Groundbreaking for $152M runway expansion at Selfridge Air Base

Selfridge Air National Guard Base is more than a century old, and with the groundbreaking of a $152 million runway expansion to accommodate promised new fighter jets and refueling tankers, officials say the Macomb County base will continue on for generations to come.

“Michiganders don’t shy away from a challenge. A lot of people were ready to cut the losses and count this base out. Not us. We rolled up our sleeves and got to work, and we wore them out in Washington, DC,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said during the groundbreaking event Wednesday, Oct. 28, on the runway at the Harrison Township base.

“By working as a team, we solidified Michigan’s position at the forefront of national defense. Selfridge is just one way we’re continuing our legacy,” she said, adding: “We built the Arsenal of Democracy during World War II. Today, we’re building the next one.”

Whitmer as well as federal, state and local officials from both political parties celebrated the groundbreaking of the runway, which will support the future F-15EX Eagle II aircraft and KC-46 Pegasus refueling aircraft missions coming to the Macomb County base.

She said Selfridge is a cornerstone to the county’s economy, a vital part of the state’s overall defense industry and a lynchpin to all the other installations across Michigan.

“This is 5,000 military families, drives $850 million in economic impact,” Whitmer said. “So fighting for Selfridge is a mission that should unite all of us: Republicans, Democrats, Independents, everyone.”

She said Selfridge is a cornerstone to the county’s economy, a vital part of the state’s overall defense industry and a lynchpin to all the other installations across Michigan.

“This is 5,000 military families, drives $850 million in economic impact,” Whitmer said. “So fighting for Selfridge is a mission that should unite all of us: Republicans, Democrats, Independents, everyone.”

President Donald Trump promised the new fighter mission during an announcement in April 2025. Air Force One just landed at the base three days ago, when Trump, a Republican, spoke to a crowd in Port Huron.

Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, told those at the groundbreaking that he was with Trump a couple of days ago and that “he was just glowing about this. He was so pleased to hear we’re on track to build the runway, the progress we’re making. That we’re gonna get this done during his term. We’re gonna get those first four fighters here on the base in ’28 while he’s still president.”

Whitmer, a Democrat, approved state funding for runway improvementssought by the federal government in May of this year. Hall said there was no pork in the spending bill for Selfridge, noting that “may never happen again.”

Just over a half-dozen people spoke at a podium in front of a large American flag hanging vertically and waving in the breeze and sunshine. Most of them then donned white hard hats and pristine shovels for the obligatory breaking of ground, in this case dirt inside a long box sitting atop the runway.

County Executive Mark Hackel, a Democrat, said “we are here because everybody came together” to realize the importance of the base for the nation’s economy and defense. He said $1 billion worth work will be done at or around the base in the coming years to accommodate the promised fleet. Also, Hackel said, there will be improvements to Joy Boulevard in Clinton Township, which provided original access to the base.

State Sen. Kevin Hertel, D-St. Clair Shores, said officials are no longer talking about how to preserve the base, but about it becoming a 21st century base.

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul Rogers, adjutant general of the Michigan National Guard and director of the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, said Selfridge is what the Air Force calls the country’s last “superbase” in the Air National Guard — the last wholly-owned and operated Air Force base for the Air National Guard.

“What secures this base is having multiple flying missions,” he said. “So when we were at risk of losing the A-10 and not having a replacement, it compromised our position and it made it harder for us to justify the money needed to operate the facility. Getting that second mission secures this for generations.”More: Whitmer balances support for defense contracts while questioning war

Rogers said the runway will expand 1,000 feet farther to the north. He said in the 1950s and 1960s homes were built along on the south end of the runway and as regulations for the Air Force changed, for safety of flight operations, those homes ended up within in the safety zone.

Rogers said there is vacant land to the north and that the runway can be extended 1,000 feet in that direction on land that Selfridge owns and others it is working to acquire.

He said another $800 million in federal funding is anticipated to come for new hangars for the new, larger aircraft as well as renovations of about a half-dozen other buildings.

Rogers said the first fighter jets, which are in production, are anticipated to arrive at the base in the fourth quarter of 2028.

Rogers reminded event attendees that the base currently has more than 300 people in the Middle East, staying twice as long as a National Guard deployment, and who will not be home for the holidays.

Whitmer repeatedly had called on the federal government to support a fighter mission at the base. She lobbied Trump upon his return to the White House after winning Michigan in the 2024 election. When Trump visited Michigan in April 2025 to announce the mission, Whitmer greeted him with an embrace and recounted later that day in an interview with the Detroit Free Press that he privately gave her credit for her work on Selfridge.

Before the new mission was secured, Selfridge was phasing out A-10 fighter jets, prompting concerns that the base would close. Trump committed 21 F-15EX fighter jets for the base, which also is to receive new refueling tankers.

The runway project is part of broader infrastructure efforts at the base that will include the relocation and reconstruction of part of William P. Rosso Highway between I-94 and Jefferson Avenue.

That work includes roadway realignment, drainage improvements and related infrastructure modifications needed to accommodate the installation’s future requirements and increase separation between future flying operations and surrounding residential areas, according to a news release.

The groundbreaking for that part of the work was in August and is expected to cost about $38 million, officials said. The work, which has started, is to include constructing a roundabout at Town Center Boulevard, relocating drainage infrastructure and the Irwin Drain, constructing concrete box culverts and completing pavement markings.

The news release said the 127th Wing is to transition from the A-10 Thunderbolt II to the F-15EX Eagle II and from the KC-135 Stratotanker to the KC-46 Pegasus over the next five to seven years.

Source: Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter