Columbus Air Force Base Columbus Air Force Base ( AFB ) is a United States Air Force base located approximately north of Columbus , Mississippi . The host unit at Columbus is the 14th Flying Training Wing ( 14 FTW ) assigned to the Air Education and Training Command . The 14 FTW ' s mission is to provide specialized undergraduate pilot training for U . S . Air Force and allied officers . Columbus AFB was established in 1941 as Air Corps Advanced Flying School , Columbus , Mississippi . The commander of the 14 FTW is Colonel John Nichols . The Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Rita Felton . Overview . Columbus AFB has been training Air Force pilots since World War II , and that mission continues today . The base closed after the war and remained inactive until 1951 when it was reopened as a contract flying school to train pilots during the Korean War . Four years later , the base was transferred from Air Training Command to Strategic Air Command . Columbus became home to a SAC strategic wing with a KC - 135 Stratotanker tanker squadron and a B - 52 Stratofortress bomber squadron in the late 1950s . This wing was later redesignated a bombardment wing in the 1960s . In 1969 , the SAC bomber mission at Columbus was inactivated and the base transferred back to the then - Air Training Command as an Undergraduate Pilot Training ( UPT ) base . Columbus AFB then resumed the mission for which it originally activated – training pilots , and has continued to do so for the past 40 years . About half the pilots in the Air Force today went through basic and primary flight training at Columbus AFB . Columbus AFB is home to the busiest military air traffic control facility in the world . Units . Columbus Air Force Base , Mississippi is home of the 14th Flying Training Wing of the Air Education and Training Command . History . World War II . The installation ' s history began 26 June 1941 , when the War Department approved establishment of an Army Air Field for the Columbus , Mississippi area . Behind this approval were months of concerted efforts by the local citizens . On the afternoon of 14 February 1941 , 100 of the area ' s leading citizens banded together to organize an association to secure defense industries . The citizens ' efforts bore fruit . Six months before the Pearl Harbor attack the War Department announced that a pilot training base would be established in Columbus . On 12 August 1941 , Columbus officials leased the tract of land to the United States for $ 1 per year . The base began as a training facility for fighters and bombers . Planned as a twin - engine advanced flying school , the new air base came under the control of the Southeastern Air Corps Training Center at Maxwell Field , Alabama . The Mion Company began construction on 12 September 1941 . On 13 January 1942 , 100 enlisted men arrived to form the first skeleton organizations on the base . The airfield had many auxiliary landing fields to support pilot training : No one designated or suggested a name for the new base until 22 January 1942 . On that date , the War Department announced the installation would be named Kaye Field , in honor of Capt Sam Kaye , a World War I flying ace from Columbus . That designation went into effect on 24 February . However , the name issue soon became one of confusion because another nearby base , Key Field in Meridian , Mississippi which had a similar sounding name . To correct the problem , in March 1942 , the War Department changed the name of the base from Kaye Field to Columbus Army Flying School . Columbus was initially assigned to the AAF Southeast Training Center with the Army Air Force Pilot School ( Advanced Twin - Engine ) activated ( phase 3 pilot training ) . The school ' s mission was to train cadets to fly transports and bombers . Pilot wings were awarded upon graduation and were sent on to group combat training by First , Second , Third or Fourth Air Force . Graduates were usually graded as Flight Officers ( Warrant Officers ) ; cadets who graduated at the top of their class were graded as Second Lieutenants . The school used a number of trainers , including the AT - 8 , AT - 9 , AT - 10 , and B - 25 . Training squadrons assigned to Columbus were the 423d , 424th , 425th , 426th , 427th and 428th TE Flying Training Squadrons . For administrative travel , Columbus used the AT - 6 and BC - 1A . The Columbus flying school received its first aircraft , nine Beech AT - 10 s and twenty - one AT - 8s in early 1942 . Barksdale Field , Louisiana , provided the first students . Twenty - five cadets arrived at Columbus in February 1942 . They had already completed a considerable part of their training when the Air Corps moved them . The cadets entered training at Columbus on 9 February and graduated on 6 March . During World War II , the training load gradually increased until Columbus was graduating 195 pilots per month . A total of 7 , 766 students came to Columbus for pilot training during the war . Of these , 7 , 412 graduated and received their wings and commissions . To accommodate the ever increasing number of trainees and aircraft , and several satellite airfields were used as part of the Columbus Army Flying School . On 8 January 1943 , the War Department constituted and activated the 30th Flying Training Wing ( Advanced Twin - Engine ) at Columbus and assigned it to the AAF Eastern Flying Training Command . Due to the efforts of Lt Col Joseph B . Duckworth , the Columbus Army Flying School developed and perfected two systems of training , which was adopted by the command . The first was the Flying Evaluation Board . This board instituted tough new criteria to evaluate an instructor ' s proficiency . The second was the " full panel " attitude system of instrument flying , which is credited with revolutionizing training in blind flying . In addition to the three instruments already used , students were taught to use two gyro instruments , the magnetic compass , the rate - of - climb indicator , and the clock . When the war ended in 1945 , the base strength had reached a peak of 2 , 300 enlisted men , 300 officers , and an average of 250 pilot cadets per class . The end of hostilities significantly slowed training activities , so in 1946 the War Department directed the inactivation of the base . Korean War . With the end of World War II , Columbus AAF was first placed on " reduced activity status " , and was inactivated on 15 August 1946 . The airfield was void of military activity , however the facility was not returned to civil authority . Administrative control of the base was initially assigned to Barksdale AAF in 1946 , then to Goodfellow AFB in 1948 , then to Craig AFB in 1950 . Communist troops from North Korea violated South Korea ' s borders and fighting broke out in 1950 . To handle increased pilot requirements for the Korean War , Air Training Command ( ATC ) activated the now - renamed Columbus Air Force Base on 20 December to be used as a station for a contract flying school . To manage the base , ATC established the 3301st Training Squadron ( Contract Flying ) on 1 March 1951 . The contractor who provided pilot training was California Eastern Airways . The 3301st oversaw the contract flight instruction of about 3 , 000 pilots in PA - 18 Piper Cubs and T - 6s . With the Korean War at an end and pilot production needs dropping , the decision was made to close the contract flying school at Columbus . In early 1955 , Air Training Command ATC directed that the mission be moved to Moore Air Force Base , Texas . Strategic Air Command . But while the Air Force ’ s pilot training requirements were decreasing , its strategic air arm was expanding . During the 1950s , Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) wings had become extremely large . As the Soviet missile threat became more pronounced and warning time decreased , Strategic Air Command bases presented increasingly attractive targets . But by providing additional bases to which the aircraft could be dispersed , the enemy ’ s targeting problem would be compounded , and more bombers could become airborne within a given time period . It was therefore decided to break up these large concentrations of aircraft and distribute them among more bases . Thus Columbus Air Force Base was relinquished to the Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) in April 1955 , the base being assigned to Second Air Force ( 2d AF ) . The base began an active four - year rebuilding program to prepare the base for its new mission and to be part of SAC ' s base dispersal system . City fathers deeded an additional to the base so that a northwest - southeast runway could be built , along with a 480 - unit family housing project . It was not until December 1957 , however , that officials at HQ SAC announced the base would become the home of a B - 52 bombardment squadron and a KC - 135 air refueling tanker squadron . To manage these units , on 1 July 1958 , Strategic Air Command activated the 4228th Strategic Wing at Columbus , composed of the 492d Bombardment Squadron ( 15 B - 52Fs ) and 901st Air Refueling Squadron ( KC - 135A tankers ) , being reassigned from the 7th Bomb Wing at Carswell AFB , Texas . The first KC - 135 Stratotanker , piloted by the wing commander , landed on the new runway on 7 January 1959 . This was followed by the arrival of the first B - 52 on 28 May . In February 1963 , SAC inactivated the 4228th Strategic Wing and activated the 454th Bombardment Wing , in its place . The 454th conducted air refueling operations , trained in bombardment operations and maintained a SAC nuclear alert posture . In 1965 the 454th converted to B - 52D , which was re - engineered for conventional bomb missions over Southeast Asia , although some B - 52Cs were also assigned during 1968 – 69 . As a result , the 454th wing headquarters , staff , tactical aircraft and crews and maintenance personnel were integrated into SAC ' s combat forces in the Pacific and Southeast Asia . The 454th Bombardment Wing completed more than 100 missions to South Vietnam without losing a single bomber to enemy aircraft fire . In May 1967 , General Edward O . Martin assumed command of the 454th Bombardment Wing at Columbus , and one month later he led the wing on its second deployment to the Western Pacific area in support of Southeast Asia operations and returned to Columbus in December 1967 . In May 1968 the 454th Wing made its third deployment to the Western Pacific area , its second under the command of General Martin . During their involvement in the Vietnam War , the 454th Combat Support Group operated Columbus AFB . Air Training Command / Air Education and Training Command . As the demand for pilots to support the war in Southeast Asia increased , the number of B - 52s based stateside fell because they were needed overseas . At the same time , Minuteman and Polaris missiles were taking their places in strategic deterrence , replacing much of the bomber alert force . So , after 14 years under Strategic Air Command , Columbus Air Force Base rejoined Air Training Command 1 July 1969 , and resumed the mission for which it was originally activated — training pilots . In preparation for this transfer , Air Training Command had activated the 3650th Pilot Training Wing at Columbus on 15 February . The first undergraduate pilot training ( UPT ) class — 71 - 01 — entered school on 17 July . Three years later , on 1 June 1972 , Air Training Command ( ATC ) discontinued the 3650th and activated the 14th Flying Training Wing in its place , assuming its equipment , personnel and mission . This was part of a program to retain the legacy of Vietnam War combat wings which were being inactivated due to the phasedown of the USAF in Southeast Asia . The 14 FTW continues today as the host organization at Columbus . In 1992 , ATC was inactivated and the 14 FTW came under the newly created Air Education and Training Command ( AETC ) and AETC ' s 19th Air Force ( 19 AF ) . 19 AF was subsequently inactivated in July 2012 and all flying flying wings became subordinate units of AETC headquarters . In addition , Columbus Air Force Base was designated as an alternate NASA Space Shuttle Landing Site when that program was in operation . Recently both the South Gate and Main Gate have been reconstructed . Previous names . Note : On " reduced activity status " January – March 1946 ; inactivated , 15 August 1946 ; removed from inactive status , placed on active status , and changed to primary installation , 20 December 1950 . Geography . According to the United States Census Bureau , the base has a total area of 18 . 2 km² ( 7 . 0 mi² ) , all land . Demographics . As of the census of 2000 , there are 2 , 060 people , 570 households , and 532 families residing on the base . The population density is 113 . 0 / km² ( 292 . 8 / mi² ) . There are 642 housing units at an average density of 35 . 2 / km² ( 91 . 2 / mi² ) . The racial makeup of the base is 75 . 6 % White , 16 . 4 % Black or African American , 0 . 7 % Native American , 2 . 5 % Asian , 0 . 1 % Pacific Islander , 1 . 7 % from other races , and 3 . 0 % from two or more races . 4 . 9 % of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race . There are 570 households out of which 64 . 0 % have children under the age of 18 living with them , 85 . 8 % are married couples living together , 5 . 1 % have a female householder with no husband present , and 6 . 5 % are non - families . 5 . 6 % of all households are made up of individuals and 0 . 7 % have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older . The average household size is 3 . 18 and the average family size is 3 . 27 . The age distribution of the base is : 33 . 4 % under the age of 18 , 21 . 8 % from 18 to 24 , 41 . 4 % from 25 to 44 , 2 . 7 % from 45 to 64 , and 0 . 7 % who are 65 years of age or older . The median age is 24 years . For every 100 females there are 126 . 1 males . For every 100 females age 18 and over , there are 126 . 2 males . All these statistics are broadly typical for military bases . The median income for a household on the base is $ 39 , 596 , and the median income for a family is $ 40 , 602 . Males have a median income of $ 26 , 111 versus $ 20 , 481 for females . The per capita income for the base is $ 15 , 626 . 7 . 6 % of the population and 7 . 2 % of families are below the poverty line . Out of the total population , 6 . 5 % of those under the age of 18 and 0 . 0 % of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line . Education . Children of Columbus Air Force Base military personnel are served by the Columbus Municipal School District . Columbus has just started a school choice program that allows children to attend Caledonia Schools in Lowndes County , Mississippi .