Below are historical photographs of the Lockbourne Air Force Base near Columbus, known today as Rickenbacker International Airport. The base was activated in June 1942 as the Northeastern Training Center of the Army Air Corps, providing basic pilot training and military support. Renamed Lockbourne Air Force Base a few years later, it was home to the 91st Bomb Wing, 70th Bomb Wing, 301st Bomb Wing, 55th Fighter Wing along with many others, including the Tuskegee Airmen’s 477th Composite Group. The base’s size was nearly doubled in the 1950s with the outbreak of the Korean War. New runways were built, jumbo hangers appeared, the jet age came about and the base had aircraft stationed on full-time alert. During the Vietnam War, the base reached an all-time high of more than 18,000 service personnel in 1967.
The base was renamed Rickenbacker Air Force base in 1974 in honor of World War One flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker. In 1978, the Strategic Air Command functions at the base transferred elsewhere and 12,000 jobs were lost. A phased closing of the base began in 1979, transferring portions of the base to the newly established Rickenbacker Port Authority and the Ohio Air National Guard. The base officially closed in 1994 after the last of its operations had been transferred. In the mid 1990s to early 2000s, Rickenbacker became a transportation hub for commerce. The airport was established as a Foreign Trade Zone and houses US Customs offices. This designation triggered major industrial development around the former base in the late 1990s that continues to present day. The Ohio Air National Guard and the Naval Reserve maintain a portion of the airport.
Photographs
An aerial view of airplane hangars and some of the parking apron.
A couple of barracks buildings on the base in the 1940s.
A 1940s view of the barracks and maintenance areas, with the base's water tower in the background.
The air base's original control tower. It was demolished and replaced circa 2016.
A squadron if planes flying over Lockbourne Air Force Base in 1943.
A-2 Bomber training taking place in a base hangar in 1945.
Squadron F 114th AAFB Unit's honor flag in 1945.
An aerial view of Lockbourne AFB taken in 1945, with its original runway layout.
A 1945 photo of Base Commander Col. Robert Burnham.
Col. Robert Burnham with Captain Eddie Rickenbacker in 1945.
A 1946 photo of the base's motor pool Jeep.
Troops exiting a plane on the base's runway in 1950.
A serviceman inspecting a hose on the back of a fire truck in 1951.
Another fire truck in use in this 1952 photograph.
Lockbourne AFB's guard house as it appeared in 1953.
A multipurpose dock circa 1953. The doors were designed to allow the plane's tail to remain outside.
An undated photo of Gate 28 at the air base.
The Tuskegee Military Police were re-assigned to Lockbourne AFB in 1946 after Tuskegee was closed.
A serviceman sweeping snow off an airplane in 1954.
Other service men use portable heaters to warm the engines in 1954.
A 1956 photo of the Vickers Valiant jet. We believe the tail number was WZ397.
Aircraft refueling over the base on an unknown date.
A RB-47 bomber returning to Lockbourne AFB from a training mission crashed near Sugar Grove in 1958.
All four men aboard the plane were killed instantly. Here's a look at the impact area of the accident.
The Flying Tigers facility being built in 1985. The building is now used by FedEx.
An undated photo of the original control tower sometime after the base was renamed Rickenbacker Air Force Base.
The F-15 Eagle arrived at Rickenbacker AFB in 1974.
