Dobbins Air Reserve Base

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the Air Force manufacturing plant co-located with Dobbins ARB, see
Air Force Plant 6
.
For the airfield currently named Rickenbacker, see Rickenbacker International Airport.
Dobbins Air Reserve Base
AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
11/29 3,048.6 metres (10,002 ft) Concrete
110/290 1,065.2 metres (3,495 ft) Asphalt
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Dobbins Air Reserve Base or Dobbins ARB (

C-47 pilot who died near Sicily
.

The installation is the home station of the host wing, the 94th Airlift Wing (94 AW) of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) and its fleet of C-130 Hercules aircraft, and is also the location of the headquarters for AFRC's Twenty-Second Air Force (22 AF).

Dobbins ARB is also home to Army Aviation Service Facility #2 (AASF #2) of the

UH-72 Lakota[2]
helicopters. Associated units to AASF #2 include 1st Battalion, 171st General Support Aviation Regiment; Company H, 171st Aviation Regiment; Company C, 2nd Battalion, 151st Aviation; and Detachment 1, Company C, 111th General Aviation Support Battalion, 111th Aviation Regiment.

Additional Reserve component organizations at Dobbins include various units of the Marine Corps Reserve and Navy Reserve.

Dobbins ARB has two runways which it shares with the General Lucius D. Clay National Guard Center (formerly Naval Air Station Atlanta) to its south. Runway 11/29 is the primary runway and is 10,000 feet (3,000 m) long and 300 feet (91 m) wide with directions 110 and 290 magnetic. The second runway, called an "assault strip", is a 3500×60-foot (1067×18-meter) runway referred to as 110–290, which is parallel to Runway 11/29.

Over 14,000 flight operations occur annually making the Dobbins complex an extremely active facility with diverse air traffic operations from all branches of the military and other US government agencies. This air traffic environment takes place within the area of the busiest airport in the world (

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
) and is as busy as many medium-sized commercial airports.

History

World War II

Originally intended by

Captain Eddie Rickenbacker
.

The push to build this airport came in 1940 when

Fascist Italy) or from the west (the Empire of Japan
).

In 1940, the CAA offered to build a modern paved airport in Cobb County if the local governments provided the land. Due to the potential labor force for defense factories in this area, local officials also hoped to attract a large aircraft factory adjacent to the site. On October 24, the government of Cobb County announced the existence of this airport project, and it also revealed that purchase options had been signed for three prospective sites. The Atlanta City Council also passed a resolution endorsing this project on January 2, 1941. Since the Army Air Corps had recently taken over part of Candler Field (now Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport), the principal municipal airport for Atlanta, the new airport in Cobb County was also seen as a reliever airport for Atlanta.

In May, the local government issued

DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, in March 1941.) In October, Georgia Air Services signed a $70,000 contract for two 180x160-ft. airplane hangars
to be built. Although it was far from completion, the dedication of this airfield took place in October 1941

After the

Department of the Navy announced its intention to take over the new airfield as an auxiliary naval air station
. The Navy shortly began land-condemnation proceedings.

The Department of War, in turn, announced that it would not contest the wish of the Department of the Navy to take over Rickenbacker Field, and that it would build its new factory elsewhere. The Cobb County government appealed to the

Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox, urging him to change the Navy's plans. Since other options were available for flight training. Secretary Knox relinquished the Navy's claim on this airfield and left it to the Army Air Forces. (During World War II, the Navy established an auxiliary naval air station at Gainesville, Georgia
, just northeast of Atlanta.)

On January 23, 1942, the Bell Aircraft Company and the Department of War announced that an aircraft factory employing up to 40,000 workers would be built near Marietta. Also, the Department of War announced on February 19 that "Rickenbacker Field" would be renamed the Marietta Army Airfield. Although its construction began in March 1942, its official ground-breaking ceremony took place in May 1942, with Captain Rickenbacker present. Rickenbacker went on to establish and pay for an aviation educational program to train workers for both civil aviation and military aviation. Also in 1942, the City of Atlanta began work on its contribution: a pipeline to supply the new factory with water from the Chattahoochee River.

In addition to taking over Rickenbacker Field, the

58th Bombardment Operational Training Wing. At the end of June 1943, there were 42 officers and 356 enlisted men
stationed here.

The mission of the Marietta Army Airfield was acceptance testing of

B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers for the USAAF, the modification of B-29s, and the operation of an Army Air Depot. Barracks for the soldiers reached completion in November 1943. By January 1, 1944, the number of soldiers stationed here had risen to 73 officers and 1,263 enlisted men. For a period of time, the Marietta Army Airfield was assigned to the USAAF's Second Air Force under the XX Bomber Command
. On 12 April 1944, the Marietta Army Airfield was reassigned to the "17th Bombardment Operation Training Unit".

Marietta Army Airfield and the Defense Production Plant #6, 1944
B-29s on the night production line at Bell Aircraft, Atlanta, 1944

In the spring of 1943 the adjacent Bell Aircraft Company's factory, an additional plant (besides a pair of

test-flown
on November 4, 1943. The production of B-29s at this factory increased slowly during 1944, and by the fall of 1944, Bell Aircraft's output of new B-29s began to meet and exceed the goals of the Department of War.

By January 1945, Bell Aircraft had completed 357 B-29A's. After the completion of the last one of these, the production in Marietta was switched to the B-29B Superfortress, which was a simplified version of the B-29 without the computerized gun system and other components that raised the allowable bomb load from 11,000 to 18,000 pounds. The new B-29B radar, mounted in a wing-shaped radome under the fuselage, gave much better images of the ground. The

Northwest Field, Guam, received most of the B-29Bs for night low altitude pathfinder led missions against Japan
. Bell built a total of 311 B-29Bs before the plant closed in January 1946. At its height, the Bell Bomber plant employed 28,263.

Post-war

Marietta Army Airfield remained open after the war and became the home of

54th Fighter Wing which commanded 56 units of the Air National Guard throughout the Southeastern states
.

In 1948, part of the land and

engineering technology
school that could rapidly train returning soldiers for civilian work in various technical fields.

Also in 1948 the airfield became Marietta Air Force Base as a result of the creation of the United States Air Force. In 1950, the Air Force renamed the base Dobbins Air Force Base in honor of Captain Charles M. Dobbins of Marietta, a World War II transport pilot. Captain Dobbins died near Sicily on July 11, 1943, when US Navy gunners who had earlier suffered a Luftwaffe (German air force) attack mistakenly downed his C-47. He was flying his third mission of the day, dropping paratroopers.

Following the war, the Bell Aircraft Plant #6 remained closed for five years. In 1951,

C-5 Galaxy
.

In 1957, Naval Air Station Atlanta (NAS Atlanta) at the present day

Chamblee
moved to Dobbins AFB. The Navy constructed a cantonment area on the southwest portion of Dobbins AFB for their use.

In 1962, the Southern Technical Institute (now Kennesaw State University) began classes on land given to the University System of Georgia by Dobbins AFB four years prior.

In June 1992 the official name was changed from Dobbins Air Force Base to Dobbins Air Reserve Base (Dobbins ARB).[5] In 2003, the Air Force Reserve Command changed the name again to Dobbins Joint Air Reserve Base (Dobbins JARB).[6][7] However, with the closure of the NAS Atlanta on 29 September 2009, the name reverted to Dobbins Air Reserve Base once again.

In September 2005, the

medevaced
medical patients taken in by local hospitals.

Over the years, a wide variety of U.S. Army Air Forces and U.S. Air Force aircraft have been stationed at Dobbins AFB with the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard, including the

F/A-18 Hornet
aircraft of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Currently and its future.

Members of the U.S. Air Force Reserve's 38th Aerial Port Squadron practice uploading cargo at Dobbins' Transportation Proficiency Center prior to the unit's 2017 deployment to Kuwait.

In 1995,

ZIP code, 30069, and Lockheed Martin also has its own ZIP code, 30063, however, Marietta is the only place name (city) considered acceptable by the United States Postal Service
for the latter.

Dobbins ARB is also an

cable TV systems came from Fulton County Airport
.

Like most U.S. bases, Dobbins ARB has had to fend off several attempts at closing it, as part of streamlining the country's military and reducing unnecessary spending.

plane crashes
into residential areas near the base raised questions of safety in having a base in such a densely populated suburban area. The airfield now sits in a vast sea of urban development; flying demonstrations at air shows were discontinued some years ago because of safety concerns, although the Navy hosted air shows in 2004 and 2006, and the Air Force side hosted air shows in 2008 and 2010 (2008 marked the first time in over 15 years of a USAF Thunderbirds performance at KMGE).

Public complaints about the noise continue, and attempts to close the facility have been thwarted so far by powerful local politicians, such as former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn in 1995. However, some have proposed that it again become a commercial airport, as it was originally envisioned (there have been calls for Dobbins ARB to become the second major commercial airport in metro Atlanta, to be a major reliever to Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest airport in the world).

Dobbins ARB is the only

151st Aviation Regiment of the Army National Guard are also based there. More units relocated to Dobbins ARB as the Georgia Army National Guard
took over NAS Atlanta as the latter closed due to BRAC and became a tenant non-flying command known as Navy Operational Support Center Atlanta.

Dobbins is also the home of the U.S. Air Force Reserve's Transportation Proficiency Center which provides accelerated training for Airmen joining the Air Force Reserve in transportation career fields, specialized skill training, and pre-mobilization readiness training for Reserve component transportation Airmen called to active duty service.[8]

B-29 near the main gate

Near Dobbins ARB's main gate stands a Wichita-built B-29 named "Sweet Eloise" (B-29-80-BW, AAF Ser. No. 44-70113), which is on public display as a memorial to World War II bomber production at the site. However, at least two Marietta-built B-29s have survived the years. One is on display at the Georgia Veterans State Park near Cordele (B-29A-15-BN, AAF Ser. No. 42-93967) and the other (B-29B-55-BA, AAF Ser. No. 44-84053) is located at Robins Air Force Base's Museum of Flight in Warner Robins, Georgia.

Major Commands to which assigned

Major Units assigned

Based units

Flying and notable non-flying units based at Dobbins Air Reserve Base.[9][10]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Airport Diagram – Dobbins AFB (KMGE)" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  2. ^ "Army Guard updates aviation capabilities". 13 December 2010.
  3. ^ Bowers 1989, p.319.
  4. ^ Bowers 1989, p.322.
  5. ^ "Factsheets : Dobbins Air Reserve Base". Air Force Reserve Command. Archived from the original on 2012-06-02. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  6. ^ Dobbins Air Reserve Base at GlobalSecurity.org
  7. ^ [1][dead link]
  8. ^ "New parking lot at Transportation Proficiency Center (TPC)". 30 April 2010.
  9. ^ "Units". Dobbins Air Reserve Base. US Air Force. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  10. ^ "Combat Logistics Regiment 45". Marines. US Marine Corps. Retrieved 1 March 2020.

Sources

External links
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