The military presence contributes significantly to the economy (it’s number three behind health care and tourism), to the tune of nearly $5.1 billion annually. With the closing of Kelly Air Force Base in 2001, retaining San Antonio’s remaining military installations and finding new missions for them has been high on the minds of local, state and congressional leaders. They fought hard to bring the U.S. Army South command to town and to create Brooks City-Base. As a result, the military continues to be one of San Antonio’s largest and best-paying employers.

The military improves the overall quality of life for residents by creating jobs, purchasing local goods and services, contracting work from local firms, bringing in research dollars, and enhancing the quality and level of medical care and training available. In addition, military employees are a great source of talent when they leave active duty and enter the private sector.

San Antonio is home to three Air Force bases — Brooks City-Base, Lackland AFB and Randolph AFB — and the Army post of Fort Sam Houston.

Brooks City-Base
Formerly known as Brooks Air Force Base, Brooks City-Base was created in July 2002 when San Antonio’s Brooks Development Authority (BDA) became the new owner of the base. A world-class leader in aerospace medicine, biotechnology and life sciences, Brooks is an economic generator for San Antonio.

The city-base concept is the first ofits kind, reducing federal governmentinfrastructure costs while creating a venue for economic growth through business, academic and scientific partnerships. The move makes the Air Force the primary tenanton land it once owned, allowing base officials to expand research and developmentopportunities that support America’s war fighters, without the responsibilities associated with maintaining a military base. Brooks employs approximately 4,000 highly skilled workers performing leading-edge researchon integrating the human element intowar-fighting systems. Many Air Forcemissions here already support homeland defense initiatives. For example, the epidemiology laboratory of the Air Force’s Institute for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health Risk Analysis has for years developed influenza vaccines to support the World Health Organization. Brooks’ status allows San Antonio and Air Force officials to attract major revenue-producing tenants, such as a proposed federal vaccine facility.

Lackland Air Force Base
Located on the southwestern fringe ofthe city, Lackland AFB is the gateway tothe Air Force. With a population of more than 26,000 military personnel and 9,400 civilians, Lackland provides basic military training for all enlisted Air Force and Air Reserve component members — approximately 30,000–40,000 new airmen annually. More than 3 million airmen have caught their first glimpses of Air Force life here. The 37th Training Group provides technical training in secure-communications equipment maintenance, transportation, services, security police and combat-arms training, and maintenance. Joint-service training for Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine personnel is provided through numerous courses, including military dog handling and security and law enforcement. Air Force recruiters are also trained here. Lackland hosts the Defense Language Institute, which brings international and U.S. military students to required proficiency in English. The Inter-American Air Forces Academy is based here; it conducts Spanish-language technical training in aviation occupational specialties for personnel from Latin America and Caribbean countries. Lackland also serves as the home of the Air Force’s largest medical facility, Wilford Hall Medical Center.

Randolph Air Force Base
Randolph AFB, known for many years as the West Point of the Air, became a flying training base in 1930 and has continued its tradition of excellence ever since. Today, the 12th Flying Training Wing trains more than 530 students a year. Its mission is threefold. There is instructor pilot training in the Cessna T-37 Tweet, the Northrop T-38 Talon and the Beech T-1A Jayhawk; additionally, the undergraduate navigator-training mission is supported by the Boeing T-43A medium-range turbofan jet. The wing also screens potential Air Force pilots in the SlingsbyT-3A Firefly and in the Cessna T-41. Thebase employs more than 5,200 military personnel and 4,800 civilians. Randolph is also home to Headquarters Air Educationand Training Command, the 19th Air Force, the Air Force Personnel Center, the Headquarters Recruiting Service, and other associate units.

Fort Sam Houston
The oldest continuously operated military installation in the country, Fort Sam Houston is known as the Home of Army Medicine. It’s also the new home of U.S. Army South, which was previously located at Fort Buchanan in Puerto Rico. It is the first time a new command has moved to Fort Sam since the 1988 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission, or BRAC. The Army South command, which has ties with 32 countries, has a financial impact of $160 to $200 million. Once renovations arecomplete, the command will reside in the old Brooke Army Medical Center. Employing approximately 15,200 military personnel and 8,500 civilian workers, other commands at Fort Sam Houston include the U.S. Army Medical Command, the U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School, Brooke Army Medical Center, and the Fifth U.S. Army and Fifth Recruiting Brigade.

Military Miscellany
• Active-duty military personnel with a valid driver’s license from another state do not have to get a Texas driver’s license or Texas license plates. However, military retirees who stay in San Antonio must obtain them.

• Late in the 19th century, Teddy Roosevelt recruited and trained the Rough Riders here.

• A large portion of military personnel live off-base (in almost all cases, on-base housing is limited). Three of the local military installations — Fort Sam Houston, Randolph Air Force Base and Lackland Air Force Base — have their own school districts, and children who live on these bases attend these schools.