Robert Gray Army Airfield
{{Use American English|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox airport
| name = Robert Gray Army Airfield
| nativename = Robert Gray Air Force Base
| nativename-a = {{smaller|(former Camp Hood Air Force Base)}}
| nativename-r = {{smaller|(former Killeen Army Airfield)}}
| image = Killeen-Fort Hood Regional Airport - Texas.jpg
| image-width = 250
| caption = USGS 2006 orthophoto
| IATA = GRK
| ICAO = KGRK
| FAA = GRK
| type = Public / Military
| owner = U.S. Army ATCA-ASO
| operator =
| location = Fort Cavazos / Killeen, Texas
| elevation-f = 1,015
| website =
| coordinates = {{coord|31|04|02|N|097|49|44|W|region:US-TX|display=inline,title}}
| pushpin_map = USA Texas
| pushpin_mapsize = 250
| pushpin_map_caption = Location of airport in Texas
| pushpin_label = GRK
| pushpin_label_position = right
| r1-number = 15/33
| r1-length-f = 10,000
| r1-surface = PEM
| stat-year = 2010
| stat1-header = Aircraft operations
| stat1-data = 12,208
| footnotes = Sources: Airport website[http://www.flykilleen.net/ Killeen–Fort Hood Regional Airport] and FAA{{FAA-airport|ID=GRK|use=PU|own=MR|site=23882.2*A}}. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective May 31, 2012.
}}
Robert Gray Army Airfield {{airport codes|GRK|KGRK|GRK}} is a military joint-use airport that operates alongside Killeen Regional Airport. The airport is based inside the south end of the Fort Cavazos Military Reservation (West Fort Hood), six nautical miles (7 mi, 11 km) southwest of the central business district of Killeen, Texas, in unincorporated Bell County.
As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 232,299 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008,
{{cite web
| url = http://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/passenger_allcargo_stats/passenger/media/cy08_all_enplanements.pdf
| title = Calendar Year 2008 Enplanements By State
|website=Federal Aviation Administration | date = December 17, 2009
}}
231,500 enplanements in 2009, and 243,861 in 2010.
{{cite web
| url = http://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/passenger_allcargo_stats/passenger/media/cy10_all_enplanements.pdf
| title = Passenger Enplanements at all U.S. Airports (CY10)
|website=Federal Aviation Administration | date = October 26, 2011
}}
It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a primary commercial service airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year).{{cite book
|section=Appendix A: List of NPIAS Airports with 5-Year Forecast Activity and Development Cost
|title=National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) Reports
|url=http://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/npias/reports/index.cfm?sect=2011
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027122636/http://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/npias/reports/index.cfm?sect=2011
|archive-date=2012-10-27
|publisher=Federal Aviation Administration
|date=October 4, 2010
}}
History
The base was named after a Killeen native who was a pilot of a B-25 bomber on the famous Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in 1942. He was killed later in World War II flying combat missions.Fort Hood: The Great Place to Call Home, Fort Hood's Official Post Guide, Fort Hood History, page 72. Marcoa Publishing Inc., 2004, under contract with Fort Hood. Editorial content is edited, prepared and provided by the Public Affairs Office of Fort Hood.
Facilities and aircraft
The airport has one runway designated 15/33 with a PEM (Porous European Mix) surface measuring 10,000 by 200 feet (3,048 x 61 m). For the 12-month period ending April 10, 2010, the airport had 12,208 aircraft operations, an average of 33 per day: 98.5% scheduled commercial and 1.5% general aviation.
The base is also served by Yoakum–DeFrenn Army Heliport {{Airport codes|HLR|KHLR|HLR}} and two asphalt auxiliary landing strips used for training at North Fort Hood:
- Shorthorn Aux Landing Strip {{Airport codes|||23XS}} – {{Convert|2130|×|46|ft|m}} (RWY 15 {{Convert|1583|ft|m}} usable, RWY 33 {{Convert|1897|ft|m}} usable) at {{Coord|31.361|-97.673|type:airport_region:US-TX|display=inline}}, elevation {{Convert|720|ft|m}}, magnetic variation 5.1° E{{Cite web |url=https://nfdc.faa.gov/nfdcApps/services/airportLookup/airportDisplay.jsp?airportId=23XS |title=Airport data for Shorthorn Aux Landing Strip |publisher=FAA |date=April 3, 2014 |access-date=April 4, 2014}}{{Cite web |url=http://ourairports.com/airports/23XS/pilot-info.html |title=Pilot Information for Shorthorn Aux Landing Strip |access-date=April 4, 2014 |publisher=OurAirports.com}}
- Longhorn Aux Landing Strip {{Airport codes|||22XS}} – {{Convert|3490|×|75|ft|m}} (unmarked numbers, but same magnetic heading as Shorthorn at 153 degrees) at {{Coord|31.374|-97.667|type:airport_region:US-TX|display=inline}}, elevation {{Convert|720|ft|m}}, magnetic variation 5.1° E{{Cite web |url=https://nfdc.faa.gov/nfdcApps/services/airportLookup/airportDisplay.jsp?airportId=22XS |title=Airport data for Longhorn Aux Landing Strip |publisher=FAA |date=April 3, 2014 |access-date=April 4, 2014}}{{Cite web |url=http://ourairports.com/airports/22XS/pilot-info.html |title=Pilot Information for Longhorn Aux Landing Strip |access-date=April 4, 2014 |publisher=OurAirports.com}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
Other sources
{{refbegin}}
- Freeman, Paul (2008) [https://www.airfieldsfreeman.com/TX/Airfields_TX.htm Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Texas]
- Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. {{ISBN|0-89201-092-4}}.
- Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. {{ISBN|0-912799-12-9}}.
- Thole, Lou (1999), Forgotten Fields of America : World War II Bases and Training, Then and Now - Vol. 2. Publisher: Pictorial Histories Pub, {{ISBN|1-57510-051-7}}
{{refend}}
External links
{{colbegin}}
- [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/robert-gray.htm Robert Gray Army Airfield] at GlobalSecurity.org
- {{cite web|url= http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/avn/airport_directory/grk.pdf |title=Fort Hood / Killeen, Robert Gray AAF (GRK) }} at Texas DOT Airport Directory
- [http://msrmaps.com/map.aspx?t=1&s=12&lat=31.0691&lon=-97.8319&w=900&h=1000&lp=---+None+--- Aerial image as of February 1995] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140224215515/http://msrmaps.com/map.aspx?t=1&s=12&lat=31.0691&lon=-97.8319&w=900&h=1000&lp=---+None+--- |date=2014-02-24 }} from USGS The National Map
- {{FAA-diagram|00906}}
- {{FAA-procedures|GRK}}
{{US-airport-ga|GRK}}
{{colend}}
{{USAAF Training Bases World War II}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robert Gray Army Airfield}}
Category:Buildings and structures in Bell County, Texas
Category:Transportation in Bell County, Texas
Category:Transportation in Coryell County, Texas
Category:Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Texas