UNAUTH RWY ENTRY; RWY INCURSION WHEN A BE9L FLT CREW CROSSES THE DEP END OF THE ACTIVE RWY AT SPS; TX.

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WE WERE ON THE GA RAMP AT SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE; WICHITA FALLS MUNI; ON MAR/MON/04. INCIDENT OCCURRED AT XA20 IN THE MORNING. WHILE ON THE RAMP WE RECEIVED TAXI CLRNC 'TAXI TO RWY 17;' WITH NO SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS. LEAVING THE RAMP; WE TURNED L ON TXWY C; CROSSED RWY 17; AND PROCEEDED UP TXWY A. AFTER TRAVELING 300-400 YARDS ON TXWY A; THE CTLR ASKED WHERE WE WERE. WE RESPONDED WE WERE ON TXWY A. HE THEN ADVISED US THAT WE HAD ILLEGALLY CROSSED RWY 17. WE STOPPED AND REEXAMINED THE ARPT DIAGRAM; AT WHICH POINT WE SAW AN ALTERNATIVE RTE WHICH WOULD HAVE PRECLUDED XING RWY 17. IN OUR HASTE; WE HAD GONE WITH THE FIRST RTE WE HAD SEEN. AT THIS TIME; I EXPLAINED OUR FAILURE TO SEE ANOTHER RTE AND APOLOGIZED. THERE WERE NO TFC CONFLICTS DURING THIS INCIDENT. WHY? HURRIED TOO MUCH. SHOULD HAVE LOOKED FOR ALTERNATIVE RTES. SHOULD HAVE ASKED CTLR FOR DIRECTIONS. SHOULD HAVE ASKED FOR CLARIFICATION ABOUT XING THE RWY. LACK OF KNOWLEDGE -- MISUNDERSTOOD REG. CORRECTIVE ACTIONS: SLOW DOWN. ASK FOR PROGRESSIVE TAXI. RE-FAMILIARIZE MYSELF WITH FAR/AIM. I WAS MISTAKEN IN MY BELIEF THAT I COULD CROSS A RWY I HAD BEEN CLRED TO. IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN! SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 611428: WE WERE CLRED ACROSS THE RWY BECAUSE WE WERE NOT GIVEN ANY HOLD SHORT OF THE RWY INSTRUCTIONS AND COULD CROSS ALL RWYS TO GET TO OUR DEST RWY. APOLOGIZED TO THE CTLR AND TOLD HIM ABOUT OUR MISCOM/MISCONCEPTION DUE TO THE AMBIGUOUS TAXI INSTRUCTIONS. THERE WAS NO OTHER TFC USING THE RWY AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT.