Not The First Base Closure 10 Years Ago

By: James Clark

Lubbock was not totally new to the problem of a base closure 10 years ago this week. We had done it before.

In 1941 it was not called Reese Air Force Base. It was called the Air Corps Advanced Flying School. It was officially dedicated and opened June 21st 1942. It was officially closed 10 years ago this week. And so News Radio 1420 continues a series of retrospective reports looking back on 10 years without Reese Air Force Base.

The technology park that replaced the air base is by all accounts a success. But this morning we would focus on the momentous history of Reese; momentous both on a local and a worldwide level. During its first life the Lubbock Army Flying School trained more than 7,000 pilots who fought in World War II.

We mentioned that Reese Air Force base was officially shut down 10 years ago this week. But you see, that was not the first time in Lubbock history that we went through an air base closure. After World War II, the War Department thought it was no longer needed and so the base was shut down on December 31st 1945. But prior to the Korean war, it was given new life and a new name.

“We kept with the name. It was named after Augustus Reese, who died in the war,” says Reese Technology Center director of business development Todd Reno. Specifically Lieutenant Augustus F. Reese Jr. of Shallowater died in World War II in a bombing raid over Italy.

Reno says, “When it was a base, there were many firsts that were done. The first flight simulator was there at Reese; the first group program between the Navy and the Air Force and so it was neat to see that happen then. But we’re doing firsts now.”

Reno forgot to mention the first female pilots in the U.S. Air Force trained at Reese. Not an American first, but certainly interesting; a foreign dignitary got his training at Reese. We’re talking about the Crown Prince of Iran.

Reese was the place where members of the Air Force came to earn their wings in the first place. More than 25,000 American pilots started their air force training right here in Lubbock.

Reese Air Force Base… ending its tour of duty 10 years ago this week.

NewsRadio 1420 Link

Story Posted: Wed Sep 26 06:30:00 CDT 2007
Created: Wed Sep 26 06:33:33 CDT 2007