[Scan-DC] FBI leases RIC space

[RICHARD ROWLAND]

FBI quick-response team leases RIC space

 FILE/TIMES-DISPATCH

The FBI has signed a lease to take over part of the former Virginia Air 
National Guard facility on the far side of Richmond International Airport.

By Peter Bacque
Published: January 27, 2010

The FBI's quick-reaction aviation team has landed in Richmond. The federal 
law-enforcement agency is leasing part of the former Air National Guard base 
at Richmond International Airport for aviation operations of its Critical 
Incident Response Group.

"We're very excited to have the FBI as a tenant of the Richmond 
International Airport," Jon Mathiasen, the airport's president and CEO, said 
yesterday. "They'll bring commerce to the field by buying fuel and other 
services," Mathiasen said. "And we look forward to a long, mutually 
beneficial relationship with the FBI."

With personnel on-call around the clock, seven days a week, the FBI's 
incident-response group facilitates the agency's reaction to crises, 
including aviation support. The Capital Region Airport Commission signed a 
five-year lease with the federal law-enforcement agency for the 8-acre site, 
with options to extend for up to 15 years beyond the first five-year period. 
The FBI will pay $1 million a year in rent for the property, which includes 
a hangar and operations building. The commission says the rent reflects 
market rates.

Richmond International, Mathiasen said, offers the FBI room for expansion, 
runways large enough to accommodate heavy aircraft, less congested airspace, 
and proximity to the Washington area. The FBI operation also brings 25 new 
jobs to the region, Mathiasen said: "We anticipate that number will grow 
over time."

RIC also is putting in additional security fencing for the FBI's lease, he 
said, and the FBI will reimburse the airport for the work. Without 
elaboration, the FBI confirmed the aviation operation's location at Richmond 
International Airport.
Part of the Quantico-based incident-response group's Operations Support 
Branch coordinates logistical matters for the FBI's rapid-deployment team 
program, including transportation and airlift requirements. The FBI will 
have two large jet transports, a Boeing 727 and a Boeing 737, at RIC.

As part of the crisis group's mission, FBI negotiators deploy overseas to 
assist in the management of kidnapping situations involving U.S. citizens. 
The FBI handles negotiations for the U.S. government in international 
incidents. Since 1990, the FBI crisis negotiators have deployed to more than 
100 such incidents worldwide.
Though the Virginia Air National Guard still has a small presence at the 
airport, its 192nd Fighter Wing moved to Langley Air Force Base in Hampton 
in 2007, taking about 300 jobs with it.
"We hope the FBI continues to grow and maximizes [the use of] their lease 
area," Mathiasen said.