Reese Technology Center is a research and business park located on the grounds of former Reese Air Force Base in western

Lubbock Lubbock ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat, seat of government of Lubbock County, Texas, Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also ...

at the unincorporated community of Reese Center.

History

Reese Technology Center began as the Lubbock Army Air Corps Advanced Flying School in 1942. It was renamed Lubbock Army Flying School in 1943 and then Lubbock Army Airfield later that same year. In 1949, it was renamed Reese Air Force Base in honor of a local

West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio. No consensus exists on the boundary betwe ...

pilot, Augustus F. Reese, Jr., who was killed in a bombing raid over Italy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Over the years, many milestones were accomplished at Reese Air Force Base, including a special pilot training program, the first

flight simulator A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...

used in a training program, and a joint pilot training program with the Navy. More than 25,000 pilots, who fought in every conflict since World War II, were trained at Reese. In 1995, word reached the

community that Reese Air Force Base was on

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metonym ...

’s list for base closures. In spite of much opposition from community members and leaders alike, 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 to be closed. The Lubbock Reese Redevelopment Committee was renamed the Redevelopment Authority (LRRA) and could now execute contracts for base property. This committee was composed of local government officials and area business people.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Education in Lubbock, Texas Buildings and structures in Lubbock County, Texas 1942 establishments in Texas

History

See also

References

External links