Kearney Air Force Base Kearney Air Force Base , was a military airport located four nautical miles ( 7 km ) northeast of the central business district of Kearney , a city in Buffalo County , Nebraska , United States . After its closure , it was redeveloped into Kearney Regional Airport . History . In 1940 , Kearney had a population of 9 , 643 people . In the early 1940s , three Nebraska cities , Kearney , Grand Island and Hastings joined together to form the Central Nebraska Defense Council when it was learned that the United States Army Air Forces was considering the site for a military airfield . The group attempted to convince Washington that central Nebraska was a suitable location for defense related activities . Kearney and Grand Island effectively competed with one another as locations for defense airports which would serve as storage for aircraft being produced at Offutt Field and the Glenn L . Martin Bomber Plant near Omaha . As early as 1941 the City of Kearney voted on a $ 60 , 000 bond to finance a new airport . Kearney Regional Airport began as Keens Municipal Airport . The total cost ended up being more than $ 360 , 000 , with the balance funded by the Works Progress Administration ( WPA ) . Construction began at the site five miles east of Kearney on Highway 30 on 21 October 1941 , and was dedicated as Keens Airport on 23 August 1942 , with asphalt runways and a single hangar World War II . Shortly after the dedication of Keens Airport at Kearney , rumors spread that an army airfield may be located at Kearney . The City of Kearney not only offered the use of the Keens 532 acre ( 2 . 2 km² ) airfield , but signed a long - term lease with the Army for $ 1 . 00 per year for as long as the field was needed . An additional 2 , 227 . 5 acres ( 9 . 0 km² ) of farmland was condemned by the Army to provide more room . By September 1942 , the rumors appeared true , and the Army Corps of Engineers inspected the new airport , only to decide that it was inadequate for the kind of use it would receive . In October 1942 , approximately 1 , 000 laborers were brought in to build a new airfield adjacent to the Keens Airport . When completed , as many as 139 B - 29 Superfortress es could be parked along the taxiways of the new army airfield . Six large hangars were constructed , including the steel hangar at the extreme south end of the airfield which was completed in July 1944 to hold two B - 17 Flying Fortress es . Construction proceeded at a frantic pace . For example , construction began on the first of several mess halls on October 7 . By October 12 , meals were being served to 400 men in this new building . Housing was constructed to accommodate 542 officers , 3 , 230 enlisted men and 132 WACs ( Women ' s Air Corps ) . Construction of Kearney Army Airfield was officially complete by 1 February 1943 . Kearney AAF was placed under the command of Second Air Force Headquarters , Colorado Springs , Colorado . The 485th Army Air Force Base Unit commanded the support elements at Kearney as part of Air Technical Service Command . The 485th was assigned to the 21st Bombardment Wing ( February - August 1943 ) then transferred to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing in August 1943 for Boeing B - 17 Flying Fortress training . The 485th was transferred back to the 21st Bombardment Wing ( November 1943 - on ) . The base served a dual purpose during 1943 : one for training , the other for processing . It became a training field with the arrival of the 100th Bombardment Group . The 100th became the parent group responsible for producing cadres for new Army Air groups being formed and for training of combat crews . The ground crews were stationed at Kearney while the air crews were divided among various bases where they served as instructors . Then , having organized its offspring units , the 100th reunited at Kearney in mid - April and prepared for overseas movement . It departed Kearney in May and joined the Eighth Air Force in England . The following unit was assigned this base - 3rd Heavy Bombardment Processing Headquarters ( Provisional ) & 7th Heavy Bombardment Processing Headquarters . After the 100th moved out in May , it was decided to move the processing unit out of Kearney and to make the Kearney Air Base a replacement training center to develop replacement crews , provide them with second and third phase training before sending them off to staging centers for overseas duty . The 393d Bombardment Group replaced the 100th BG in that role . However , Kearney ' s days as a replacement training center lasted only from August to November 1943 . On 1 November the 393d Bombardment Group was transferred to Sioux City AAF Iowa , and was replaced by the bombardment processing units for B - 17 , and later Boeing B - 29 Stratofortress , crews and planes . From then until the end of the war Kearney Army Airfield remained a processing station . With the end of the war in Europe in May , 1945 , work at Kearney increased as attention was devoted to the war against Japan and the expanding B - 29 program . After Japan ' s surrender in August , 1945 , the number of base personnel gradually diminished , and by 1 March 1946 the base was reduced to mere housekeeping functions and it seemed as if it might be deactivated . Kearney Air Force Base . By December 1946 , it was announced that fifty - two additional housing units were to be constructed at Kearney AAF , which was the first evidence that the base would remain open . With the establishment of Strategic Air Command the Eighth Air Force 27th Fighter Wing was activated at Kearney Army Airfield on 28 July 1947 . The operational squadrons of the 27th Fighter Wing were : The 27th was initially equipped with the North American P - 51D Mustang , and in 1948 was upgraded to the new North American F - 82E Twin Mustang . In June 1948 the designation " P " for pursuit was changed to " F " for fighter . Subsequently , all P - 51s were redesignated F - 51s . The mission of the 27th Fighter Wing was to fly long - range escort missions for SAC B - 29 bombers . With the arrival of the F - 82s , the older F - 51s were sent to Air National Guard units . From a key personnel numbering only four in July 1946 the base population increased to 795 by 31 August and to a postwar peak of 2 , 344 by March 1948 . With the establishment of the United States Air Force as an independent service in September 1947 , the name of the airfield was changed to Kearney Air Force Base in January , 1948 . However , the Air Force considered the facility substandard . The two major deficiencies were inadequate housing facilities ( even though twenty - six new fourplex apartment houses had been built ) and a need for additional funds of $ 2 , 800 , 000 to bring existing facilities up to desired operating standards . With the tight defense budgets in the late 1940s , the decision was made by Strategic Air Command decided to close the base . The official announcement to move the 27th Fighter Wing was made on 16 February 1949 and operations officially ceased at Kearney on 15 March . The 27th Fighter Wing was transferred to Bergstrom AFB , Texas on 16 March 1949 . On 19 December 1949 , Kearney Air Force Base was turned over to the City of Kearney for use as a municipal airport . After acquisitions , the city removed two of the three runways and some of the associated taxiways from service . Today only a handful of buildings from the military era remain at Kearney Airport , the predominant one being Hangar 385 .