...utilizing the best in airplanes and equipment. Those innovations included a special pilot training program, the first flight simulator used in a training program and a joint pilot training program with the Navy. Reese Air Force Base provided the best trained military pilots in the world for more than 50 years. More than 25,000 pilots, who fought in every conflict since World War II, were trained at Reese. These successes were brought about by a dedicated team, a premier facility, great weather and flying days, a commitment to success and an extraordinary collaboration between the Air Force and the City of Lubbock and surrounding areas – a true public / private partnership.

In 1995, word reached the Lubbock community that Reese Air Force Base was on the Pentagon’s list for base closures. In spite of significant local opposition, the base closure was announced for September 30, 1997. The Lubbock Reese Redevelopment Committee (LRRC) was created in 1995, just two weeks after the base was recommended for closure. That Committee laid the groundwork for the technology center that Reese has become today. In a continuation of the public-private partnership upon which an air force base was built, the facility evolved again.

The Lubbock Reese Redevelopment Committee evolved into the Redevelopment Authority (LRRA) governed by a seven (7) person board initially created by the City of Lubbock, Lubbock County and the South Plains Association of Governments. The mission of the LRRA, also known as the Reese Technology Center, was to replace the jobs lost by the base closure and provide a site for regional economic activity. The work started over 20 years ago has led to a facility which has become the premier site for research, technology, education, engineering and light manufacturing in the region it serves. Public entities such as Texas Tech University and its National Wind Institute, Sandia National Labs, and the Texas A&M Forest Service now work alongside private sector entities like Bayer Crop Science, Oxy USA, and KBR Aerospace Division, to provide a unique site for research and engineering breakthroughs that will serve the area, region and our nation well into the future.