Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base | |
Nearest Town: | Columbus, Ohio |
Country: | the United States |
Type: | Air National Guard Base |
Pushpin Map: | USA |
Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in the United States |
Pushpin Label: | Rickenbacker ANGB |
Ownership: | Department of Defense |
Operator: | US Air Force (USAF) |
Controlledby: | Ohio Air National Guard (ANG) |
Built: | 1940s (as Lockbourne Army Airfield) |
Used: | 1940s – present |
Condition: | Operational |
Current Commander: | Colonel David B. Johnson |
Garrison: | 121st Air Refueling Wing |
Iata: | LCK |
Icao: | KLCK |
Faa: | LCK |
Wmo: | 724285 |
Elevation: | 226.7m (743.8feet) |
R1-Number: | 5R/23L |
R1-Length: | 3688.6m (12,101.7feet) |
R1-Surface: | Asphalt/concrete |
R2-Number: | 5L/23R |
R2-Length: | 3627.7m (11,901.9feet) |
R2-Surface: | Asphalt |
Footnotes: | Airfield shared with Rickenbacker International Airport. Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] |
Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base is an Ohio Air National Guard installation at Rickenbacker International Airport near Lockbourne in southern Franklin County. The base was named for the famous early aviator and Columbus native Eddie Rickenbacker. It is the home of the 121st Air Refueling Wing (121 ARW), an Air National Guard (ANG) unit that serves as the host wing and operates in federal service under the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command (AMC).
Rickenbacker ANGB operates at the airport as a tenant of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, sharing the facility with commercial airlines and other civilian aircraft operators. The air base is a joint military facility whose own tenant activities include the Ohio Army National Guard's Army Aviation Support Facility #2, Navy Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve units, and associated facilities.
During World War II, the installation was a U.S. Army Air Forces training base known as Lockbourne Army Airfield, becoming an Air Force base in 1948 a few months following the establishment of the United States Air Force as an independent branch of the U.S. armed forces. The base was named Lockbourne AFB from 1948 to 1974 and later Rickenbacker AFB from 1974 to 1980. The facility was transferred from Strategic Air Command and the active duty Air Force on 1 April 1980 and turned over to the Air National Guard.