TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Tinker Air Force Base welcomed mayors for the second Tinker Mayors Group tour.
The tour held Oct. 2, centered around Tinker's expansion, employment opportunities, and the ways Oklahoma communities can support the growing mission.
“Tinker is the largest single site employer in Oklahoma, and developing a high performing workforce is one of our priorities,” said Brig. Gen. Brian R. Moore, commander of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex. “We [the OC-ALC] employ over 9,000 Oklahomans. We are growing, and we need the talent in your communities to support our growing mission.”
Collaborating with community leaders is essential to finding a solution to support current and future workload. A few of the visiting mayors shared their thoughts on the future growth of Tinker and the importance Tinker has to the local community.
For this tour, the mayors received a brief of the OC-ALC mission and a comprehensive tour inside the OC-ALC facilities in addition to the new hangars at the KC-46 campus. Previously the group visited the 72nd Air Base Wing for a base-wide tour to familiarize the mayors with Tinker’s numerous missions.
“Tinker is in our backyard, it’s part of our DNA,” said David Bennett, mayor of the city of The Village. “This [the mayors’ group] gives us the opportunity to share [with our communities] what we’ve seen and the impact Tinker has on not only Oklahoma City, but regionally.”
“Understanding the future needs are opportunities for us to partner with municipalities to keep people aware of what’s available here at Tinker,” said Melodie Moore, vice mayor of the city of The Village. “Especially understanding Tinker is one of our largest employers and their needs funnel through our municipalities. Our abilities to let people know the projected needs are for the future, every municipality can be a part of that.”
The Tinker Mayors Group aims to connect the base with city mayors from across the state of Oklahoma, focusing on pivotal opportunities that can be solved through fostering community partnerships.