Dozens of US commercial airports share their airfields with active military units. The FAA recognizes 21 joint-use airports where the military owns the airfield and civilian airlines operate under an agreement, and approximately 65 shared-use airports where the civilian authority owns the field and military units maintain a presence as tenants. The arrangements range from Air National Guard fighter wings operating from a corner of a major hub to active duty Air Force wings sharing runways with commercial carriers at joint bases. In most cases, the military and civilian operations share the same runway system but maintain separate ramp areas, terminals, and ground infrastructure.

The five airports in this article represent a cross-section of how military and commercial aviation coexist on a single airfield. They include an American Airlines hub where C-17 strategic airlifters park alongside regional jets, a joint base where the civilian terminal operates on military-owned runways, a commercial airport that shares its field with the headquarters of Pacific Air Forces, and two airports where Air National Guard units have been flying from the same tarmac since the 1930s and 1940s.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport

145th Airlift Wing, C-17 Globemaster III

Credit: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) is the sixth busiest airport in the United States and American Airlines’ second-largest hub, handling over 50 million passengers per year. On the east side of the airport, occupying 79 acres and 41 buildings totaling approximately 330,000 square feet (30,658 sq m), sits Charlotte Air National Guard Base, home to the North Carolina Air National Guard’s 145th Airlift Wing.

The 145th operates eight C-17 Globemaster III strategic airlifters from the same airport complex that American Airlines, Frontier, Southwest Airlines, and JetBlue use for commercial service. The unit transitioned to the C-17 in 2018 after more than four decades flying the C-130 Hercules, a conversion that required more than 30 construction projects and over $1 billion in infrastructure investment including ramp expansions, a new simulator facility, and a fuel-cell hangar. The C-17s were transferred from active duty wings at Joint Base Charleston and Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The 145th completed its first C-17 combat deployment in September 2025, when 164 airmen returned from a 90-day rotation in the Middle East supporting airlift operations. The unit uses the call sign “EPIC,” adopted in tribute to the Wright Brothers’ first flight at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina in 1903. For passengers departing CLT on a commercial flight, the most visible sign of the military presence is the C-17s parked on the ANG ramp on the east side of the airfield.

Charleston International Airport

Joint Base Charleston, 437th Airlift Wing, C-17 Globemaster III

Credit: Shutterstock

Charleston International Airport (CHS) is one of the few airports in the country where the military does not occupy a corner of a civilian airfield. It is the other way around. The civilian airport operates under a joint-use agreement with Joint Base Charleston, sharing the base’s two runways, taxiway system, and air traffic control services. The Charleston County Aviation Authority runs its own passenger terminal and civilian ramp on the west side of the field, but the runways belong to the military. Every commercial departure and arrival at CHS takes place on infrastructure owned and operated by the Department of Defense.

Joint Base Charleston is home to the 437th Airlift Wing and the 315th Airlift Wing (Air Force Reserve), which together operate one of the largest concentrations of C-17 Globemaster IIIs in the Air Force. The 437th is an active duty unit under Air Mobility Command and serves as a primary hub for strategic airlift, moving troops, equipment, and humanitarian cargo worldwide. The base also supports the 628th Air Base Wing, which provides installation management for both the Air Force and Navy elements of the joint base. Charleston’s position on the Atlantic coast makes it a frequent departure point for airlift missions to Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

On the civilian side, Charleston has grown rapidly. The airport handled over 6.1 million passengers in 2023 and has become a focus city for Breeze Airways alongside service from American, Delta, United, Southwest, and JetBlue. Boeing also operates its 787 Dreamliner final assembly facility adjacent to the airfield.

Nashville International Airport

118th Wing, Berry Field Base

Credit: Nashville International Airport

Nashville International Airport’s (BNA) military history is embedded in its name. The airport opened in June 1937 as Berry Field, named after Works Progress Administration administrator Colonel Harry S. Berry, and the Tennessee Air National Guard’s 105th Observation Squadron moved onto the field that same year. The airport’s IATA code BNA, which stands for Berry Field Nashville, is a remnant of the original name that the civilian airport stopped using decades ago but that the military facilities on the airfield never did. The military enclave is now designated Joint Base Berry Field.

The 118th Wing, Tennessee Air National Guard, has operated from the airfield continuously since 1937, making it one of the longest unbroken military tenancies at any US commercial airport. The unit has flown F-47 Thunderbolts, F-51 Mustangs, C-130 Hercules transports, and trained international military pilots on the C-130 as a formal training unit. In its current configuration, the 118th operates MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft. The Tennessee Army National Guard’s 1/230th Air Cavalry Squadron also operates UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters from the base. Approximately 1,500 personnel are assigned across both units.

Nashville International Airport has grown into one of the fastest-expanding commercial airports in the United States, serving 99 destinations, including British Airways’ service to London Heathrow. The airport covers 4,555 acres (18.4 sq km) with four runways and averages roughly 600 aircraft movements per day. The military and civilian operations share the runway system but operate from separate areas of the airfield, with Joint Base Berry Field occupying the east side of the airport.

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport

Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam

Credit: Honolulu International Airport

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) in Honolulu shares its runway system, IATA code, and ICAO identifier with Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, the merged installation combining the former Hickam Air Force Base and Naval Station Pearl Harbor. Hickam Air Force Base was established in 1935 on land adjacent to what was then John Rodgers Airport. On December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft bombed Hickam alongside Pearl Harbor, killing 189 people and wounding 303.

The base was rebuilt and served as the primary Pacific air logistics hub through the Second World War, earning the nickname “America’s Bridge Across the Pacific.” That role continued through the Korean and Vietnam Wars and persists today. Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam is home to the 15th Wing (active duty), the 154th Wing of the Hawaii Air National Guard, and the headquarters of Pacific Air Forces, the command responsible for all US Air Force operations across the Indo-Pacific region. Over 19,000 active duty service members are assigned to the installation.

HNL is the busiest airport in Hawaii, handling over 20 million passengers annually. Passengers on a commercial flight departing Honolulu are using an airfield that also serves as the forward headquarters for US air power projection across the largest geographic combatant command in the world.

Pittsburgh International Airport

171st Air Refueling Wing, KC-135 Stratotanker

Credit: US Air Force

The Pennsylvania Air National Guard has maintained a presence at Pittsburgh’s airport since 1947, when the 146th and 147th Fighter Squadrons were established at what was then Greater Pittsburgh Airport with P-47 Thunderbolt fighters. The unit transitioned through several aircraft types and missions over the following decades before being redesignated as the 171st Air Refueling Wing in 1972. It received its first KC-135 Stratotankers in 1977 and has operated the type from Pittsburgh ever since. The wing currently has 16 KC-135T Stratotankers assigned, each capable of carrying 200,000 pounds (90,718 kg) of fuel and transferring over 700 gallons per minute to receiving aircraft through the boom system mounted beneath the tail.

The 171st’s mission is aerial refueling for US, NATO, and allied aircraft during combat, training, and mobility operations. On a typical flying day, the wing launches four to six tankers. On October 25, 2022, it launched ten in a single day, one of the busiest on record, with crews supporting missions ranging from B-2 Spirit stealth bomber refueling to troop transport to Southeast Asia. On September 11, 2001, the 171st scrambled its only flyable KC-135 within minutes of the first attack to refuel fighter aircraft flying combat air patrols over the eastern United States, with United Flight 93 crashing roughly 80 miles (129 km) southeast of the base later that morning. The wing employs approximately 1,400 personnel and contributes an annual economic impact of over $56 million to the region.

Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) is also home to the 911th Airlift Wing, an Air Force Reserve unit operating C-17 Globemaster IIIs. Between the 171st and the 911th, PIT hosts both tanker and strategic airlift operations alongside its commercial service from Southwest, American, Delta, United, Spirit, and other carriers. Passengers departing PIT can see KC-135 tankers and C-17 cargo jets parked on the military ramp across the airfield from the civilian terminal.