More than Stealth

New Mexico Business Journal, August, 2000 by Ivan Chavez

The federal government is a huge factor in the area's economy, which doesn't impede private-sector development efforts. They're under way.

The man working on his yard turns and sees the plane zoom across the horizon, its engine roaring. The plane makes a turn, and heads back toward base. The man shrugs and continues his yardwork nonchalantly. Anyone else would have been impressed, even surprised, to see the fearsome F-117A Nighthawk, the Stealth fighter, in the airspace above his home, but this is Alamogordo. This is the home of the Stealth, and sightings are commonplace.

Alamogordo's roots go back further than this high-tech fighter, however. Named for the large cottonwoods that grow there, the town was founded in 1898 as a terminal for the railroad. The community promoted the growth of logging, tourism and health-related enterprises, and the area quickly became known for its healthful climate. Its high elevation and proximity to the Sacramento Mountains make the area's climate more moderate than other desert areas. It still is known for its ideal climate of warm days and cool nights but its economy has changed dramatically since the railroad days.

The largest employer in the area, by far, is Holloman Air Force Base. Three squadrons regularly fly the Stealth above the city and three other squadrons fly the F4E-Phantom II, the T-38 A Talon and the HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter, all of which are a part of the 49th Fighter Wing. The 46th Test Group, also based at Holloman, manages a ten mile-long, high-speed test track that is the longest, most precisely and best-instrumented track in the world. The 46th also operates a Global Positioning Systems test bed, a radar signature test platform, and is currently developing a Magnetic Levitation (MagLev) track.

The 9,200-acre base, located just south of Alamogordo, employs close to 4,700 military personnel and a civilian work force of 900. The fiscal year 1999 payroll was more than $180 million. Holloman also houses the German Air Force Flying Training Center. The center trains German pilots in the operation of the Phantom F4F and Tornado fighter aircraft. The group consists of approximately 628 military personnel plus 1,500 family members, according to Colonel Klaus Brandel, the personnel staff officer for the German contingent.

The German group expects to expand to 800 military personnel plus their dependents by next year. Its current $110 million expansion project at Holloman should be complete by The summer of 2001. Since all of the Germans live off base, their economic impact is measured beyond what they spend on Holloman. Colonel Brandel estimates that his unit spends close to $3 million a month in the area. It's estimated that our people spend close to $3 million a month in the area.

White Sands Missile Range, located approximately 47 miles from Alamogordo, is the area's second largest employer. As the second largest overland missile resting range in the world, the range was the birthplace of the U.S. rocket program in the 1940s. The range is the testing site for the reusable rocket program and is used by the Department of Defense, Holloman and Army personnel from Fort Bliss near El Paso. Numerous air defense systems such as the Patriot and the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) are tested there regularly.

The range covers two million acres and in FY97 employed 330 military, 2,700 federal civilians and 3,000 contractor employees. An estimated 13 percent of those employees lived in Otero Counry. The combined payroll for all three groups was a staggering $530 million in the last fiscal year. The range spent almost $170 million in the local area for goods and services.

The city of Alamogordo is closely linked to Holloman and White Sands. The two bases represent a combined military-civilian annual payroll of more than $200 million and an economic impact of more than $450 million to the local economy.

The local health care industry benefits from the military's presence as well. The Gerald Champion Medical Center was built partially with funds designated by the federal government as Holloman's share of the cost. By allowing military doctors privileges at GCMC, the need for a full-time hospital on base has been eliminated. The $32 million 131,000 sq. ft. facility has been built in the "medical mall concept" to provide medical care that focuses on outpatient services. Patients have almost immediate access to as much as 90 percent of the services they need after they enter the hospital lobby.

Although it doesn't bring in as much money as the military, tourism is a very important aspect of the economy of Alamogordo. The White Sands National Monument, and the International Space Hall of Fame attracted more than 630,000 people in 1999. Alamogordo is a major passageway to the Sacramento Mountains for west Texas residents. Between 18,000 and 20,000 vehicles traveled Alamogordo's main thoroughfare, White Sands Boulevard, according to a recent average daily traffic count.

The mountain village of Cloudcroft with its lodge resort is a major tourist attraction, and gaming at the nearby Mescalero Apache resort, Inn of the Mountain Gods, and Ruidoso Downs also create a large tourist draw within a one-hour radius of Alamogordo. The annual White Sands Balloon Festival, held in mid-September, attracts an estimated 20,000 visitors over three days.