Military provides boost to Oklahoma's economy

Thursday, July 6th 2006, 2:12 pm

By: News On 6

LAWTON, Okla. (AP) _ The sounds of whining electric power tools and nails meeting lumber echo through a subdivision of new homes being built in the heart of this military town in southwest Oklahoma.

For Lawton homebuilder Steven Barnes, business has been booming ever since federal officials announced in May 2005 that nearby Fort Sill would not be shut down as part of Pentagon downsizing plans known as the Base Realignment and Closure process, or BRAC.

``The day they announced BRAC, the black cloud got lifted and my phone started ringing,'' said Barnes, standing inside a new, 2,500-square-foot brick home in The Enclave addition. ``I can't hire subcontractors fast enough.''

The number of new-home building permits issued by the City of Lawton increased from 151 in 2004 to 264 in 2005. Through May 2006, 100 more permits were issued, and Barnes said new troops and their families haven't even started moving to the area yet.

Base officials estimate the Lawton-Fort Sill area will gain an estimated 11,000 residents, including military, civilian and contract employees and their dependents, over the next several years as part of the base realignment process and national efforts to restructure the military. Personnel associated with the Air Defense Artillery school, currently housed at Fort Bliss, Texas, will begin moving to Fort Sill in 2009.

The continued growth at Fort Sill is expected to have a trickle down effect on the area's economy, said Maj. Gen. David C. Ralston, Chief of the Field Artillery and commander at Fort Sill.

``There will be other jobs that defense industries will now offer into the area,'' Ralston said. ``Some of the large defense industries will move the slots they now have in El Paso up to the Lawton-Fort Sill area. That will be in addition to the 11,000 that we talked about.

``You're going to see those types of jobs, which are relatively well paying, high-tech jobs that will now be opened up into the area.''

Fort Sill already employs more than 15,500 military and civilian workers, making it the fourth largest employer in the state, according to figures from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce.

Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, with about 26,000 employees, is the state's third largest single employer, behind the state of Oklahoma (36,000) and Wal-Mart (30,629).

Combined, the state's five military installations _ Fort Sill, Tinker, Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Altus Air Force Base and the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant _ easily top the list of major Oklahoma employers, employing nearly 50,000 civilian and military workers. All of these installations survived intact the latest round of base closures.

The impact these five bases and their workforce have on Oklahoma's economy is difficult to overstate, said U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, whose congressional district includes both Tinker and Fort Sill.

``It's pretty impressive when you start looking at primary jobs and secondary jobs,'' said Cole, R-Moore. ``For every job on Tinker, there's another job created someplace else.

``You're talking about an economic impact of $3 billion at Tinker, and Fort Sill is well over $1 billion. That's just those two facilities. That's a pretty impressive piece of Oklahoma.''

In addition to the workers and the money they spend in Oklahoma, the military's impact on Oklahoma can be felt in a host of other ways.

At Fort Sill, where young troops receive their basic combat training, nearby Lawton is flooded nearly every week with families who come from all over the United States to watch their loved ones graduate.

``I tried to go out and eat with my wife one graduation night _ forget it,'' said Sgt. 1st Class Randolph Delapena, a drill sergeant at Fort Sill. ``We have graduations almost every week, and we usually calculate that for every one graduate, we have three family members.''

Another economic impact comes from military retirees who decide to make Oklahoma home after they finish their military service. These retirees often take second jobs and leadership positions in their local communities.

``You see it all the time,'' Ralston said. ``Clearly the majority retire here and add this wonderful workforce addition to the community. These are disciplined, hard-working and talented individuals that transition well into the civilian workforce.''

The secondary workforce that comes with military employees also provides a significant boost to the local economies where the bases are located, said Court Newkirk, the economic development director of the Lawton-Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce.

``Many of the spouses of these soldiers and defense contractors have a lot of skills that any market would like to have in their available labor pool,'' Newkirk said. ``That's the really hidden magic in the whole BRAC deal, besides getting all the new missions at Fort Sill, is what it's going to help us do with available labor to attract new companies.

``The word is out, and the number of inquiries into my office from companies interested in southwest Oklahoma has really increased since May of last year when BRAC was announced.''