Officials from the Lincoln Airport and Offutt Air Force Base are hoping to have relocated Offutt planes in Lincoln no later than March.
Bob McNally, director of operations at the airport, told the Lincoln Airport Authority on Thursday that the current plan is for the first planes from the 55th Wing to start showing up in early February.
Relocation of additional planes, which do intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and electronic attack missions, would occur by March.
That's when construction of a new runway at Offutt is supposed to start.
A spokesperson for the 55th Wing confirmed that timeline, saying in an email that "pre-mobilization work" will begin next week at the base in Bellevue.
Construction in Lincoln of facilities to house the 55th Wing planes and personnel are wrapping up, McNally said.
The airport has made nearly $40 million worth of improvements, all of which are being paid for by the Air Force.
Construction of the Offutt runway, expected to cost nearly $150 million, was originally supposed to start in 2018 but has been delayed several times. The last official delay came in September 2019, when the Air Force said work would start this October. The contract for the construction was awarded in July, but at that time, the Air Force did not give a construction start date.
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The current timeline seems to be solid, as the Air Force executed a lease with the airport Sept. 1.
If construction does start in March as planned, the 55th Wing would likely be based in Lincoln until September 2022.
The wing's fleet includes the OC-135B Open Skies Treaty observation aircraft, WC-135 Constant Phoenix atmospheric collection aircraft and RC-135V/W Rivet Joint electronic intelligence collection aircraft.
McNally said the airport will have about 18 parking places for the 55th Wing, but there could be more or fewer of its planes on the ground at any time, "depending on world events."
Photos: Offutt through the years
Photos: Offutt Air Force Base through the years
The area now known as Offutt Air Force Base was first commissioned as Fort Crook, an Army post to house cavalry soldiers and their horses. This photo, circa 1905, shows mounted officers and infantry troops assembling on the parade ground. The officers' quarters in the background still stand today, but the closing of Offutt's stables in 2010 ended the base's equine tradition.
THE WORLD-HERALD
Painter Frank Anania places the final bolt in the SAC emblem, newly placed on the command building at Strategic Air Command headquarters. After the command was created in 1946, SAC headquarters were moved from Andrews Field, Maryland, to Offutt Air Force Base. SAC's high-flying reconnaissance planes and bombers would go on to play a global role from the onset of the Cold War through the last bomb of the Persian Gulf War.
THE WORLD-HERALD
The Strategic Air Command "nerve center" gets a new headquarters building at Offutt Air Force Base.
THE WORLD-HERALD
Even since the late 1950s, Strategic Air Command has been holding open house events at Offutt Air Force Base to display and demonstrate aircraft for civilian visitors. Each year, the open house and air show at Offutt features aerial acts or reenactments, static displays, and booths showcasing military history and capabilities.Â
KEN ZIMMERMAN/OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
The first SAC museum consisted of a section of abandoned runway near the north edge of Offutt Air Force Base outside of Bellevue. However, the outdoor display left the aircraft vulnerable to the elements.
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
A Royal Air Force bomber crashes at Offutt Air Force Base. Beginning in the late 1950s, the RAF maintained small detachment and service facility for Vulcan bomber planes at Offutt, often participating in defense exercises and demonstrations at the base until their retirement and deactivation in 1982. This plane crashed at take-off at the northwest end of the main runway and then slid across Highway 73-75. All seven passengers survived.Â
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
Just weeks after the Cuban missile crisis, President John F. Kennedy visits Offutt Air Force Base, accompanied by Gen. Thomas Power of Strategic Air Command, right.
JOHN SAVAGE/OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
Actor Rock Hudson receives a B-52 bomber briefing during a visit to Omaha and Offutt Air Force Base. He began filming "A Gathering of Eagles" in May of that year.
U.S. AIR FORCE
An early photograph of the Ehrling Bergquist military medical clinic in Bellevue. The clinic has served Offutt Air Force Base since 1966 and was remodeled in 2013, including a grand staircase, ±ô²¹°ù²µ±ð°ùÌýphysical therapy and mental health areas, and a more private mammography waiting area.Â
U.S. AIR FORCE
The world's largest aircraft at that time, the C5 Galaxy was displayed as part of the open house for civilian visitors at Offutt Air Force Base.
CHRIS YOUNG/OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
A conference room in the SAC underground command post at Offutt Air Force Base. Strategic Air Command would be formally disestablished in 1992, but Offutt would remain the headquarters for the new United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM).
JAMES R. BURNETT/OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
The Strategic Air Command Memorial Chapel holds a Sunday morning service as a reminder of those who have given their service and those who have died during the Command's 46-year history. Founded in in 1946, the command was dissolved in a ceremony at Offutt Air Force Base.
RICH JANDA/OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
OPPD worker Craig Azure of Ashland holds a power line up across Platteview Road near Highway 50 so that an Albatross airplane can fit under it. After SAC was dissolved, the museum moved into a new indoor facility in 1998. Airplanes were moved from their old location at Offutt Air Force Base to their new and current home near Mahoney State Park off I-80.Â
PHIL JOHNSON/OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
The parade grounds gazebo at Offutt is dedicated in honor of Airman 1st Class Warren T. Willis, who was killed in an aircraft accident the previous December.Â
BILL BATSON/OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
President Bill Clinton speaks at a rally at Offutt Air Force Base.
BILL BATSON/OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
More than 300 anti-nuclear protesters gather outside Kinney Gate at Offutt Air Force Base. The rally was part of a weekend of protest against nuclear weapons, and was organized in response to an extensive nuclear arsenal review being held at the base.
RUDY SMITH/OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
Vice President Dick Cheney greets service men and women following a speech at Offutt Air Force Base's Minuteman missile in Bellevue.
LAURA INNS/OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
Dignitaries clap along to an armed forces medley as ground is broken for the new U. S. Strategic Command Headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base. From left: Neb. Rep. Adrian Smith, Rep. Lee Terry, Neb. Governor Dave Heineman, General C. Robert Kehler, Commander USStratcom, Sen. Ben Nelson, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, and Mayor of Bellevue, Rita Sanders.
KENT SIEVERS/THE WORLD-HERALD
Chris Shotton created this thank you message to the airmen and troops flying in and out of Offutt Air Force Base. Employees of area Walmart stores have been writing giant messages in fields near Highway 370 for years.
KENT SIEVERS/THE WORLD-HERALD
Senior Airman Kevin Chapman works the desk at the new Public Health Clinic located in the Ehrling Bergquist military medical clinic.
RYAN SODERLIN/THE WORLD-HERALD
The new MERLIN SS200m Aircraft Birdstrike Avoidance Radar System, with the control tower in the background, photographed at Offutt Air Force Base. The system was moved here from Afghanistan in order to help detect large flocks and prevent damages to aircraft from bids, which cost the Air Force millions of dollars each year.
CHRIS MACHIAN/THE WORLD-HERALD
An aerial photo from late February of the construction site for StratCom's new $1.2 billion headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base. Despite numerous delays and setbacks, the building would be completed in 2018, six years after construction began. StratCom would then spend the next year outfitting the structure with more than $600 million worth of high-tech communications and security gear.
U.S. STRATEGIC COMMAND
President Barack Obama arrives in Omaha after landing at Offutt Air Force Base. While in Omaha, Obama met with the family of Kerrie Orozco, visited a local teacher, and addressed a crowd of about 8,000 at Baxter Arena.
MATT MILLER/THE WORLD-HERALD
This year, U.S. Strategic Command unveiled a new Command and Control Facility located at Offutt Air Force Base. The "battle deck," shown here, features computer workstations, soundproofing, and the ability to connect instantly to the White House and Pentagon.
RYAN SODERLIN/THE WORLD-HERALD
Luke Thomas and Air Force Tech Sgt. Vanessa Vidaurre look at a flooded portion of Offutt Air Force Base in 2019.
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD FILE PHOTO
An OC-135B taxies after it lands at the Lincoln Airport on Feb. 1. The Air Force's 55th Wing is relocating to Lincoln while Offutt's runway is reconstructed.
GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
A temporary hangar was erected to help house the Air Force's 55th Wing from Offutt at the Lincoln Airport.Â
GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
Crew members work around an OC-135B, the first plane from Offutt's fleet to land at the Lincoln Airport on Feb. 1. The Air Force's 55th Wing is relocating to Lincoln while Offutt's runway is reconstructed.Â
GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com .
On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.
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