See photos as the Offutt runway opens after an 18-month reconstruction
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A TC-135 lands at Offutt Air Force Base Friday following an 18-month runway reconstruction project.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
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A crowd watches one of the 55th Wing’s RC-135s land at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday following an 18-month runway reconstruction. In all, eight RC-135s landed to mark the runway’s reopening.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
Offutt runway reopens after 18-month runway reconstruction
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Col. Kristen Thompson speaks at a ceremony celebrating the completion of the runway reconstruction at Offutt. Thompson took over command of the Offutt-based 55th Wing in June 2021 when the project was in progress. Behind her is the air traffic tower.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
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A RC-135 lands at Offutt Air Force Base Friday following an 18-month runway reconstruction project.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Lt. Col. Ryan Davis brings his new son, Beckett, to see the new runway at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
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A TC-135 is the first plane to land at Offutt Air Force Base Friday following a complete rebuild of the base's runway. The project took 18 months.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Attendees hold their phones up to get photos of the first plane to land at Offutt Air Force Base, a TC-135, Friday following an 18-month runway reconstruction project.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Rep. Don Bacon, left, and U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer were guests of honor at Friday’s ceremony. Bacon is a former 55th Wing commander.
CHRIS MACHIAN photos, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Gen. Mark Kelly, commander of Air Combat Command, speaks Friday about the new Offutt runway. The project cost more than $200 million.
A $25 million state fund will be tapped to help pay for projects at Offutt Air Force Base. Under consideration: a rooftop garden, a spruced-up parade ground and a new pavilion for airmen.
The U.S. military described last week's encounter over the South China Sea as unprofessional and risky. A 55th Wing pilot-turned-historian says such intercepts are routine for reconnaissance crews.
Against a backdrop of rising military tensions with China and Russia in the western Pacific, the Offutt-based 55th Wing is setting up shop in the Land of the Midnight Sun.
Rep. Don Bacon, a former Air Force electronics warfare officer, pushed to create an electromagnetic spectrum operations center — and to put it at Offutt Air Force Base.Â