Wikipedia

Blytheville Air Force Base

For the civil use of this facility and airport information, see Arkansas International Airport.

Blytheville Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base that operated under the Tactical Air Command and Strategic Air Command from 1954 until its closure in 1992. The facility originally served as a B-25 pilot training school during WW2. For the majority of its operation, the base served as a home for SAC's B-52 ground alert program. In 1988, the facility was renamed Eaker Air Force Base in honor of World War II General of the Eighth Air Force, Ira C. Eaker.[1] It was located 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of Blytheville, Arkansas. The facility now operates as the Arkansas Aeroplex and Arkansas International Airport.

Eaker Air Force Base
Blytheville Air Force Base
Blytheville Army Airfield
  
Part of Strategic Air Command/Tactical Air Command
Blytheville, Arkansas
The former base's control tower
Eaker AFB is located in Arkansas
Eaker AFB
Eaker AFB
Eaker AFB is located in the United States
Eaker AFB
Eaker AFB
Coordinates35°57′52″N 89°56′38″W / 35.96444°N 89.94389°W / 35.96444; -89.94389
TypeAir Force Base
Site information
Controlled byArmy Air Forces Eastern Flying Training Command (1942-1945)

Continental Air Forces (1945-1946) Air Materiel Command (1946)
Tactical Air Command (1954–1958)

Strategic Air Command (1959–1991)
Site history
BuiltBlytheville Army Airfield - May 10, 1942; Blytheville Air Force Base - August 9, 1954
In use1942–1946, 1953–1992
Garrison information
Occupants25th Two-Engine Flying Training Group (1942-1945)

461st Bombardment Wing (1956–1958)

97th Bombardment Wing (1959–1991)

History

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Construction and World War 2

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Constructed on former agricultural land, the site was originally activated as the Blytheville Army Airfield in 1942. During World War II, the site served as a training airfield as part of the 70,000 Pilot Training Program. It was one of many air fields created in the country's interior during the war for this purpose. Blytheville, Arkansas was selected as a training location due to its proximity to the Mississippi River, where supplies could easily be shipped to and from the site.[2] Construction of the airfield at Blytheville was quicker than other pilot schools in Arkansas, so the first groups to train at the base were originally intended for Walnut Ridge Army Airfield and Helena Aerotech for their basic training.[3] There were also additional auxiliary airfields at Luxora, AR, Manilla, AR, Hornersville, MO, Steele, MO, and Cooter, MO.[4]

 
Buildings 430, 431, 432, 438, 439, and 440. These warehouses were constructed in 1942, and are the only WW2 era buildings left on the property.

The first casualty of the flight school was Herbert Perkins, a native of Virginia whose BT-13 crashed near the intermediate air field at Luxora, AR.[5] The airfield was used as the Southeastern Training Command's flight training school. Cadets trained on the AT-6, AT-9, and AT-10 to learn to fly the B-25.[2] Additionally, the flight school hosted a small number of TB-25Gs, a trainer version of the B-25.[6] In 1945, the base also hosted a glider school to train servicemen to fly the Waco CG-4.[7] The airfield closed in October 1945 after the Second World War ended.[1] Then the airfield briefly became a processing center for the rapid demobilization of military personnel being discharged. The War Assets Administration officially closed down the installation in 1946, at which point control and responsibility for the land was transferred to the city of Blytheville.[2]

Reopening under Tactical Air Command

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A Cold War-era image of a B-52 being refueled by a KC-135

On 15 July 1955, the facility was reopened by the Tactical Air Command as Blytheville Air Force Base (AFB), when the 461st Bombardment Wing was moved from Hill Air Force Base in Utah. Blytheville AFB became fully operational when it was equipped with a wing of three squadrons of B-57 bomber on 19 July 1955.[1] While the 461st never saw any combat during its time at Blytheville Air Force Base, it was assigned to a number of training exercises and experiments. The 461st Wing's B-57Bs participated on Operation Sagebrush,[8] Operation Redwing,[9][10] Operation Mobile Charlie, Operation Counter Punch, and Operation Able Vista.[11]

Transfer to Strategic Air Command

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Bunkers used to store nuclear weapons at Blytheville (Eaker) Air Force Base

On April 1, 1958, the base was formally transferred into the Strategic Air Command, as part of a planned expansion of the B-52 bomber program. In July 1959, the 97th Bombardment Wing subsequently assumed control of the base and brought with it the long-range B-52G bomber and the KC-135A Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft to support bomber operations and SAC's ground alert program. A Ready Alert Facility was constructed on the base in 1960, similar to others being built all over America at the time. Blytheville AFB experienced a great deal of activity throughout the Cold War era. The base was taken to a heightened state of alert on three occasions. First, the 4229th Air Base Unit was taken to a "personnel alert" during the 1958 Lebanon Crisis. Second, the base was taken to DEFCON 2 and the 97th Bombardment Wing was placed on airborne alert on 22 October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Two B-52G bombers were readied to strike the Soviet Union with nuclear weapons if necessary—for which the wing received the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for its performance during the crisis. And third, the base was taken to DEFCON 3 in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War.[1][12]

 
Hangar 207 was constructed in 1954 for B-57 maintenance. It later served as the headquarters for the 97th Organizational Maintenance Squadron

During the Vietnam War the 97th Bomber Wing at Blytheville supported strike operations throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s. A bomber crew from Blytheville was among the first shot down during Operation Linebacker II, a December 1972 mission targeting complexes in North Vietnam. Three crewmen died in the crash.[13] Six more men from the 97th were also lost in Vietnam, whose names are recognized on a memorial placard at the former base. In 1972, all of the bombers were temporarily moved to Guam before being returned to Blytheville AFB, at which time the installation resumed normal functions.[2] It launched rescue missions from the base to Grenada in 1983 and in August 1990,[2] the pilots of the 97th Bomber Wing began practicing for missions in the Middle East and eventually supported Operation Desert Storm.[14]

 
B-52 releasing its payload over Vietnam

Renamed Eaker AFB and base closure

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In 1988, the U.S. Air Force officially renamed Blytheville AFB to Eaker AFB in commemoration of World War II General Ira Eaker, the former commander of the 8th Air Force. Officials had hoped, after hearing rumors of the base's possible closure, that the name would endear the base among military leaders and be enough to incentivize its continued existence. Unfortunately, Eaker Air Force Base topped the Strategic Air Command's list of base closures in 1991 and with the Cold War coming to an end, the installation was officially chosen; in March 1992, the last aircraft left the base. Extensive efforts to offset the negative economic effects on the community of Blytheville were undertaken by local and federal officials, who cleaned up the site and then distributed the land to various organizations, including the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Some of the land has since been declared a National Historic Landmark.[1]

 
Building 202 was constructed in 1954 as a pilot training center for the 461st BMS. It now houses the BAFB Exhibition, the first permanent exhibit of the National Cold War Center

The base closure cost the community over 700 civilian jobs, but half of these were recovered through the adaptive reuse of the former base, such as United States Post Office's utilization of the base in the late 1990s as an airport hub during the holidays, some of the base housing being converted by Westminster Village of the Mid-South for a retirement community, the construction of a $2.5 million sports complex by the local community, and the private investment of some $3 million for the creation of the Thunder Bayou Golf Course.[1]

Arkansas Aeroplex and The National Cold War Center

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Within a decade of the base's closure, the facility was reopened as the Arkansas Aeroplex, also known as the Arkansas International Airport. The main tenant of the Aeroplex is Aviation Repair Technologies, which specializes in large aircraft repair.[15]

In 2020, the National Cold War Center was created by local citizens to take the base's former SAC Alert Facility and turn it into the primary exhibit for a museum that focused on the many aspects of the Cold War.[16]

Historic Districts

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Blytheville Air Force Base Strategic Air Command (SAC) Alert and Weapons Storage Areas Historic District
 
Building 1225, the Readiness Crew Building of the base's SAC alert facility. It is currently being restored to become a museum exhibit.
 
 
 
 
Location4701 Memorial Drive, Blytheville, Arkansas
Coordinates35°57′33″N 89°57′47″W / 35.95917°N 89.96306°W / 35.95917; -89.96306
Area247 acres (100 ha)
NRHP reference No.100001999[17]
Added to NRHP26 January 2018

The facility houses two historic districts, the Blytheville Air Force Base Strategic Air Command (SAC) Alert and Weapons Storage Areas Historic District and the Blytheville Air Force Base Capehart Housing Historic District. Both were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.[17]

The SAC Alert Facility is a 247 acres (100 ha) historic district which included 23 contributing buildings, 33 contributing structures, two contributing sites, a contributing object, as well as two non-contributing buildings. The facility was originally constructed in 1960 after the Strategic Air Command took over the base.[12]

In April 2022, the National Cold War Center began working to restore the facility as its primary exhibit.[16]

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  • Emblems for Commands and Units assigned to and overseeing Blytheville Air Force Base
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    Army Air Forces Eastern Flying Training Command emblem
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    Tactical Air Command emblem
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    461st Bombardment Wing, Tactical emblem
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    764th Bombardment Squadron, Tactical patch
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    765th Bombardment Squadron, Tactical patch
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    766th Bombardment Squadron, Tactical patch
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    Strategic Air Command Emblem
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    42nd Air Division emblem
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    97th Bombardment Wing, Heavy Patch
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    340th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy patch
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    97th Air Refueling Squadron, Heavy patch

Major commands to which assigned

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97th Wing B-52 2580 "Miss Piggy" flying in formation with Canadian F-101Bs

Major units assigned

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B-52G 58-0231 sitting on the apron at Blytheville Air Force Base. The base's Readiness Crew Building and Weapon Storage are in the far background.

Major aircraft assigned

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Hartley 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Encyclopedia of Arkansas". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Expansion of the Army Air Force". WINGS OF HONOR. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  4. ^ Blytheville Army Air Field : Army Air Forces Southeast Training Center. Baton Rogue, LA: Army and Navy Publishing Company. 1942.
  5. ^ "First death of cadet at BAAF flight school". The Courier News. 14 August 1942. p. 1. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  6. ^ "USAF Summary Sheet". www.aviationarchaeology.com. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  7. ^ a b "BAAF Glider crash". The Jackson Sun. 2 August 1945. p. 10. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Abstract for IRISNUM= 00458574". Air Force History Index. Air Force Historical Research Agency. 10 May 1990. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  9. ^ "Abstract for IRISNUM= 00458575". Air Force History Index. Air Force Historical Research Agency. 10 May 1990. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  10. ^ Operation REDWING 1956 (Report).
  11. ^ "Abstract for IRISNUM= 00458578". Air Force History Index. Air Force Historical Research Agency. 10 May 1990. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  12. ^ a b Edward Salo; Edward Harthorn; Zach Mitchell; Frank Walker; Travis Raterman (11 September 2017). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Blytheville Air Force Base Strategic Air Command (SAC) Alert and Weapons Storage Areas Historic District" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 19 February 2018. With maps and 23 photos.
  13. ^ Heard 2018.
  14. ^ "About". Hulk 46. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  15. ^ AP (18 October 2008). "New aviation repair facility opens". Baxter Bulletin. p. 3. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  16. ^ a b cjrw.com, CJRW- (31 March 2022). "Ready Alert Facility Restoration Ground-Breaking Event". The National Cold War Center. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  17. ^ a b "National Register of Historic Places: Weekly list". National Park Service. 26 January 2018.
  18. ^ "C-47A "Skytrain" – Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum". www.sacmuseum.org. Retrieved 24 November 2023.

Bibliography

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blytheville Army Airfield.
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