Federal,State,and Local Property Transfer Efforts

摘要

IN 1916,The United States War Department acquired approximately 1,310 acres [530 hectares] from several farmers in southeast Bexar County,Texas,and created Brooks Air Force Base to train pilots to fly.The base was established south of the city of San Antonio in a predominantly agricultrual region.Today,the base is located immediately south of the main downtown business district of San Antonio (Figure 1) and is surrounded by single - family dwellings,small businesses and light industry.In the early 1960s,flying operations ceased at Brooks,yet the base retained much of its World War II-era infrastructure (including its more than 500 acres [200 hectares] of raw land) and high operating costs.By the late 1990s,the nature of Brooks' missions,many of which were administrative,or oriented to R&D and medical training,no longer required the Air Force to own and operate the entire base.