Chennault Air Force Base Chennault Air Force Base was a United States Air Force Strategic Air Command base located near Lake Charles , Louisiana . It was closed in 1963 . History . Origins . In June 1941 , the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury leased the Lake Charles Municipal Airport to the federal government to build the Lake Charles Army Flying School , an advanced flying school for single - engine fighter pilots . It had two axillary fields for emergency and overflow landings and takeoffs . The airfield was assigned to the Army Air Corps Training Command , Gulf Coast Training Center . The 481st School Squadron was reassigned to Lake Charles AAF on 10 February 1942 , being redesignated as the 481st Single Engine Flying Training Squadron ( Advanced ) on 28 October , used the North American AT - 6 Texan . The 482d and 483d squadrons were assigned shortly afterwords ; being part of the 60th and 61st Single Engine Flying Training Groups ( Advanced ) > Advanced single - engine flight training was performed at Lake Charles until 13 January 1943 when it was reassigned to the newly established Aloe Army Airfield , Texas . AAF Flying Training Command was replaced by Third Air Force , which established a tactical bomber group training school at the airfield , being redesignated as Lake Charles Army Airfield . Known units assigned were : At the end of the war , Lake Charles AAF was designated as a permanent installation , and the 47th Bombardment Group ( Light ) was reassigned from the closing Seymour - Johnson Field , in North Carolina . The 47th flew the A - 26 Invader light bomber . Budget cuts in 1946 forced the inactivation of the 47th Bomb Group , and the airfield was inactivated on 31 December . The airfield was reassigned to Air Technical Service Command for disposition . It subsequently was turned over to the City of Lake Charles on 28 February 1947 . Strategic Air Command . 44th Bombardment Wing . When the Korean War began in 1950 a cadre was formed to reactivate the 44th Bombardment Wing at March Air Force Base , California . The Wing ' s activation at March followed by a reassignement to the recently reactivated Lake Charles AFB in July 1951 , where the wing became operational and was assigned to Fifteenth Air Force , 12th Air Division . Lake Charles AFB was reactivated in February , and a crash project was undertaken to bring the World War II facility up to SAC standards for B - 29 Superfortress operations . The first B - 29 arrived on 1 September , and until August 1952 , the 44th Bomb Wing served as operational training unit for B - 29 aircrews and maintenance personnel for Far East Air Forces . From 10 October 1951 to 15 May 1952 , the 44th trained all elements of the 68th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing . Operational squadrons of the 44th Bombardment Group were the 44th , 66th , 67th and 68th Bombardment squadrons . Re - equipped with operational B - 29s , the wing became a first - line strategic bombardment wing in August 1952 . In April 1953 , the addition of the Boeing KC - 97 Stratotanker equipped 44th Air Refueling Squadron added an air - refueling mission to the wing . In 1953 , the wing traded in its propeller - driven bombers and received the B - 47E Stratojet . Participating in SAC Reflex deployments with the B - 47 , the 44th deployed at Sidi Slimane AB , French Morocco , 19 January - 22 February . 1953 and 19 April . - 17 June . 1954 . A fourth B - 47 squadron , the 506th was added on 1 December 1958 . On 15 June 1960 , the 44th was taken off operational status and was discontinued . Its squadrons were inactivated . The wing was transferred without personnel or equipment to Ellsworth AFB , South Dakota on 24 November 1961 , being redesignated the 44th Strategic Missile Wing . 68th Bombardment Wing . The 68th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing , Medium was established on 4 October 1951 and activated on 10 October at Lake Charles AFB . It received its initial cadre of 16 personnel from the 44th Bombardment Wing and began training as a Reconnaissance Wing using borrowed B - 29s configured as RB - 29s , assigning them to the 24th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron . It received its own B - 29s in May 1952 , then began training as a bombardment wing . Operational squadrons of the 68th Bombardment Group were the 51st and 52d Bombardment Squadron s . On June 16 , 1952 , the wing was redesignated the 68th Bombardment Wing , Medium . On 16 January 1953 the B - 29 Superfortress was replaced with the new all - jet B - 47 Stratojet . The wing also received KC - 97 Stratotankers and added a refueling mission . The 656th Bomb Squadron became the third B - 47 squadron , with the tankers assigned to the 68th Air Refueling Squadron . It conducted strategic bombardment training from May 1954 to June 1963 and air refueling operations from May 1954 to September 1957 . It was deployed at RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom from June 14 to August 7 , 1954 and at RAF Brize Norton , England from September 27 , 1957 to January 8 , 1958 . A fourth B - 47 squadron , the 657th , was added on 1 December 1958 . Local military and civilian leaders wanted to rename the Lake Charles Air Force Base for Lt Gen Claire Chennault prior to his death on July 27 , 1958 , but the Air Force refused to name a base after a living person . The Air Force granted the request after Chennault ’ s death . At the dedication ceremony on November 14 , 1958 , Anna Chennault unveiled a large oil painting of her late husband . He had been commander of the famed Flying Tigers American volunteer airmen fighting in China during the Second World War . Closure . In the 1960s , the Air Force began modernizing its fleet with the B - 52 Stratofortress replacing the B - 47 Stratojet and the KC - 135 Stratotanker replacing the KC - 97 Stratotanker . In addition , Titan II and Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missiles ( ICBM s also permitted the replacement of some bomber wings with missile wings . The 68th Bombardment Wing moved to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina on 15 April 1963 , where it replaced the 4241st Strategic Wing at Seymour Johnson AFB , and was equipped with the B - 52 and KC - 135 . The move effectively closed Chennault Air Force Base , which officially inactivated on 30 June 1963 . It is now operated as Chennault International Airport , a fully operational facility dedicated to business , general aviation , and aviation maintenance .