ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The Altus Community Partnership Program recently celebrated 10 years of working together to strengthen base and community relations. On Feb. 12, 2014, the city and base signed a charter to establish the partnership program.
The Altus Community Partnership Program recently celebrated 10 years of working together to strengthen base and community relations. On Feb. 12, 2014, the city and base signed a charter to establish the partnership program.
While the primary focus of the partnership revolves around mission readiness, it has also extended to overall family readiness. The working groups the program is comprised of focus on enhancing childcare, military spouse employment, affordable housing, diversity and inclusion, joint use recreational projects, education, water quality and utilities, public relations, cost of living, and the reservoir project.
One of the features of the program are the quarterly P4 - “Public-Public, Public-Private” - meetings. These gatherings serve as an opportunity for the working groups to provide updates on their progress and as inclusive forums for anyone in the community to attend, welcoming individuals who want to foster a sense of community regardless of their background.
The program has celebrated many successes throughout its 10 years including creating a military spouse co-working space downtown, establishing new housing options to assist with housing shortages, upgrading the water treatment facility, getting approval and funding to build a new elementary school on base, and enhancing the Altus reservoir to increase the backup drinking water supply and recreation amenities for the city.
In addition to these achievements, the Altus Community Partnership program was also recognized in 2022 by the former Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr., for their exemplary actions in building strong ties between the City of Altus and Altus Air Force Base.
The program is now looking ahead in hopes of creating a foundation for the future of both the city and the base. The next partnership meeting will be different from a typical P4 meeting. Instead, the group is holding a strategic planning meeting at the Southwest Technology Center in Altus, Oklahoma, Feb. 29, 2024, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The meeting will celebrate 10 years of partnership between the community and Altus Air Force Base, as well as plan what the next 25 years and beyond will look like for the partnership between the base and the city.