Reese Air Base: 10 Years Ago This Week 

By: James Clark 

September 1997 was a time we thought would change Lubbock forever. Y’know what? It sure did.

It was ten years ago this week that Lubbock was bracing for the closure of Reese Air Force Base. Air Force officers in their service dress uniforms read out loud their orders that transferred all assignments off the base. They then lowered the flags for the very last time in a base closing ceremony September 30th 1997.

This morning we begin a week-long series of reports reflecting back on Reese Air Force Base. The Air Force handed over the physical property to the city of Lubbock, the Reese Redevelopment Authority to be more specific. So let’s ask Reese Center director Eric Williams if Lubbock did a good job managing its closed air base.

Williams says, “Out of 97 bases closed in the first round of BRAC, Reese is the only one that has made it through the entire BRAC process. We’re the only ones to take all of the lands. We did that in September 2006. We’re the only one that is completely debt free, and the only one that is totally self supporting.”

BRAC of course is the Base Realignment And Closure commission. “So I think we’ve accomplished a tremendous amount of time. I though it would take us 25 years to reach some of those goals. And we did it in less than ten.”

As we delve into Reese Air Force Base history you’ll find that Reese was the site of many American firsts. What’s going on right now at Reese to make it such a success? That sounds like a follow up story for tomorrow morning. Reese Air Force Base… ending its tour of duty 10 years ago this week.

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Story Posted: Mon Sep 24 06:30:00 CDT 2007
Created: Mon Sep 24 06:23:08 CDT 2007