Sumpter Smith Joint National Guard Base is a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

(USAF) installation located at a

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. It hosts the 117th Air Refueling Wing, part of the Air National Guard, which operates the

KC-135R Stratotanker The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It is the predominant variant of the Boeing C-135 Stratolifter, C-135 Strat ...

. The base was previously known as Alabama Air National Guard Base.

History

The base is named after

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

Walter Sumpter Smith who was born on 12 February 12 1896 in Belle Ellen, Alabama and became an electrical engineer and a pilot. In 1921, Smith was appointed to the

106th Observation Squadron The 106th Air Refueling Squadron (106 ARS) is a unit of the Alabama Air National Guard 117th Air Refueling Wing. It is assigned to Birmingham Air National Guard Base, Alabama and is equipped with the KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft. The squadr ...

of the

Alabama National Guard The Alabama National Guard is the National Guard of the U.S State of Alabama, and consists of the Alabama Army National Guard and the Alabama Air National Guard. (The Alabama State Defense Force is the third military unit of the Alabama Militar ...

and commissioned as a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

at Roberts Field in Birmingham, Alabama. He reached the rank of lieutenant colonel on August 12, 1932 and colonel in 1942. In 1934, the facilities at Roberts Field became less adequate and the local government decided to build a new facility which became

Birmingham Municipal Airport Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West M ...

. In 1938, after four years of construction, the 106th Observation Squadron moved to the new base. As a testimony to Smith’s role in the development and construction, the base was eventually named Sumpter Smith Joint National Guard Base. It remained that way until sometime during the early 1990s when the name evolved to the Alabama Air National Guard Base, Birmingham, Alabama. It’s not really clear why the name changed and no official documents have been found. A push was made to restore the name of the base to Sumpter Smith Air National Guard Base and was made official during the summer of 2017.

Based units

Flying and notable non-flying units based at Sumpter Smith Joint National Guard Base. Units marked GSU are Geographically Separate Units, which although based at Sumpter Smith, are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location.

United States Air Force

Air National Guard *

Alabama Air National Guard The Alabama Air National Guard (AL ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Alabama, United States of America. It is, along with the Alabama Army National Guard, an element of the Alabama National Guard. As state militia units, the units in ...

** 117th Air Refueling Wing (Host Wing) *** 117th Operations Group **** 106th Air Refueling Squadron –

*** 117th Maintenance Group *** 117th Medical Group *** 117th Mission Support Group

Air Mobility Command Air Mobility Command (AMC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the U.S. Air Force. It is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, east of St. Louis, Missouri. Air Mobility Command was established on 1 June 1992, and was formed from eleme ...

Eighteenth Air Force Eighteenth Air Force (Air Forces Transportation) (18 AF) is the only Numbered Air Force (NAF) in Air Mobility Command (AMC) and one of the largest NAFs in the United States Air Force. 18 AF was activated on 28 March 1951, inactivated on 1 Janu ...

** 6th Air Refueling Wing ***

6th Operations Group The 6th Operations Group (6 OG) is the operational flying component of the 6th Air Refueling Wing, stationed at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. The mission of the 6th OG is the planning and executing global aerial refueling, combatant command ...

****

99th Air Refueling Squadron The 99th Air Refueling Squadron is part of the 6th Air Mobility Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, but is stationed at Birmingham Air National Guard Base, Alabama. It is an Active Associate Unit, an active duty component attached to the A ...

(GSU) – KC-135R Stratotanker

References

{{US Air Force, article=A Return to Sumpter Smith, url=https://www.117arw.ang.af.mil/News/Features/Display/Article/1369874/a-return-to-sumpter-smith/, accessdate=22 February 2020, author=Senior Master Sgt. Ken Johnson Installations of the United States Air Force in Alabama Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Alabama Installations of the United States Air National Guard Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport

History

Based units

United States Air Force

See also

References