well as Special Education programs.