Little Rock Air Force Base
Little Rock Air Force Base | |||||||
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Jacksonville, Arkansas in United States of America | |||||||
Coordinates | 34°55′01″N 092°08′47″W / 34.91694°N 92.14639°W | ||||||
Type | US Air Force base | ||||||
Site information | |||||||
Owner | Department of Defense | ||||||
Operator | US Air Force | ||||||
Controlled by | Air Mobility Command (AMC) | ||||||
Condition | Operational | ||||||
Website | www.littlerock.af.mil | ||||||
Site history | |||||||
Built | 1953 | – 1955||||||
In use | 1955 – present | ||||||
Garrison information | |||||||
Current commander | Colonel Angela F. Ochoa | ||||||
Garrison | |||||||
Airfield information | |||||||
Identifiers | AMSL | ||||||
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Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] |
Little Rock Air Force Base (IATA: LRF, ICAO: KLRF, FAA LID: LRF) is a United States Air Force base located approximately 17 miles (27 km) northeast of Little Rock, Arkansas.
Little Rock AFB is the primary
The host unit at Little Rock AFB is the 19th Airlift Wing (19 AW), assigned to the Air Mobility Command's 18th Air Force. The wing provides the Department of Defense the largest C-130 Hercules transport fleet in the world, supplying humanitarian airlift relief to victims of disasters, as well as airdropping supplies and troops into the heart of contingency operations in hostile areas.
Other organizations at Little Rock AFB include the 189th Airlift Wing of the Arkansas Air National Guard, and the C-130 division of the U.S. Air Force Weapons School. All of these organizations fly the C-130 Hercules.
Little Rock Air Force Base is the fourth largest employer in the state of Arkansas, with a local economic impact of $813.6 million.[2]
History
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.[2] Communications and several storage buildings, JATO facility, ordnance igloos, track and loading platform were completed by 30 June 1955, and the base was opened to limited air traffic on 9 September 1955. The base headquarters facility was accepted 31 January 1956, and all runways and other operational concrete areas were completed by January 1957.
The base was officially activated by
In 1960, the Air Force announced that Little Rock Air Force Base would house 18
In September 1962, the 154th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron of the
In October 1962, the 384th Bomb Wing deployed 11
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
In 2012, First Lady
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
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References for history introduction, major commands and major units[5]
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
Little Rock Air Force Base is the home of the 19th Airlift Wing, the host unit. There are also two major associate units located here, the 314th Airlift Wing reports to Air Education and Training Command, and the C-130 division of the U.S. Air Force Weapons School reports to Air Combat Command. Additionally, the 189th Airlift Wing of the Arkansas Air National Guard is located here. The 189th AW also reports to Air Education and Training Command.
19th Airlift Wing
- The 19th Operations Group is composed of two flying squadrons—the 41st and 61st Airlift Squadrons. The 41st is the Air Force's first active-duty combat-ready C-130J squadron. These squadrons are operational and deploy throughout the world.[6]
- 19th Mission Support Group
- The 19th Mission Support Group encompasses the support and logistic functions for the base. The group includes contracting, civil engineer, communications, security forces, force support and the logistic readiness squadrons.[7]
- 19th Maintenance Group
- Deploys and trains C-130 maintainers and aircraft.[citation needed]
- 19th Medical Group
- The 19th Medical Group offers family practice, pediatrics and flight medicine clinics that will provide the bulk of care. The 19th Medical Group [8] also has women's health, physical therapy, optometry, life skills, and dental clinics along with diagnostic services and prevention programs. For specialty medical services not available in the immediate medical facility, the 19th have partnered with doctors and hospitals in the area.[who?]
- Directly reporting to Nineteenth Air Force at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, the 314th Airlift Wing is composed of one C-130 flying squadron—the 62nd Airlift Squadron. It is the premier C-130 training base in the Department of Defense, training C-130 crew members from all branches of the service and the U.S. Coast Guard.
- 314th Operations Group
- 314th Maintenance Group
- The 314th Maintenance Group provides direct support for the wing's primary mission forces, an AMC operational group and the Mobility Weapons School. The group’s mission includes direct sortie production, aircraft equipment support, aircraft preventive maintenance and inspections, component repair, maintenance training, and health of the fleet management. The group is composed of a command staff element and two reporting squadrons; 314th Maintenance Operations Squadron and 314th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.
Air National Guard and Air Reserve operations
- 189th Airlift Wing (Arkansas ANG)
- The Arkansas Air National Guard's 189th Airlift Wing is located on Little Rock Air Force Base and is aligned in the standard combat wing organization with the 189th AW headquarters staff, 189th Operations Group, 189th Maintenance Group, 189th Mission Support Group and the 189th Medical Group. The wing provides support to five geographically separated units: the Arkansas Air National Guard headquarters, the 123rd Intelligence Squadron and the 154th Weather Flight on Little Rock AFB, the 223rd Combat Communications Squadron in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center at Camp Joseph T. Robinson in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
- 913th Airlift Group (Air Force Reserve Command)
- The 913th Airlift Group is part of the 22nd Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command. The group began as the 22nd Air Force Detachment 1, activated October 2010. The detachment was re-designated the 913th Airlift Group on July 13, 2014. The group provides C-130J combat airlift capability on a world-wide scale, becoming a Reserve associate of the 19th Airlift Wing, Little Rock AFB, Ark., in December 2015. The mission of the 913th is to "Train, ready and support the world's best warrior airman to project dominant and globally responsive tactical airlift." In addition, the 913th Airlift Group has extensive global reach capabilities, capable of an array of operational missions.[9]
- 96th APS (Air Force Reserve Command)
- Little Rock Air Force Base is also home to the 96th Aerial Port Squadron also known as the "Combat Hogs", assigned to the 913th Airlift Group. Established in 1975, the 142 authorized personnel are one of the most recognized Aerial port squadrons in AFRC (Air Force Reserve Command). The 96th augments the 19th yearly to fill vacancies due to their AEF (Aerospace Expeditionary Force) commitments.
Based units
Flying and notable non-flying units based at Little Rock Air Force Base.[10][11][12]
Units marked GSU are Geographically Separate Units, which, although based at Little Rock, are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location.
United States Air Force
Air Mobility Command (AMC)
Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC)
Air National Guard (ANG)
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Air Education and Training Command (AETC)
Air Combat Command (ACC)
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See also
References
- ^ "Airport Diagram – Little Rock AFB (KLRF)" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. 15 August 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
- ^ a b "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Titan Missile Explosion".
- ^ "Let's Move Tour 2012 – Home – Mrs.O – Follow the Fashion and Style of First Lady Michelle Obama". mrs-o.com.
- ISBN 0-16-002261-4
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "19th Airlift Wing Factsheet". Archived from the original on 6 August 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
- ^ "Air Force Medical Service > MTF > Little Rock > Clinics / Services". www.littlerock.af.mil.
- ^ "About Us". www.913ag.afrc.af.mil.
- ^ "Aircraft and Squadrons of the US Air Force". United States Air Force Air Power Review 2018. Key Publishing: 83. 2018.
- ^ "Units". Little Rock AFB. US Air Force. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
- ^ "About Us". 913th Airlift Group. US Air Force. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
Bibliography
- This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- This article incorporates public domain material from Little Rock Air Force Base. United States Air Force.
- 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. 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
- Brief History of Little Rock Air Force Base (source of history)
Further reading
- Schlosser, Eric (2013). Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Incident, and the Illusion of Nuclear Safety. New York, NY: The Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1-59420-227-8.
External links
- Official website
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective March 21, 2024
- FAA Terminal Procedures for LRF, effective March 21, 2024
- Resources for this U.S. military airport:
- FAA airport information for LRF
- AirNav airport information for KLRF
- ASN accident history for LRF
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KLRF