By PAMELA GOULD

Stafford Regional Airport has been selected to host the next Force Protection Equipment Demonstration, a biennial Defense Department event expected to bring 10,000 people to the county.

A contract has not been finalized nor has the Airport Authority officially voted on the proposal. But officials involved with the planning expect details to be worked out successfully for the August 2007 event.

The Force Protection Equipment Demonstration, known in military circles as "FPED," could pump about $3 million dollars into the local economy, said Bob Carter, Stafford County's assistant director of economic development.

The event brings vendors from around the world who display and demonstrate the latest technology for protecting military personnel, law enforcement, corrections employees and emergency responders.

FPED is held every two years and, until now, was held at Quantico Marine Corps Base. The Defense Department initiated the event in 1997 in response to the death of U.S. personnel in the previous year's bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia.

The event has outgrown the air facility at Quantico and the Defense Department is considering making Stafford its permanent home, James A. Suarez, project leader for FPED, said this week.

Stafford's airport facility was chosen over five other sites--Fort Meade, Aberdeen Proving Ground and Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, the Washington (D.C.) Convention Center and Fort Belvoir in Fairfax County, said Suarez, who works for Computer Sciences Corp., the contractor hired by the Defense Department to organize the event. Suarez said he hoped to have details finalized by the end of the year.

Thurman "T" Campbell, chairman of the Stafford Regional Airport Authority, said he expected an official vote approving the event at the board's June 13 meeting, if not earlier. He said this week that he foresaw no obstacles to approval.

Campbell and Suarez said the new Interstate 95 interchange that serves the airport (Exit 136) is significant to Stafford being equipped to handle the influx of visitors.

But Suarez said the key reason for choosing Stafford over the other possible sites was proximity. The Stafford site offers quick access to Quantico Marine Corps Base where demonstrations take place on the blast ballistics range and nonlethal weapons range. It's also convenient for top Pentagon officials and civilian VIPs who hold the decision-making power.