Shooting ranges One of the biggest problems with extending the runway into Fort Bragg involves the shooting ranges and the impact areas. Extending the runway 4,000 feet into Fort Bragg would take airplanes dangerously close to the 10,000-acre MacRidge Danger Area south of Longstreet Road. That would require the shooting ranges either to be moved or shut down when an airplane comes or goes. If you take away the impact area, you take away the ability for the force to train or you have to look to move the impact area someplace else,'' Kernan said. Land is precious.
Training area is limited.
We do not want to create any more impact areas than we already have right now. Any loss of the impact area would have a critical impact on readiness. We can ill afford that.'' The longer runway is more important as the Army gets bigger equipment and the Air Force gets bigger airplanes, Kernan said. It becomes more important in summer when hotter temperatures decrease the efficiency of airplanes, he said. Some people have argued that it doesn't matter if airplanes take off with less than a full load of fuel because the airplanes always are refueled in flight by tankers for long trips.