So when I first started writing my story, I wrote a whole chapter I intended to use later (something I don't normally do, and I guess this is why) - and now I've gotten to the point where I can insert it, and I don't see the reasoning yet. Fortunately I'm at a point in the story where the reasoning can be inserted, I just... have to come up with said reasoning first. Okay, so my story is about a Second American Civil War. The scene in question is at the Fort Wayne International Airport. The airport is being used as a homeless encampment by displaced refugees. A character, a notable humanitarian, arrives to administer medical aid. While she is there, the Army shows up and tells everyone to leave. After an hour-advance warning, the Army then attacks and captures the airport, of course committing the war crime of attacking what has essentially become a hospital. (if you're thinking "not how they do that" you may normally be correct, but the President is micro-managing the conflict by this point and doesn't care how things are normally done) Problem: I don't know why they need this airport in particular. And the scenario here is flexible because I've been vague about this region of the country so far. I thought when I wrote it they'd want it because of this: But now I realize none of that is particularly uncommon, especially not when military bases are included, which brings back the question - why here? Might this be a small part of a larger strategy? I am open to changing the location, but only if it's about a day or two's drive from Indianapolis (which is where the humanitarian character is from). Is there perhaps a better, more high-priority location suitable for this scene?
Perhaps the battlefront moved. Their military airport got within enemy artillery range and they needed to move their planes away to a safer airport. Or maybe they advanced too far into enemy territory, so they needed to move their planes closer to the battlefront.
This is what I was thinking is the most likely option. At this point in the story there is foreign intervention on the East Coast, so it is likely the government is trying to move materiel westward to keep things from being destroyed or captured.
Hmm... the F-22 Raptor has a roundabout range of 1800 miles, or 900 one-way. Fort Wayne is a bit shy of 700 miles from Quebec, which is where the aforementioned foreign intervention is being staged from. It's mostly a straight line to stay in American airspace the whole way, too. Rochester and Cleveland each have about 9000-foot runways, in addition to Fort Wayne's 11,000-footer. Rickenbacker near Columbus has a 12,000-foot runway. Does this check out: Cleveland and Rochester are selected to become frontline airbases hosting aircraft which can strike enemy staging areas in Quebec and Ontario. Fort Wayne and Rickenbacker are selected to become support or reliever bases for the other two, hosting aerial refueling craft, or for use as a secondary landing site if the frontline bases come under fire.
It's government. They don't need a "reason" for anything. Just say it was a pork project meant to stimulate jobs and leave it at that.
Aside from runway length, what makes this airport different from others in the area? One thought I had for reasoning is the runways could take a heavy plane, such as a c5 galaxy. Which has a max take off weight of 840,000 lbs. That would make it a prime logistics base.
I've written the chapter in question now; what I ended up going with is essentially a modified form of what I said above. NATO has flipped against the USA by this point and is launching attacks across the northern border, and the President orders that the Fort Wayne airport be used as a support base for counter-attacks. It's worked into a larger strategy which also utilizes nearby Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the international airport in Cleveland. F-22s are operated out of a forward base in Cleveland so as not to overwhelm support units at WPAFB, and Fort Wayne is used as a backup base to keep the fighters out of enemy missile/artillery range when not on mission. In other words, I found a way to make this particular airport important enough - due to facilities as well as general geography - to the government that this humanitarian group could paint all the red crosses they want on the ground & they're still gonna get pushed out by force. Which is just what I needed! And it was actually @Le gribouilleur who inspired much of the thought behind this, so thank you!
Not sure on the plot or development of your story, but being a few hours north of Fort Wayne, and working in the logistics field I have hair-brained idea. Assuming that the government is involved with escalating battles with rebel forces in the Detroit and Toledo or Chicago areas, Fort Wayne could be a staging area for troops and supplies for the conflict in that area. Also, Columbus, Ohio or Indianapolis, Indiana. (Actually you could go anything south of I-94 between Chicago and Detroit and the I-70 corridor between the Ohio and Wabash Rivers.) In the sense of a battle in Detroit, the rebels could be trapped. Canadian (possibly NATO and UN, too) forces are camped out on the Canadian side of Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair, Lake Huron, and the Detroit and St. Clair rivers to make sure that rebels don't cross over or try to get resupplied from sympathies or bases in SW Ontario., and to keep the conflict on the US side. Detroit-Windsor is a major international crossing point between US and Canada, so the thought of removing rebels from there and getting commerce flowing again from this strategic point is paramount to government and the economy. Just an idea. Aaron
