Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (December 2014) |
| Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base | |||||||||
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| Near Columbus, Ohio in the United States | |||||||||
 A KC-135R Stratotanker of the Ohio Air National Guard's 121st Air Refuelling Wing touches down at Rickenbacker ANGB during 2012. | |||||||||
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| Site information | |||||||||
| Type | Air National Guard Base | ||||||||
| Owner | Department of Defense | ||||||||
| Operator | US Air Force (USAF) | ||||||||
| Controlled by | Ohio Air National Guard (ANG) | ||||||||
| Condition | Operational | ||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||
| Location | |||||||||
  Rickenbacker ANGB Location in the United States | |||||||||
| Coordinates | 39°48′49″N 082°56′48″W / 39.81361°N 82.94667°W | ||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||
| Built | 1940s (as Lockbourne Army Airfield) | ||||||||
| In use | 1940s – present | ||||||||
| Garrison information | |||||||||
| Current commander | Colonel David B. Johnson | ||||||||
| Garrison | 121st Air Refueling Wing | ||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||
| Identifiers | IATA: LCK, ICAO: KLCK, FAA LID: LCK, WMO: 724285 | ||||||||
| Elevation | 226.7 metres (744 ft) AMSL | ||||||||
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| Airfield shared with Rickenbacker International Airport. Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||||||||
Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base is an Ohio Air National Guard installation at Rickenbacker International Airport near Lockbourne in southern Franklin County. The base was named for the famous early aviator and Columbus native Eddie Rickenbacker.
Rickenbacker ANGB is the home of the 121st Air Refueling Wing (121 ARW), an Air National Guard (ANG) unit flying the KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft that also serves as the host wing for the installation. When placed in federal service with the United States Air Force, the wing is operationally-gained by the Air Mobility Command (AMC). Rickenbacker ANGB operates at the airport as a tenant of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, sharing the facility with commercial airlines and other civilian aircraft operators. The air base is also a joint military facility whose own tenant activities include the Ohio Army National Guard's Army Aviation Support Facility #2, Navy Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve units, and associated facilities.
Rickenbacker ANGB Composite Squadron (OH-121), a Civil Air Patrol squadron, also operates on the base.
History
[edit]The base was built during World War II as Lockbourne Army Airfield, a U.S. Army Air Forces training base. It became Lockbourne Air Force Base in 1948, a few months after the United States Air Force was established as an independent branch of the U.S. armed forces.
In September 1951, the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (Medium) of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) moved to Lockbourne AFB from Barksdale AFB, Louisiana and operated B-45 and RB-45 Tornado and B-47 and YRB-47 Stratojet aircraft, performing a worldwide aerial reconnaissance and mapping mission. The wing was inactivated in November 1957.[2]
In April 1958, the 301st Bombardment Wing arrived at Lockbourne AFB, assuming host wing responsibilities and flying the B-47, EB-47, and RB-47 Stratojet and KC-97 Stratofreighter aircraft. In 1964, with the impending retirement of all B-47 variant aircraft from SAC and the ongoing transfer of KC-97 aircraft to the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard, the wing transitioned to the KC-135A Stratotanker was redesignated as the 301st Air Refueling Wing (301 ARW). Following the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, the wing's KC-135 aircraft routinely deployed to Southeast Asia for support of the air war in Vietnam.
In 1974, Lockbourne AFB was renamed Rickenbacker AFB in honor of Columbus, Ohio native and World War I U.S. Army Air Service fighter ace and Medal of Honor recipient, Eddie Rickenbacker.
After the end of Vietnam War, the Air Force shrank dramatically; it shed some SAC wings and closed active bases or transferred them to the Air Force Reserve or Air National Guard. The 301 ARW was inactivated and its KC-135s distributed to various Air National Guard units on 30 November 1979; on 1 April 1980, the base was transferred to a combination of the Ohio Air National Guard with the 160th Air Refueling Group (160 ARG) as the host unit, and the civilian governmental agency known as the Rickenbacker Port Authority, now the Columbus Regional Airport Authority.
Further reading
[edit]
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
This article incorporates public domain material from Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base. United States Air Force.
- ^ "Airport Diagram – Rickenbacker Intl (LCK)" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
- ^ http://www.strategic-air-command.com/bases/Lockbourne_AFB.htm
- Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office 1961 (republished 1983, Office of Air Force History, ISBN 0-912799-02-1).
- Ravenstein, Charles A. Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History 1984. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
- Mueller, Robert, Air Force Bases Volume I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982, Office of Air Force History, 1989
- Futrell, Robert Frank (1983) The United States Air Force in Korea, 1950–1953, Maxwell AFB, Alabama Office of Air Force History, ISBN 0-912799-71-4
- Lloyd, Alwyn T. (2000), A Cold War Legacy, A Tribute to Strategic Air Command, 1946–1992, Pictorial Histories Publications ISBN 1-57510-052-5
- Rogers, Brian (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, England: Midland Publications. ISBN 1-85780-197-0.
- Turner Publishing Company (1997), Strategic Air Command: The Story of the Strategic Air Command and Its People. Turner Publishing Company ISBN 1-56311-265-5
- Manning, Thomas A. (2005), History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas OCLC 71006954, 29991467
- Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites, History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC. OCLC 57007862, 1050653629
- USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers – 1908 to present
- ArmyAirForces.com
- Strategic-Air-Command.com
- American Military Aircraft (RB-29, RB-45, EB-47, RB-47)
- Air Force Historical Research Agency
- Rickenbacker International Airport Official Website
(Source of much of early history and information about turnover to civil authorities)
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