Little Rock Air Force Base was authorized in 1953 and construction began on 6 November 1953. The base opened on 24 January 1955 with 6,100 acres donated by landowners, valued at $1.2 million in 1952.
Recent years On 1 October 1986, the 189 ARG saw yet another mission change when it was redesignated as the 189th Tactical Airlift Group (189 TAG) and converted to the C-130 aircraft, with transfer of operational claimancy to MAC. During the 1991
Gulf War, the 314 TAW's two operational C-130 squadrons and the 189 TAG's C-130 squadron supported operations from both the middle east and European theaters. Later that year, the 314th Tactical Airlift Wing was redesignated as the
314th Airlift Wing (314 AW), and following the disestablishment of MAC in 1992, the base and the 314 AW were transferred to the new
Air Mobility Command (AMC). The 189 TAG was also redesignated as the 189th Airlift Group (189 AG) the same year, followed by redesignation as the
189th Airlift Wing (189 AW) in 1995. In 1993, the base and the 314 AW transferred to
Air Combat Command (ACC), as part the U.S. Air Force's decision to transfer continental U.S.-based C-130s from AMC to ACC. In 1997, the U.S. Air Force reversed this decision, returning most C-130 airlift back to AMC claimancy. However, given the 314 AW's primary training mission as the Formal Training Unit (FTU) for C-130s, the base and the 314 AW were transferred to the
Air Education and Training Command (
AETC), and the base's two operational Regular Air Force C-130 squadrons were organized under the
463d Airlift Group, an AMC unit. From the mid-1990s to the late 1990s, the 314 AW and the 463 AG supported the air war over Serbia and since the
September 11, 2001 attacks, the 463 AG has supported both
Operation Enduring Freedom and
Operation Iraqi Freedom until the 463 AG was inactivated on 1 October 2008. In its 50-year history, Little Rock Air Force Base has been operated by six Air Force Major Commands (MAJCOMs): SAC, TAC, MAC, AMC, ACC, and AETC. These represent every possible MAJCOM a continental U.S.-based operational flying base could have been assigned to except for the former
Air Defense Command/
Aerospace Defense Command (ADC),
Air Force Systems Command (AFSC), and the current
Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). In 2012, First Lady
Michelle Obama visited the Little Rock base to mark the second anniversary of the
Let's Move initiative.
Major commands to which assigned •
Strategic Air Command, 1 February 1955 •
Tactical Air Command, 1 April 1970 •
Military Airlift Command, 1 December 1974 •
Air Mobility Command, 1 June 1992 – 1 July 1993; 1 April 1997 – present : Attached to:
Air Education and Training Command, 1 April 1997 – present •
Air Combat Command, 1 July 1993 – 1 April 1997
Major units assigned • 70th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, 24 January 1955 – 25 October 1961 : Redesignated:
70th Bombardment Wing, 25 October 1961 – 25 June 1962 •
384th Bombardment Wing, 1 August 1955 – 1 September 1965 •
825th Air Division, 1 August 1955 – 1 June 1962 : Redesignated: 825 Strategic Aerospace Division, 1 June 1962 – 1 April 1970 •
308th Strategic Missile Wing, 1 April 1962 – 18 August 1987 •
189th Airlift Wing (various designations), 1 October 1962 – present •
43d Bombardment Wing, 1 September 1964 – 31 January 1970 •
64th Tactical Airlift Wing, 9 March 1970 – 30 May 1971 •
314th Tactical Airlift Wing, 1 April 1971 – 1974 : Redesignated: 314th Military Airlift Wing, 1974 – 1991 : Redesignated: 314th Airlift Wing, 1991 – present •
834th Airlift Division, 1 January 1972 – 31 December 1974 • 34th Tactical Airlift Training Group, 15 September 1978 – 1 December 1991 •
463d Airlift Group, 1 April 1997 – 1 October 2008 •
United States Air Force Mobility Weapons School, 3 February 2003 – present •
19th Airlift Wing, 1 October 2008 – present •
913th Airlift Group, 13 July 2014 – present
Aircraft assigned (Strategic Air Command) •
Boeing B-47 Stratojet (bomber) •
Convair B-58 Hustler (supersonic bomber) •
Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter (aerial refueling aircraft) •
Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker (aerial refueling aircraft) ==Role and operations==