Columbus Air Force Base is a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

base located in

Columbus, Mississippi Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, on the eastern border of Mississippi, United States, located primarily east, but also north and northeast of the Tombigbee River, which is also part of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterwa ...

. The host unit at Columbus AFB is the 14th Flying Training Wing (14 FTW), which is a part of

Air Education and Training Command Air Education and Training Command (AETC) is one of the nine Major Commands (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force (USAF), reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force. It was established 1 July 1993, with the realignment of Air Training ...

(AETC). The residential portion of the base is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

, with a population of 1,604 at the 2020 census.

Base history

Columbus Air Force Base (AFB) was established in 1941, after the US

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * Dep ...

authorized a pilot training base in Columbus, Mississippi. It was originally named Kaye Field, after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

Samuel Kaye Samuel Kaye Jr. (8 November 1895 – 12 March 1939) was an officer in the United States Army Air Service during the World War I, Great War. He scored four victories and three probables while flying with the 94th Aero Squadron. Service Kaye enlis ...

Jr., but confusion with nearby Key Field in

Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the count ...

led to it being renamed as Columbus Army Flying School. The base was deactivated after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, but was reactivated four years later with the beginning of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. In 1955, Columbus AFB was transferred to

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...

(SAC) and was occupied by the 4228th Strategic Wing, which later became the

454th Bombardment Wing The 454th Bombardment Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 42d Air Division of Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. It was inactivated on 25 July 1969. The wing's predece ...

. In 1969, Columbus AFB was transferred back to Air Training Command, and was occupied by the 3650th Pilot Training Wing, which became the 14th Flying Training Wing in 1972.

Based units

Flying and notable non-flying units based at Columbus Air Force Base. Units marked GSU are

Geographically Separate Unit In the United States military a Geographically Separate Unit (GSU) is a base that is physically separate from, yet not autonomous of its "parent" base. GSUs are "owned" by their parent organization and are typically quite small. Assignment to a ...

s, which although based at Columbus, are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location.

United States Air Force

(AETC) *

Nineteenth Air Force The Nineteenth Air Force (19 AF) is an active Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force. During the Cold War it was a component of Tactical Air Command, with a mission of command and control over deployed USAF forces in support of Unit ...

** 14th Flying Training Wing ***14th Comptroller Squadron ***

14th Operations Group The 14th Operations Group is the flying component of the 14th Flying Training Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force's Air Education and Training Command. The group is stationed at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. The group was fir ...

****14th Operations Support Squadron **** 14th Student Squadron ****

37th Flying Training Squadron The 37th Flying Training Squadron is part of the 14th Flying Training Wing based at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. It operates Beechcraft T-6 Texan II aircraft conducting flight training. The squadron was first established as the 37th ...

–

T-6A Texan II The Beechcraft T-6 Texan II is a single-engine turboprop aircraft built by the Raytheon Aircraft Company (Textron Aviation since 2014). A trainer aircraft based on the Pilatus PC-9, the T-6 has replaced the United States Air Force's Cessna T- ...

**** 41st Flying Training Squadron – T-6A Texan II **** 43rd Flying Training Squadron ****

48th Flying Training Squadron The 48th Flying Training Squadron is part of the 14th Flying Training Wing based at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. It operates T-1 Jayhawk aircraft conducting flight training. The squadron is one of the oldest in the Air Force, being form ...

–

T-1A Jayhawk The Raytheon T-1 Jayhawk is a twin-engined jet aircraft used by the United States Air Force for advanced pilot training. T-1A students go on to fly airlift and tanker aircraft. The T-400 is a similar version for the Japan Air Self-Defense For ...

**** 49th Fighter Training Squadron –

T-38C Talon The Northrop T-38 Talon is a two-seat, twinjet supersonic jet trainer. It was the world's first, and the most produced, supersonic trainer. The T-38 remains in service in several air forces. The United States Air Force (USAF) operates the most ...

**** 50th Flying Training Squadron – T-38C Talon *** 14th Mission Support Group **** 14th Civil Engineering Squadron **** 14th Communications Squadron **** 14th Contracting Squadron **** 14th Force Support Squadron **** 14th Logistics Readiness Squadron **** 14th Security Forces Squadron *** 14th Medical Group **** 14th Medical Operations Squadron **** 14th Medical Support Squadron

Air Force Reserve Command The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of commiss ...

(AFRC) *

Tenth Air Force The Tenth Air Force (10 AF) is a unit of the U.S. Air Force, specifically a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). 10 AF is headquartered at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base/Carswell Field (formerly Carswell AF ...

** 340th Flying Training Group *** 43rd Flying Training Squadron (GSU) – T-1A Jayhawk, T-6A Texan II

References

External links

* {{Authority control Airports in Mississippi Installations of the United States Air Force in Mississippi Military in Mississippi Census-designated places in Mississippi Census-designated places in Lowndes County, Mississippi