By Fort Leonard Wood Public Affairs
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (November 19, 2024) — Leaders from Fort Leonard Wood, St. Robert and Waynesville broke ground Nov. 15 on a new terminal for the Waynesville Saint Robert Regional Airport located on the installation’s Forney Airfield.
According to Waynesville Mayor Sean Wilson, the $19-million project will feature a new 9,000-square-foot terminal that will facilitate 50 passengers.
“Today marks a significant milestone for our community and not just for this airport but for our entire region,” Wilson said. “This is going to change the course of our region … with St. Robert, of course Waynesville and Fort Leonard Wood working together to make sure that we can facilitate the necessities for our community and our region.”
Maj. Gen. Christopher Beck, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood commanding general, agreed and said the groundbreaking for the new terminal “is a big deal.”
“This is really important to this installation and it’s really important to this region,” Beck said.
The community leaders and organizations involved “had an incredible vision – the vision for the growth of this area and the value that this airport would bring to it,” Beck said.
The Waynesville Saint Robert Regional Airport operates on Fort Leonard Wood’s Forney Airfield, which according to Beck, is only one of 21 joint-use airfields throughout the Department of Defense.
“That speaks to the relationship this installation and the surrounding communities have together in everything we do,” Beck said.
St. Robert Mayor Pro Tem John Moore’s remarks kept with the theme of the region’s partnership.
“Someone once said it takes a village, well, we have found that to be true in regard to the work that has gone on to get us to where we are today,” Moore said. “From a trailer to this new facility that is soon to begin, many thanks to our partners, civilian, military, state and federal alike. This has truly been a collaborative effort.”
During the last several years, city officials said there has been “extensive collaboration” around the airport, which has included Fort Leonard Wood, the cities of Waynesville and St. Robert, the state of Missouri, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Contour Airlines provides commercial air service for the Waynesville Saint Robert Regional Airport on Fort Leonard Wood to and from Chicago and Dallas. Last year, the airline serviced about 11,000 passengers, city officials said.
“This reflects a positive sign for our area as more and more folks are taking advantage of what the airport offers,” Moore said. “Flights to and from Chicago and Dallas offer travelers quick, easy and safe access to the installation and the surrounding area. Not only that, it gets them to major hubs for travel around the country. This contributes greatly to the area’s quality of life.”
More information about the Waynesville Saint Robert Regional Airport can be found here.
To view more photos from the groundbreaking event visit Fort Leonard Wood’s Flickr page.
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About Fort Leonard Wood
Fort Leonard Wood is a thriving and prosperous installation that has evolved from a small basic training post more than 75 years ago to a premier Army Center of Excellence that trains more than 80,000 military and civilians each year.
Fort Leonard Wood is home to the U.S Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and three U.S. Army schools: the U.S. Army Engineer School; U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School; and the U.S. Army Military Police School. In addition to training engineer, CBRN and military police specialties for the Army, Fort Leonard Wood also provides gender-integrated in-processing and Basic Combat Training for new Soldiers.
Fort Leonard Wood also hosts and trains with the largest Marine Corps Detachment and Air Force Squadron on any Army installation as well as a large Navy construction detachment.