Columbus Air Force Base
Columbus Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in unincorporated Lowndes County, Mississippi, near Columbus. The host unit at Columbus AFB is the 14th Flying Training Wing , which is a part of Air Education and Training Command.
The residential portion of the base is a census-designated place, with a population of 1,604 at the 2020 census.
Base history
Columbus Air Force Base was established in 1941, after the US War Department authorized a pilot training base near Columbus, Mississippi. It was originally named Kaye Field, after World War I flying ace Samuel Kaye Jr., but confusion with nearby Key Field in Meridian, Mississippi led to it being renamed as Columbus Army Flying School. The base was deactivated after the end of World War II, but was reactivated four years later with the beginning of the Korean War.In 1955, Columbus AFB was transferred to Strategic Air Command and was occupied by the 4228th Strategic Wing, which later became the 454th Bombardment Wing. In 1969, Columbus AFB was transferred back to Air Training Command, and was occupied by the 3650th Pilot Training Wing, which became the 14th Flying Training Wing in 1972.
Based units
Flying and notable non-flying units based at Columbus Air Force Base.Units marked GSU are Geographically Separate Units, which although based at Columbus, are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location.
United States Air Force
Air Education and Training Command ''- Nineteenth Air Force
- *14th Flying Training Wing
- **14th Comptroller Squadron
- **14th Operations Group
- ***14th Operations Support Squadron
- *** 14th Student Squadron
- *** 37th Flying Training Squadron – T-6A Texan II
- *** 41st Flying Training Squadron – T-6A Texan II
- *** 43rd Flying Training Squadron
- *** 48th Flying Training Squadron – T-1A Jayhawk
- *** 49th Fighter Training Squadron – T-38C Talon
- *** 50th Flying Training Squadron – T-38C Talon
- ** 14th Mission Support Group
- *** 14th Civil Engineering Squadron
- *** 14th Communications Squadron
- *** 14th Contracting Squadron
- *** 14th Force Support Squadron
- *** 14th Logistics Readiness Squadron
- *** 14th Security Forces Squadron
- ** 14th Medical Group
- *** 14th Medical Operations Squadron
- *** 14th Medical Support Squadron
- Tenth Air Force
- * 340th Flying Training Group
- ** 43rd Flying Training Squadron – T-1A Jayhawk, T-6A Texan II
Demographics
2020 census
Education
Parents of dependent children on-post may choose to send their children to Columbus Municipal School District schools or to Lowndes County School District's Caledonia School. There are no schools located on-post.East Mississippi Community College is the designated community college for Lowndes County.