Military Community Planning

In 2014, Benchmark and their partners, White & Smith and Marstel-Day, developed a Joint Land Use Study for Fort Gregg-Adams (formerly Fort Lee) in Prince George County, Virginia. The study was developed in coordination with the installation, along with the cities of Petersburg, Hopewell, and Colonial Heights, the counties of Prince George, Chesterfield, and Dinwiddie, and the Crater Planning District Commission.

The Joint Land Use Study identifies ways the military and civilian communities surrounding Fort Gregg-Adams can continue its military missions, while helping the region's economy continue to move forward and prosper. The study goals included encouraging cooperative land use planning between the military installation and the neighboring jurisdictions so that future civilian growth and development are compatible with the training and operational missions of the installation, identifying strategies to reduce the operational impacts of military training activities on adjacent lands, reducing the environmental impacts of military operations, promoting communication and cooperation between the civilian population and the military, and protecting the health and safety of the civilian population living around the post.

In 2019, the City of Jacksonville, Arkansas contracted with White & Smith, LLC and Benchmark Planning to develop a Joint Land Use Study for the Little Rock Air Force Base. The Joint Land Use Study is important to the entire region impacted by the Little Rock Air Force Base (AFB) operations – including its over $1.2 billion annual economic impact. The study encouraged local governments, together with the state, to work closely with the AFB to implement measures that promote compatible development in the areas surrounding the installation, but also to preserve and enhance the public health, safety, and welfare of those living and working nearby. The three primary objectives of the plan included to increase awareness, encourage collaboration, and maintain land use compatibility.

Benchmark, in association with White & Smith, completed the first Joint Land Use Study for the Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri region. Fort Leonard Wood is a 62,911 acre military base located in Pulaski County, Missouri, two miles south of Interstate 44. Fort Leonard Wood is home to the U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center (MANSCEN), where soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors, and international students from allied nations receive training. The Mission of MANSCEN is to provide the nation with value-based individuals, leaders, and teams trained in basic combat skills including chemical, engineer, military police and transportation disciplines.

Benchmark, along with partners White & Smith and Marstel-Day, completed the 2015 Joint Land Use Study for Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. The Air Station is transitioning from F/A-18 aircraft to the F-35B, which is projected to produce new noise zone contours for the region.

In 2016, Benchmark and its partners White & Smith, and Marstel-Day completed a Joint Land Use Study for Fort Cavazos (formerly Fort Hood) that was sponsored by the City of Killeen, TX. The study partners included the cities of Killeen, Copperas Cove, Gatesville, Harker Heights, Nolanville, Lampasas, Temple and Belton; the counties of Bell and Coryell; Fort Cavazos; and the Heart of Texas Defense Alliance. The primary focus of the study is an evaluation of the compatibility of land use and development activity in civilian communities with air and ground operations, training, testing, and power projection missions conducted at Fort Cavazos. The goal of the study was to identify ways that Fort Cavazos and the neighboring civilian communities can work together cooperatively to encourage compatible growth and help to ensure the long term viability and sustainability of the military's mission. 

Benchmark Planning participated on a team led by White & Smith LLC to prepare a Joint Land Use Study for Grissom Air Reserve Base, located near the town of Bunker Hill in Miami County, Indiana. The base is home to the Air Force Reserve’s 434th Air Refueling Wing, with two operational squadrons flying 16 KC-135 tanker aircraft. The study, which was sponsored by the Miami County Economic Development Authority, examined land use compatibility around the installation with aircraft operations at the base, including aircraft noise, accident potential, and tall structures. The results of the study will be used to make recommendations for the local governments in the study area to enhance their local land use plans and ordinances to ensure long term compatibility between civilian development in the region and the military mission of Grissom ARB. The study also examined the potential compatibility impacts of the future conversion of the wing’s current KC-135 aircraft to the new KC-46 tankers that are being acquired to replace the Air Force’s legacy tanker fleet.