Blytheville Air Force Base

Encyclopedia : B : BL : BLY : Blytheville Air Force Base

City of Blytheville, Arkansas showing Blytheville (Eaker) AFB northeast of town

Blytheville Air Force Base, now the site of the Arkansas Aeroplex and Arkansas International Airport, has had a long and important history. Activated as an Army airfield on June 10 1942, the field was used as an advanced flying school in the Southeastern Training Command's pilot training program. It remained a training center until the end of World War II and after the war until its closure in October, 1945, was used to process military members being discharged. The facility was reactivated as Blytheville Air Force Base on July 15 1955, when the 461st Bombardment Wing moved from Hill Air Force Base in Utah. By April 7 1956, the base was fully operational with a wing composed of three squadrons of B-57 bombers.

The 4229th Air Base Squadron assumed operational control in April 1958 and remained in charge until July 1 1959, when the 97th Bombardment Wing took control. Official dedication ceremonies held on January 10 1960, marked the arrival of the 97th BMW's first B-52G, The City of Blytheville. In addition to the B-52G aircraft, the base was also home to a compliment of KC-135A tankers. The base is 3,771 acres, and was run on an annual budget of approx. $21 million.

The base was renamed Eaker on May 26 1988, in honor of General Ira C. Eaker, an air pioneer and first commander of the Eighth Air Force during World War II.

Official closure of Eaker Air Force Base was announced in 1991, and on March 6 1992, the last aircraft, The City of Blytheville, left the base. The official closure ceremony was held on December 15 1992, and the transition from military to civilian, general aviation airport began. The military still makes use of the Arkansas International Airport in flight training maneuvers, and as a landing site to pick up and drop off local National Guard Troops.

Blytheville secured a lease with USA Floral, a major floral distributor based near Washington, D.C., that needed a southern locale for its regular flights to South America to import flowers. USA Floral was expected to create hundreds of jobs in Blytheville.

External links

• [Arkansas Aeroplex]
• [Abandoned & Little Known Airfields]
• [Biography of Ira C. Eaker]
• [Arkansas Northeastern College (formerly Mississippi County CC)]

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