Strategic Air Command
SAC Bases:  Lockbourne /
                                     Rickenbacker Air Force Base
Location: Lockbourne, Ohio, 12 miles southeast of the city of Columbus, Ohio,
Home of: 91st Bomb Wing,  70th Bomb Wing,  301st Bomb Wing  
Status:  Now Rickenbacker ANGB, home of 121st Air Refueling Wing
Links:  Rickenbacker Port Authority

      The former Lockbourne Air Force is located in Franklin and Pickaway counties in a rural/residential area, twelve miles southeast of downtown Columbus and just east of the Village of Lockbourne. In 1974, it was renamed Rickenbacker Air Force Base.  It is home of the 121st Air Refueling Wing, the first Air National Guard unit to fly KC-135 tankers.  
The Early Years
      The Army Air Forces activated the base in June 1942.  It was then named the Northeastern Training Center of the Army Air Corps,  It provided basic pilot training and military support..  The facility was renamed Lockbourne AFB.  The 55th Fighter Wing was established there in December 1947, where it converted from the P-51 to the F84C Thunderjet.  The 121st Air Refueling Wing (now stationed at he base) began as component of the 55th Fighter Wing.  
     Benjamin Davis was one of the most famous of the Afro-American Tuskegee Airmen on World War II.  He returned to the US in April 1945, and was given command of the 477th Composite Group at Godman Field, Kentucky.  The group moved to Lockbourne AAB, Ohio, in 1946.  In addition to commanding the flying unit, Davis also served as base commander. He was the first Afro-American to obtain the rank of general. 
Strategic Air Command.
      On Sept. 11, 1951, the 91st Bomb Wing moved to Lockbourne. It was to become one of SAC's longest-lasting and most versatile wings.  It began as a reconnaissance wing, evolved into a bomb wing and ended up a missile wing.  The 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing was activated in 1948 at McGuire, AFB, New Jersey and continued it's worldwide reconnaissance mission until inactivated on November 8, 1957.  It was redesignated the 91st Bombardment  Wing, Heavy and activated on November 15, 1962 at Glasgow AFB, Montana on February 1, 1963.  In 1968, the old reconnaissance and bombardment wing was moved to Minot AFB, North Dakota, where it absorbed the personnel and equipment of the recently inactivated 355 Strategic Missile Wing.   It was then redesignated the 91st Strategic Missile Wing
      The 70th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, Medium was established on March 23, 1953 and activated January 24, 1955.  It was Initially deployed at Lockbourne AFB, Ohio, while it's permanent base underwent construction.  During this time, few wing components were actually manned. In 1955,  it moved to it's new home, Little Rock, AFB, Arkansas and began flying strategic reconnaissance missions using RB-47 Stratojets.      
       The 301st Bomb wing converted to the sleek new B-47 Stratojet in 1953 and traded in its KB-29 tankers for KC-97s.  It moved from Barksdale AFB to Lockbourne on April 15, 1958.  Added electronic countermeasures activities to other missions in 1958 and soon devoted most of its activity to ECM work.  Phased out the B-47 in 1964.  Became an air refueling wing in 1964 and received KC-135s.
Recent Events
        In 1974, the base was renamed in honor of Eddie Rickenbacker.  It was recommended for closure by the 1991 Commission, but as a result of a proposal by the State of Ohio, the 1993 Commission recommended that Rickenbacker ANGB be realigned rather than closed. The Commission decided to retain the 121st Air Refueling Wing and the 160th Air Refueling Group in a cantonment area at Rickenbacker ANGB instead of realigning to Wright-Patterson AFB and operate as tenants of the Rickenbacker Port Authority (RPA) on the RPAs airport.
       The Air Force issued a Record of Decision (ROD) on May 19, 1995, which documented a series of decisions in regard to parcel disposal, the organizations or agencies to receive certain parcels; the means for parcel disposal (Federal transfer, public benefit conveyance, negotiated sale, or public sale); and the mitigation measures to be adopted. The Air Force issued a Supplemental Record of Decision (SROD) on April 23, 1996, which clarified that the base electrical system would be disposed of by negotiated sale. The SROD also, made modifications to the ROD concerning the size of various parcels of land to be transferred to the Army and the Rickenbacker Port Authority (RPA).
      In August 2001 a Groundbreaking ceremony was held to mark the start of construction for a new, consolidated Navy and Marine Corps Air Reserve Center at Rickenbacker International Airport. The $10 million center, scheduled for completion in early 2003, will be located at the intersection of 2nd Avenue and Club Street adjacent to the Air National Guard facility at Rickenbacker. Being developed by the Naval Reserve, the project will consolidate the Naval Air Reserve Center at Rickenbacker with the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center currently located on Yearling Road in Columbus. When completed, the nearly 1,000 Navy and Marine Reservists currently located at the two existing Reserve Centers will shift their activities to this new facility. Once the new center opens, the site of the existing Naval Air Reserve Center at Rickenbacker will be redeveloped by the Rickenbacker Port Authority, which operates the 5,000-acre Airport.