Columbus Air Force Base is a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

base located in

Columbus, Mississippi Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Mississippi, Lowndes County, on the eastern border of Mississippi, United States, located primarily east, but also north and northeast of the Tombigbee River, which is also part of the ...

. The host unit at Columbus AFB is the

14th Flying Training Wing The 14th Flying Training Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force based out of Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. The 14th Operations Group and its six squadrons are responsible for the 52-week Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) missio ...

(14 FTW), which is a part of

Air Education and Training Command The Air Education and Training Command (AETC) is one of the nine List of major commands of the United States Air Force, Major Commands (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force (USAF), reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force. It was esta ...

(AETC). The residential portion of the base is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

, with a population of 1,604 at the 2020 census.

Base history

Columbus Air Force Base (AFB) was established in 1941, after the US War Department authorized a pilot training base near Columbus, Mississippi. It was originally named Kaye Field, after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

Samuel Kaye Jr., but confusion with nearby Key Field in

Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, eighth most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 35,052 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi, ...

led to it being renamed as Columbus Army Flying School. The base was deactivated after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but was reactivated four years later with the beginning of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. In 1955, Columbus AFB was transferred to

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...

(SAC) and was occupied by the 4228th Strategic Wing, which later became the 454th Bombardment Wing. In 1969, Columbus AFB was transferred back to Air Training Command, and was occupied by the 3650th Pilot Training Wing, which became the

in 1972.

Based units

Flying and notable non-flying units based at Columbus Air Force Base. Units marked GSU are Geographically Separate Units, which although based at Columbus, are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location.

United States Air Force

(AETC) * Nineteenth Air Force **

***14th Comptroller Squadron *** 14th Operations Group ****14th Operations Support Squadron **** 14th Student Squadron **** 37th Flying Training Squadron –

T-6A Texan II The Beechcraft T-6 Texan II is a single-engine turboprop aircraft built by Textron Aviation. It is a license-built Pilatus PC-9, a trainer aircraft. The T-6 replaced the United States Air Force's Cessna T-37 Tweet, Cessna T-37B Tweet and the U ...

**** 41st Flying Training Squadron – T-6A Texan II **** 43rd Flying Training Squadron **** 48th Flying Training Squadron – T-1A Jayhawk **** 49th Fighter Training Squadron – T-38C Talon **** 50th Flying Training Squadron – T-38C Talon *** 14th Mission Support Group **** 14th Civil Engineering Squadron **** 14th Communications Squadron **** 14th Contracting Squadron **** 14th Force Support Squadron **** 14th Logistics Readiness Squadron **** 14th Security Forces Squadron *** 14th Medical Group **** 14th Medical Operations Squadron **** 14th Medical Support Squadron

Air Force Reserve Command The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a MAJCOM, major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of ...

(AFRC) * Tenth Air Force ** 340th Flying Training Group *** 43rd Flying Training Squadron (GSU) – T-1A Jayhawk, T-6A Texan II

Demographics

Columbus Air Force Base CDP is a

(CDP) and the official name for an area covering the residential population of the Columbus Air Force Base, in Lowndes County,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, United States. It was first listed as a CDP in 2008. The population at the 2020 census was 1,604.

2020 census

References

External links

* {{Authority control Airports in Mississippi Installations of the United States Air Force in Mississippi Census-designated places in Mississippi Census-designated places in Lowndes County, Mississippi