The headquarters building with the flags of 50 states fluttering in front is an eye-catcher. So is the fighter jet pointing skyward on a pedestal in the foreground. Just up the highway, the airplanes, hangars and a sizeable flight line come into view.
Without reading a sign, travelers can easily decide the large fenced area on U.S. Highway 247 is an Air Force installation. Uniformed men and women, fast and powerful weapon systems and a worldwide national defense mission are a certainty.
For more than 68 years, Robins has enjoyed a special partnership with its neighbors. The slogan, “Every Day In Middle Georgia Is Armed Forces Appreciation Day” – the world’s longest acronym, EDIMGIAFAD, adorns many area signs – is a way of life here. The transient nature of military life just doesn’t seem to apply. If you’re at Robins, you’re a Middle Georgian. Call it Southern hospitality. Call it patriotic pride and respect. To locals, it’s just natural. Neighboring communities embrace the people, units, organizations and missions of Robins like no other military community in the world. The atmosphere is so comfortable for the men and women in uniform that more than 6,000 Air Force retirees reside here. People who have been around the globe decide this is home. It’s just always been that way here.
Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the base was born in 1941 as a repair and supply depot for the Army Air Corps. From World War II, through the creation of the U.S. Air Force, to Vietnam, Desert Storm, Kosovo and the current operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, the men and women of Robins have upheld a proud heritage of excellence in logistics support for the nation’s fighting forces.
Since the beginning, aircraft maintenance has remained a constant. Today, the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, one of only three major logistics centers in the Air Force Materiel Command, ably accomplishes that mission and more. The center has worldwide management and engineering responsibility for the repair, modification and overhaul of the F-15 Eagle, long the Air Force’s premiere air superiority fighter. Over the years, Robins has solidified a reputation as the airlift center of choice, maintaining the venerable C-130 Hercules and the massive C-5 Galaxy while providing logistical support for the C-17 Globemaster III. The center also manages the famed U-2 surveillance aircraft, all Air Force helicopters and special operations aircraft and supports Air Force tactical missiles and general-purpose computers, avionics and electronics systems on most Air Force aircraft.
The Warner Robins Air Logistics Center is the largest of 60 organizations at Robins. Among those are the 116th Air Control Wing, which flies battlefield surveillance missions in the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft or Joint STARS; the 5th Combat Communications Group, which provides mobile command and control communications and air traffic control systems worldwide; the 19th Air Refueling Group, refueling aircraft in midair throughout the world in the KC-135R; and the worldwide headquarters for the Air Force Reserve Command.
Getting the job done at Robins is a work force of more than 21,000 people – more than 6,500 active military, 13,000 civilian personnel and 6,000 contract, private and nonappropriated fund civilian personnel.
The base contains every amenity and necessity a city would provide for its citizenry. Robins has two-, three- and four-bedroom homes inside the gates, as well as 370 new and renovated housing units constructed under a privatization initiative. Furthermore, 76 new units were constructed on base. Nine dormitories accommodate more than 674 single enlisted members. Also, hundreds of bed spaces are available in temporary lodging. Two childcare centers are available, as well as a family childcare program.
The base operates various health-care clinics – comprehensive, dental and occupational medicine – and a pharmacy. Veterinarian services are offered for family pets.
A full slate of helpful programs is offered by a thriving Airman and Family Readiness Center, including the Air Force Aid Society, family readiness education and assistance, personal financial management assistance, family life education, family member employment resource service, relocation assistance, transition assistance and more.
The Robins AFB Georgia Key Spouse Program, also called “Trained Spouses in Action,” is managed through the Airman and Family Readiness Flight on base. Key Spouse is a formal unit program that offers informal peer support to families. A Key Spouse is a trained volunteer who is interviewed and chosen for a minimum one-year commitment to provide peer-to-peer wingman, or buddy-to-buddy, support to Airmen and families. As a role model and a communication link offering assistance to families during crisis or difficulty, the Key Spouse is a vital link for families of deployed members and provides information and referrals to military, local and national resources.
Educational opportunities abound for the people of Robins. The Education and Training Office provides quality educational and training opportunities in support of mission readiness and professional and personal development for both the civilian and military populations. The office is responsible for administering all U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense education programs and offers undergraduate and graduate courses through several area colleges and universities.
An array of facilities and services are available at Robins for community enjoyment. There’s a modern, state-of-the-art fitness center and various sports programs. Outdoor recreation facilities include five swimming pools, a track and a running/walking course, a nature center, horse stables, a skeet range, numerous picnic areas, lakes, fishing, hunting and camping areas.
The Pine Oaks Golf Course is a 6,059-yard, 18-hole, par 71 course open seven days a week, complete with a driving range and putting green. There’s a community center, movie theater, bowling center and a library.
A wide range of services is offered on base by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service including shopping in a modern mall built in 2000, which includes the main exchange, military clothing sales and a food court. AAFES also runs a Class Six/Shoppette, a car care center, furniture store, Burger King and Church’s Fried Chicken. A commissary provides every grocery shopping need, as well as a bakery and full-service deli. A base restaurant prepares a varied menu of meals, and a newly constructed dining hall serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and a midnight meal for enlisted troops. Dining is also offered at the officers club and at J.R. Rockers, a sports-themed bar and grill inside the enlisted club that features a high-tech game room, pool tables and multiple television screens for sports viewing.
There’s plenty to see and do here in Middle Georgia. But ask anyone familiar with Robins AFB, and they’ll tell you the real attraction here is the relationship the base enjoys with the local community.
Of course, the base is a great provider for the area. As Georgia’s largest industrial employer, Robins AFB is the economic cornerstone of the Midstate. The annual payroll is more than $1.56 billion. The estimated economic impact for the entire state hits $3.953 billion.
But the relationship works in more personal and dynamic ways. Military and civilian members alike give of themselves and their time for the good of the Middle Georgia community. Charitable contributions of base people and organizations include annual toy drives, Christmas teddy bear donations, community cleanups and Habitat for Humanity house constructions. Community people open their arms and homes to military members. Coupons, discounts and special community programs are regularly provided military members, especially spouses of deployed troops.
Here is where Southern traditions of making everyone feel at home combines with unshakeable beliefs in patriotism and a deeply rooted history of support for the nation’s defense. These ingredients have made the base-community partnership at Robins AFB legendary and known throughout the Air Force as the best in the world.
