Client: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

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The Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) Airfield District is a large and complex area that is home to many mission-critical assets, including multiple aircraft squadron complexes, aircraft maintenance and fuel storage facilities, and aircraft munition storage areas, administration areas, joint deployment and logistics facilities, a passenger terminal, and the airfield operations office. The airfield has developed over the course of decades and in conjunction with many evolving missions and changing airfield requirements. The result is an airfield environment that is highly constrained, with overlapping operational requirements, including explosives safety arcs and airfield imaginary surfaces. The airfield requires a large number of waivers to airfield planning requirements due to pre-existing development that does not conform to current standards. Many of the missions on the airfield occupy dispersed facilities and many facilities are in need of upgrades.

We led a planning process that broadly consisted of two stages: data gathering and analysis, and an on-site planning workshop, or charrette. The process was intended to identify and incorporate four sources of input:

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• Data that drives analysis of site opportunities and constraints

• Leadership guidance that establishes command priorities

• Stakeholder input, validation, and buy-in that leverages subject matter expertise, helps deconflict user priorities, and generates top-to bottom ownership of the plan

• Technical planning expertise that builds upon requirements, command guidance, and stakeholder input to create a feasible and actionable plan

The resulting JBER Airfield District Area Development Plan (ADP) provides a 20-year development plan that would greatly reduce the need for waivers to airfield planning standards, provide modernized infrastructure for critical missions, and result in an efficient use of limited land and facility resources.