The Laughlin AFB guide

• Del Rio International (DRT) is on the west side of town, about 20 minutes from the West Gate, served by American Eagle regional jets from DFW (roughly 90 minutes). Rental cars are on site but the fleet is small — reserve before you fly. Most people drive: San Antonio (SAT) is about 150 miles east on US-90, call it 2.5–3 hours, and the road is two-lane for stretches, so avoid it at night when deer are out.
• The West Gate on State Loop 79 is the main gate and the North Gate sits directly off US-90; the base housing site lists both as 24/7, but access at the North Gate can be restricted to DoD ID holders, so confirm current gate status on laughlin.af.mil before arrival.
• The Visitor Control Center is Building 7002, in front of the main gate, open Monday–Friday 7 a.m.–4 p.m. and closed weekends; call 830-298-5349 to confirm. Bring a REAL ID-compliant license, registration and proof of insurance; sponsors handle passes for guests without a DoD ID, and arriving after hours without one means waiting for the VCC to open.
• Traffic is minimal except at the morning and afternoon shift changes on US-90 and Loop 79, and Border Patrol checkpoints are a fact of life on every highway out of Del Rio — US-90 east toward Uvalde and US-277 north toward Sonora. Keep your ID handy and budget a few minutes.

• No on-base school. Children in Laughlin Family Housing attend San Felipe Del Rio CISD, and the district buses to the base — confirm routes with the School Liaison before you sign a lease.
• San Felipe Del Rio CISD is the main district (roughly 10,000 students, one high school) and a Texas Purple Star district; Buena Vista Elementary, Ceniza Hills Elementary, Roberto 'Bobby' Barrera STEM Magnet Elementary, Del Rio Middle School and Del Rio Freshman all hold the Purple Star designation. Brackett ISD and Comstock ISD serve the outlying communities, and Sacred Heart Catholic, St. James Episcopal and Bible Way Christian are the private options.
• School Liaison: Building 362 on Mitchell Boulevard, 830-298-4788 or 830-703-0795, 47fss.fsy.slo@us.af.mil. Call before you arrive for enrollment paperwork and the current bus schedule.
• The Laughlin Child Development Center takes ages six weeks through five years, and the youth center covers school-age care. Space is tight at UPT class starts — request care on MilitaryChildCare.com as soon as you have orders.

• 47th Medical Group, 590 Mitchell Boulevard (Building 375), is an outpatient clinic: family health, flight medicine, dental, pharmacy, optometry and mental health. No emergency room and no inpatient beds — get the appointment-line number and hours from laughlin.tricare.mil, and use the Nurse Advice Line (1-800-TRICARE) after hours.
• Emergencies go to Val Verde Regional Medical Center, 801 N. Bedell Avenue in Del Rio — a 93-bed hospital with a 16-bed, 24/7 Level IV trauma ER about 10 miles from the base (830-775-8566). Anything beyond that gets flown or driven to San Antonio, so know your Prime referral rules.
• Texas moved to the TRICARE West Region on January 1, 2025; the contractor is TriWest Healthcare Alliance (tricare.triwest.com). Prime enrollees are assigned to the 47th MDG; families on Select use civilian providers in Del Rio.

Commissary

Building 352 on 5th Street — groceries, deli and Click2Go pickup, open every day of the week with short Monday hours; check commissaries.com for the current schedule.

Exchange

Main Exchange in Building 540 on Arnold Boulevard (830-298-2111), open seven days, plus the Laughlin Express shoppette and gas station from 6 a.m. weekdays.

Fitness

Losano Fitness Center, Building 362 on Mitchell Boulevard — 24/7 access for ID-card holders 18 and over, with The Grounds Cafe coffee shop inside; the indoor pool keeps weekday-only hours.

Dining

Silver Wings on the second floor of the Ops building (weekdays 7–4), Cactus Lanes Grill at the bowling center (open until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday), the XL Eats food truck across from the gym on weeknights, and Club XL for lunch and events.

MWR

Outdoor Recreation rents boats, kayaks and camping gear for Lake Amistad, and the base runs the Southwinds Marina and FamCamp on the lake about 20 miles out; ITT sells San Antonio and Sea World tickets.

Newcomers

• Newcomers' Orientation is mandatory — pre-register with the Military & Family Readiness Center at 830-298-5620, which also hosts a virtual 'Looking Forward to Laughlin' brief the first Tuesday of each month.
• The Fiesta of Flight open house and air show returns each spring.

1. 01The heat is the hazard — 100°F days run June through September and the sun is brutal at 1,000 feet elevation. Pack a sunshade for the car, hydrate like a pilot, and schedule outdoor PT before 8 a.m.
2. 02Flash floods are real on the Rio Grande and San Felipe Creek: US-90 and Loop 79 low-water crossings close in heavy rain, and Del Rio flooded badly in 1998. Never drive through water over the road.
3. 03Book Laughlin Manor the day your orders drop — the 60-day window opens before most people think about it, and class starts fill the Manor and Del Rio's hotels at the same time.
4. 04Expect a Border Patrol checkpoint on every highway leaving town; a valid ID and a calm answer keep the stop under a minute. Don't take a rental across the bridge unless the contract allows it.
5. 05Rental cars at DRT sell out during class starts and holidays. Reserve early or fly into San Antonio and drive; US-90 is two-lane with heavy deer traffic after dark.
6. 06Students in on-base housing get the shortest commute on any UPT base; if you want off base, the Buena Vista/Ceniza Hills subdivisions rent fast at each class start, so start looking 60 days out.
7. 07The CDC waitlist runs longest in late summer and January. Request care on MilitaryChildCare.com as soon as you have orders and ask the School Liaison about the base bus routes.
8. 08Grocery runs: the base commissary has short Monday hours and H-E-B on Veterans Boulevard is the town's only full grocery store, so plan a weekly run and keep the kitchen stocked — dining options after 8 p.m. are thin.

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