[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2885 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2885

              To extend the runway at Pope Army Airfield.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 28, 2016

  Mr. Tillis introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
              referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
              To extend the runway at Pope Army Airfield.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF THE RUNWAY AT POPE ARMY AIRFIELD.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Pope Army Airfield, North Carolina, is the busiest 
        tactical airfield in the Armed Forces but has one of the 
        shortest runways in the Army.
            (2) Pope Army Airfield is the principal training field for 
        America's Global Response Force.
            (3) The mission of the Global Response Force is to have 
        units of the XVIII Airborne Corps anywhere in the world within 
        48 hours notice.
            (4) The current Pope Army Airfield runway length is 7,500 
        feet with 1,000 feet hardened overruns, providing 8,500 feet 
        for aircraft takeoff.
            (5) The C-17 requires a 10,500 foot runway for take-off 
        with a maximum gross take-off weight of 585,000 pounds.
            (6) The C-5 requires an 11,500 foot runway for maximum 
        gross take-off weight of 769,000 pounds. Because the C-5 load 
        normally fills the cargo bay space prior to meeting the maximum 
        payload, a 10,500 foot runway is considered adequate.
            (7) The C-17 and C-5 Airlift aircraft cannot depart fully 
        fueled and with a full load of paratroopers on the current Pope 
        Runway.
            (8) These aircraft require air refueling because the runway 
        length at Pope Field will not allow a full fuel load due to the 
        mission cargo weight requirements.
            (9) The United States Air Force air refueling fleet is 
        already stressed and C-17s are currently required to do 
        stopovers at Charleston, South Carolina, or Gander, 
        Newfoundland. One refueling stop for airlift, coming out of 
        Pope, at Gander, Newfoundland, costs $17,000 per hour.
            (10) If 53 aircraft, the number required to outload the 
        heaviest Brigade Combat Team, have to refuel at Gander, it 
        costs over $2,000,000 one-way. This refueling stop adds two 
        hours and thirty minutes to the mission.
            (11) Prior to the last round of base closure and 
        realignment, extending the Pope Army Airfield runway to 
        accommodate fully loaded C-17 and C-5 aircraft was Air Mobility 
        Command's number one airfield project and the United States Air 
        Force's number two project for funding.
            (12) Extending the Pope Army Airfield runway to accommodate 
        the airlift requirements of the Global Response Force and the 
        XVIII Airborne Corps is a national strategic priority.
    (b) Report Requirement.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Army, in coordination 
with the Commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps and the commanding 
officer of Fort Bragg, shall submit to Congress a report (including 
analytical and justification materials) outlining plans to extend the 
runway at Pope Army Airfield and whether such project is a priority for 
the United States Army.
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