New Vance Air Base Tower Dedicated by Sen. Jim Inhofe

Ceremonies were held Friday for the opening of a new air traffic control tower at Vance Air Force Base in Enid. Funds for construction came from the National Defense Authorizataion Act for Fiscal Year 2010.

The new tower was officially named the “Inhofe Air Traffic Control Tower” in honor of U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe who worked to include the funding in the 2010 funding.

“The strong partnership between Enid and Vance Air Force base is known throughout the Air Force, which is what helped to make this new, needed tower possible,” said Sen. Inhofe at the ribbon-cutting ceremonies. “This tower is long overdue. Our airmen have been executing operations from a tower that did not meet FAA size and safety standards for years.”

He said despite the old tower, the Air Force was able to safely control thousands of sorties over three runways.

“With the opening of this new tower, we celebrate and pay our respects to the hard work and sacrifices of the airmen who give their all to protect our nation and its skies,” added Sen. Inhofe.