Dear New Member,

Welcome to Goodfellow Air Force Base Fire Emergency Services. We know that you must have many questions concerning your appointment, so we will try to answer some of them here.

Goodfellow Air Force Base is in San Angelo, Texas, and is located about 210 miles northwest of San Antonio, Texas, and about 250 miles southwest of Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. Major motor routes leading into San Angelo are U.S. Highway 277, which runs north to south; U.S. Highway 67, which runs northeast to southwest. Goodfellow is located on the southeastern corner of San Angelo and has two major gates; the Jacobson Gate, FM 1223 or Chadbourne Street, and the North Gate on paint Rock Road. Traffic signs on the major roads and highways will point the direction to the base.

Those flying into San Angelo will arrive at Mathis Field, located about 10 miles from the base on Knickerbocker Road. There are a number of rental car and taxi cab services available at Mathis Field. Military flights to Goodfellow are not possible because there is no active runway on the base.

San Angelo and Goodfellow are united communities and share many common goals. The residents see every member of Goodfellow as a partner in the community and they are treated as such. The primary mission of Goodfellow is entrenched in the defense of the United States by providing combat ready intelligence, firefighter, technical applications specialist and permanent party Airmen to combatant commanders. Training is our business, war is our mission. But outside of training many members of Goodfellow work to improve their local community.

The population on Goodfellow is approximately 6,532 during the day and the nighttime population is approximately 2,869. Goodfellow Air Force Base is composed of 1,079 acres of land and basic use mainly consists of business, residential, and light industrial areas. Goodfellow Air Force Base also has nearly 258 acres of undeveloped area.

San Angelo’s population is approximately 93,000 and is at an elevation of 1,900 feet. San Angelo is located the northern boundary of the Chihuahuan desert, and our proximity to rivers and lakes provide brilliant blue skies and a very pleasant climate. With 3 lakes and 2 rivers flowing through the city, San Angelo has an average morning humidity of 79% which drops to a comfortable average of 44% in the afternoons. Temperatures do reach in the 100's during the summer, but low humidity in the 15% to 25% range keeps the “heat index” down. Snow and sleet are not common, but will occur once or twice each year. From an employer’s standpoint, there are no lost work days because of winter. The average annual temperature is 64.9 degrees, with average highs of 78.1, and lows of 51.6. San Angelo receives 251 days of sunshine each year, and the average rainfall is 20.45 inches.

More than 100 years ago, mild temperatures, wide-open spaces, abundant water and tree-lined rivers marked the Concho Valley as a good place to live and lured settlers from far and wide. Today, all of those factors and many more provide the area with a national reputation for its quality of life. In a 2006 survey conducted by Southern Living Travel and Vacation Readers Choice, San Angelo was listed as one of the top 10 cities to visit and referred to as the “Jewel of West Texas.” The survey highlighted the diversity of fine dining, San Angelo’s Museum of Fine Arts with its astonishing 20th century ceramics collections, Buffalo Soldiers history and special events at Fort Concho, home of the Concho Pearl, and the cities own brands of Western buckles and accessories. In addition, a cost of living index measured San Angelo’s low housing cost (20 percent below national average) as a determining factor in creating a cost of living that is 80 percent of the national average

While San Angelo is considered an oasis in this part of Texas, its lower humidity, mild temperatures and clean air provide an excellent environment for outdoor living and recreation. Within the city, there are over 480 acres of public parks complemented by walking and jogging paths, botanical gardens, sports fields, tennis courts, golf courses, pedestrian bridges, the River Stage and even an international water lily display. The surrounding area is a sportsman paradise with whitetail deer, wild turkey, javelins and a variety of game birds.

The Goodfellow Fire Department is comprised of a single fire station built in the early 1990s. The department’s approximate staffing includes 36 firefighters and 5 emergency communication center dispatchers all of which are Department of Defense civilian employees. Assigned apparatus include two P-24 structural vehicles, one P-32 rescue vehicle, two command and control vehicles, hazardous materials trailer, mobile air compressor, and a specialized technical rescue trailer.

We hope we have answered some of your questions, but if there is anything we can do to make your transition easier, please let us know using the contact information below:

17 CES/CEF

112 E. Vance Street

Goodfellow AFB, Texas 76908-4104

Comm.: (325) 654-3532, DSN 477-3532

Fax: (325) 654-5079, DSN 477-5079

Again, Welcome to Goodfellow Air Force Base, Fire Emergency Services