HOUSTON - Ellington Airport refers to a governmental and commercial campus located in Houston, Texas, that is noted (though not exclusively) for both civilian and military aviation operations. Governmental facilities or operations represented on the campus span from city to state to federal. It resides on land that was originally an Army air strip, and later an Air Force Base.
The land that constitutes Ellington’s current footprint is owned by the City of Houston; portions not occupied by city functions are leased out to governmental and commercial tenants.
Ellington’s three active runways and associated taxiways (which are shared by military and civilian tenants) roughly compose the two eastern quadrants of the property. The two western quadrants of the campus include structures directly related to runway operations, as well as military and commercial operations not directly related to aviation.
Although the name Ellington Airport technically refers to the entire campus, it is often used to refer more specifically to the (generally) publicly-accessible southwestern quadrant of the compound, which predominantly contains civilian general aviation operations and commercial tenants. NASA also bases some of its administrative and cargo transport operations in the southwest quadrant, albeit in a controlled-access sub-area. The airport does not currently host scheduled commercial passenger flights.
The northwest quadrant of the campus contains exclusively military and homeland security operations, and is known as Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base. It is a controlled-entry area, accessible only to government/military employees with valid identification and on official business, as well as to military dependents and retirees.
Ellington Field JRB derives its name from the property’s original military designation when it was constructed in 1917. It is important to note that the original name of “Ellington Field” was still officially used as the name of the overall campus until 2009, and as the name of the military sub-compound until 2010. Consequently, many local residents and even tenants still use the historic name when casually referring to the campus or its components.
Ellington Field JRB is not currently formally designated as a joint reserve base by the Defense Department. However, the compound operates as a joint reserve base through collaborative agreements among the tenants. Ellington Field JRB is notable for having troop presences from all five of the U.S. armed forces: Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard.
The Texas Air National Guard’s 147th Reconnaissance Wing, commanded by an Air Force colonel, operates as the host unit for EFJRB due to the aviation focus of the installation, as well as due to the Texas ANG’s position as the primary (and sometimes exclusive) military tenant over much of the base’s history. However, the Army Reserve’s 75th Training Command, led by a major general (or two-star) is the senior military headquarters on the installation, and the Navy has the largest reserve troop presence.
| Date Taken: | 01.22.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 01.22.2013 22:00 |
| Story ID: | 100874 |
| Location: | HOUSTON, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 192 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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