Bunting envisions the Salina center as the state’s largest, building on existing facilities at the Smoky Hill National Guard range, where aircraft have trained for years. With adjacent controlled airspace near Fort Riley, the military could expand its training capability to conduct air operations in 4 million acres of open Kansas skies.

Brig. Gen. Ed Flora, commander of the Air National Guard, said the state already has an agreement with Fort Riley for joint training operations. Last year, the 4th Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division trained at the Smoky Hill site before it went to Iraq. The brigade sent 2,000 soldiers to the range to work on coordinating air and ground support.

The Smoky Hill site, which includes 36,000 acres on the ground, plus two adjoining controlled air spaces, is 60 miles southwest of Fort Riley.

“It provides realistic training, and it can be ongoing realistic training,” Flora said. “We call it the intersection of air and ground power coming together. It is a unique arrangement.”

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On the Net:

Adjutant general’s department: www.accesskansas.org/ksadjutantgeneral

Governor’s office: http://www.ksgovernor.org