Charleston Air Force Base
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charleston Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located in North Charleston, South Carolina. The base is home of the 437th Airlift Wing. It is home to 52 C-17 Globemaster III's. The base currently employs over 4,500 military and civilian personnel.
[edit] History
The city of Charleston purchased land in 1931 to build a new airfield. In December 1941, the Army Air Corps took control of the field, and by 1942 anti-submarine mission were being flown out of Charleston Army Air Field.
Training for the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator was conducted there during World War II.
In 1946, the airfield changed to solely civilian use. In 1952, the city of Charleston and the Air Force agreed to joint-use of the runways. The Tactical Air Command re-established military operation at the base in 1952. On Mar. 1, 1956 the base was transferred to the Military Air Transport Service (MATS). In 1966 MATS became the Military Airlift Command and in October 1991, was renamed Air Mobility Command.
