Brookley Air Force Base Brookley Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base located in Mobile , Alabama . After it closed in 1969 , it became what is now known as the Brookley Aeroplex . History . Brookley Air Force Base had its aeronautical beginnings with Mobile ' s first municipal airport , the original Bates Field . However , the site itself had been occupied from the time of Mobile ' s founding , starting with the home of Mobile ' s founding father , Jean - Baptiste Le Moyne , Sieur de Bienville , in the early 18th century . In 1938 the Army Air Corps took over the then Bates Field site and established the Brookley Army Air Field . The military was attracted to the site because of the area ' s generally good flying weather and the bay - front location , but Alabama Congressman Frank Boykin ' s influence in Washington was important in convincing the Army to locate the new military field in Mobile instead of Tampa , Florida . However , later that year , Tampa was also chosen for a military flying installation of its own , which would be named MacDill Field , home of present day MacDill Air Force Base . World War II . During World War II , Brookley Army Air Field became the major Army Air Forces supply base for the Air Material Command in the southeastern United States and the Caribbean . Many air depot personnel , logisticians , mechanics , and other support personnel were trained at Brookley during the war . Both Air Materiel and Technical Services Command organized mobile Depot Groups at Brookley , then once trained were deployed around the world as Air Depot Groups , Depot Repair Squadrons , Quartermaster Squadrons , Ordnance Maintenance , Military Police , and many other units whose mission was to support the front - line combat units with depot - level maintenance for aircraft and logistical support to maintain their operations . Air Transport Command operated large numbers of cargo and passenger aircraft from the base as part of its Domestic Wing . During the war , Brookley became Mobile ’ s largest employer , with about 17 , 000 skilled civilians capable of performing delicate work with fragile instruments and machinery . In 1944 , the Army decided to take advantage of Brookley ’ s large , skilled workforce for its top - secret “ Ivory Soap ” project to hasten victory in the Pacific . The project required 24 large vessels to be re - modeled into Aircraft Repair and Maintenance Units that had to be able to accommodate B - 29 bombers , P - 51 Mustangs , R - 4B Sikorsky helicopters , and amphibious vehicles . The Air Force delivered all 24 vessels to Mobile , Alabama in spring 1944 to start remodeling . Some 5 , 000 men underwent a complex training process that prepared them to rebuild the vessels and operate them once on the water . By the end of the year , the vessels departed Mobile . One of the keys to Allied victory in Europe was the Norden Bomb Sight , which enabled bomber squadrons to target Germany ’ s war - making industry and infrastructure much more accurately . The military repaired and calibrated the bombsights at Brookley in a secret facility , still standing and in use today . In 1944 with the closure of the Army contract flying school at nearby Bates Army Airfield , Air Transport Command operations were shifted to Bates to alleviate runway traffic at Brookley . Late in 1945 Bates Field was returned to civil control and ATC operations returned to Brookley . Postwar use . Following World War II and the creation of an independent United States Air Force , the installation became Brookley Air Force Base . In 1947 with the closure of Morrision Field , Florida , the C - 74 Globemaster project was moved to Brookley . The C - 74 was , at the time , the largest military transport aircraft in the world . It was developed by Douglas Aircraft after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . The long distances across the Atlantic , and especially the Pacific Ocean to the combat areas indicated a need for a transoceanic heavy - lift military transport aircraft . The " C - 74 squadron " ( later 521st Air Transport Group , 1701st Air Transport Wing ) , Air Transport Command operated two squadrons of C - 74 Globemasters from Brookley from 1947 until their retirement in 1955 . The eleven aircraft were used extensively for worldwide transport of personnel and equipment , supporting United States military missions . They saw extensive service supporting the Berlin Airlift and the Korean War being used on scheduled MATS overseas routes though the late 1940s and mid - 1950s . Additionally , logistic support flights for Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) , and Tactical Air Command ( TAC ) saw the Globemaster in North Africa , the Middle East , Europe , the Caribbean , and within the United States . Two C - 74s were used to support the first TAC Republic F - 84 Thunderjet flight across the Pacific Ocean to Japan . SAC also continued to use the Globemasters to rotate Boeing B - 47 Stratojet Medium Bombardment Groups on temporary duty in England and Morocco as part of their REFLEX operation . The C - 74s were retired in 1955 due to lack of logistical support . the 1701st ATW flew strategic airlift missions on a worldwide scale with its C - 124 Globemaster II fleet after the retirement of the C - 74 until 1957 when Military Air Transport Service moved out of Brookley AFB and the base came under the full jurisdiction of Air Material Command . In 1962 , the Air Material Command was renamed as the Air Force Logistics Command ( AFLC ) and Brookley AFB became an AFLC installation and the host base of the modification and repair center ' s successor organization , the Mobile Air Materiel Area ( MOAMA ) . After an immediate end to many of the wartime jobs of World War II , the base ' s civilian workforce again expanded to around 16 , 000 people by 1962 , a result of both the Cold War and other USAF base closings in other areas of the country . During this time , AFLC ' s Mobile Air Materiel Area ( MOAMA ) provided depot - level maintenance for various USAF aircraft of the period , to include the C - 119 Flying Boxcar , C - 131 Samaritan , F - 84 Thunderstreak , RF - 84 Thunderflash and the F - 104 Starfighter . In 1964 , the Air Force Reserve 908th Tactical Airlift Group moved to Brookley from Bates Field . It operated C - 119 Flying Boxcar transports . Closure . On 19 November 1964 , the Department of Defense announced a progressive reduction in employment and the eventual closure of Brookley Air Force Base . The costs of the escalation of the Vietnam War was cited as the primary reason for the closure . Robert McNamara , the Secretary of Defense , was unpopular both with Congress and with the public . Military bases were sources of employment and federal dollars for states and local communities , which allowed them to handle the cost of them and sales to military people stationed at the base . Moreover , McNamara worked for President Lyndon B . Johnson , who had a reputation for rewarding friends and punishing opponents . When McNamara began the base closure announcements , suspicion began that Johnson was picking bases to close as retribution for the recent 1964 Presidential Election . The Republican candidate , Senator Barry Goldwater , had carried Alabama in the election and it was believed that Johnson was penalizing Alabama for defecting from its traditional Democratic Party ties . McNamara , however , had another agenda , as he wanted to curb the Air Force ' s reliance on large aircraft in favor of long - range missiles and closing maintenance facilities such as Brookley was a way to do that . McNamara , however , denied that politics played any part in the decision to close several Air Force bases including Brookley . The reserve 904th TAG was moved to Maxwell AFB , Alabama in April . The incoming Nixon Administration in 1969 confirmed the closure of Brookley as a way to save money because of the Vietnam War , and when it finally closed in June 1969 , Brookley AFB represented the largest base closure in U . S . history up to that time , eliminating 10 % of local jobs for the Mobile workforce , which provided an annual payroll of $ 95 million to the local economy . Post - military use . After closure , the base was returned to the City of Mobile . Later , the city transferred it to the Mobile Airport Authority and it became known as the Mobile Downtown Airport . The city had created the Mobile Airport Authority in 1982 to oversee the operation of the Mobile Regional Airport and what would become the Brookley Aeroplex . The Mobile Airport Authority is autonomous and is not a part of the city or Mobile County . The Authority ’ s five board members are appointed by Mobile ’ s Mayor , approved by the Mobile City Council , and serve 6 year terms . Trivia . Many of the sets from the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind were filmed in an aircraft hangar at Brookley . B - 17 Flying Fortress es from Brookley Air Force Base were flown in the 1949 film " Twelve O ' Clock High " , filmed largely at the nearby Eglin Air Force Base complex in Florida . In May 1976 , the American Freedom Train was displayed at Brookley Center .