I thought having an air base in the middle of tank town is a real interesting twist. The battle for control of the airbase should give GV guys and airplane guys a good battle.
I'm sure that was the intent of that design element. I'm not sure, however, that it totally works. Except for the very first day the map was up, I have not seen much of any action in the area. Tankers trying to take the central field are just bombed by planes or picked off by perk tanks on the concrete of the field (you cannot approach the town from the side opposite the field; there is a lake protecting that side). The field
has been taken at least twice (I've seen it as Rook, Bishop, and Knight) but the times I've checked nothing was happening there.
I suspect the designer dislikes the pointlessness of tank spawn camping and feels there should be more purpose to tanking, i.e. taking and securing territory in mixed operations like real life. However there is an obstacle to overcome: in real war vehicles greatly outnumber planes; in AH planes typically outnumber vehicles by 3 to 1. So the probability of a tanker being bombed in AH is very much higher than in real war. Forcing them to attempt to take a close by airfield as something "useful" to do kind of makes it a bit futile for the tanker (but paradise for the bomb-griefer).