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| Dobbins Air Reserve Base | |||||||||
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| Marietta,Georgia in theUnited States of America | |||||||||
.jpg) AC-130 Hercules operated by the700th Airlift Squadron, part of the94th Airlift Wing based at Dobbins ARB. | |||||||||
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| Site information | |||||||||
| Type | US Air Force Base | ||||||||
| Owner | Department of Defense | ||||||||
| Operator | US Air Force | ||||||||
| Controlled by | Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) | ||||||||
| Condition | Operational | ||||||||
| Website | www.dobbins.afrc.af.mil/ | ||||||||
| Location | |||||||||
  Dobbins ARB  Dobbins ARB  Dobbins ARB | |||||||||
| Coordinates | 33°54′55″N084°30′59″W / 33.91528°N 84.51639°W /33.91528; -84.51639 (Dobbins ARB) | ||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||
| Built | 1941 (1941) (as Rickenbacker Field) | ||||||||
| In use | 1941 – present | ||||||||
| Garrison information | |||||||||
| Current commander | Colonel Carl Magnusson | ||||||||
| Garrison | 94th Airlift Wing (Host) | ||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||
| Identifiers | IATA: MGE,ICAO: KMGE,FAA LID: MGE,WMO: 722270 | ||||||||
| Elevation | 325.5 metres (1,068 ft)AMSL | ||||||||
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| Source:Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||||||||
Dobbins Air Reserve Base orDobbins ARB (IATA:MGE,ICAO:KMGE,FAALID:MGE) is aUnited States Air Forcereserve air base located inMarietta,Georgia, asuburb about 20 miles (32 km) northwest ofAtlanta. Originally known as Dobbins Air Force Base, it was named in honor of Captain Charles M. Dobbins, aWorld War IIC-47 pilot who died nearSicily.
The installation is the home station of the host wing, the94th Airlift Wing (94 AW) of theAir Force Reserve Command (AFRC) and its fleet ofC-130 Hercules aircraft, and is also the location of the headquarters for AFRC'sTwenty-Second Air Force (22 AF).
Dobbins ARB is also home to Army Aviation Service Facility #2 (AASF #2) of theGeorgia Army National Guard and their fleet ofUH-60 Blackhawks andUH-72 Lakota[2] helicopters. Associated units to AASF #2 include 1st Battalion, 171st General Support Aviation Regiment; Company H, 171st Aviation Regiment; Company C, 2nd Battalion, 151st Aviation; and Detachment 1, Company C, 111th General Aviation Support Battalion, 111th Aviation Regiment.
Additional Reserve component organizations at Dobbins include various units of theMarine Corps Reserve andNavy Reserve.
Dobbins ARB has tworunways which it shares with theGeneral Lucius D. Clay National Guard Center (formerlyNaval Air Station Atlanta) to its south. Runway 11/29 is the primary runway and is 10,000 feet (3,000 m) long and 300 feet (91 m) wide with directions 110 and 290 magnetic. The second runway, called an "assault strip", is a 3500×60-foot (1067×18-meter) runway referred to as 110–290, which is parallel to Runway 11/29.
Over 14,000 flight operations occur annually making the Dobbins complex an extremely active facility with diverse air traffic operations from all branches of the military and other US government agencies. This air traffic environment takes place within the area of the busiest airport in the world (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport) and is as busy as many medium-sized commercial airports.
Originally intended byCobb County, Georgia, as an alternativeairfield forAtlanta'sCandler Field, this airfield was constructed in 1941 asRickenbacker Field. This was named for the formerU.S. Army Air Corps topflying ace ofWorld War I,CaptainEddie Rickenbacker.
The push to build this airport came in 1940 whenPresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt selected GeneralLucius D. Clay of the Army Air Corps to be the chief of the newCivil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), which was engaged in a huge program of airfield construction. About 450 to 500 of these were built in preparation for any possible war against theUnited States - from the east (Nazi Germany andFascist Italy) or from the west (theEmpire of Japan).
In 1940, the CAA offered to build a modernpavedairport in Cobb County if the local governments provided the land. Due to the potential labor force for defense factories in this area, local officials also hoped to attract a largeaircraft factory adjacent to the site. On October 24, the government of Cobb County announced the existence of this airport project, and it also revealed that purchase options had been signed for three prospective sites. TheAtlanta City Council also passed a resolution endorsing this project on January 2, 1941. Since the Army Air Corps had recently taken over part of Candler Field (nowHartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport), the principal municipal airport forAtlanta, the new airport in Cobb County was also seen as a reliever airport for Atlanta.
In May, the local government issuedbonds to purchase 563 acres (228 ha) located3+1⁄2 miles southeast of Marietta along the western side of the new four-lanesuperhighway,U.S. Highway 41, linking Marietta with Atlanta. The CAA next allocated $400,000 for construction of two 4,000-foot (1,200 m)-longrunways on the land. The W. L. Florence Company ofPowder Springs, Georgia, the low bidder with a bid of $290,000, won the contract. This bid, well below the estimated cost of $400,000, allowed the CAA to add the third runway to this construction project. The construction began on 14 July 1941. In the next month, theGulf Oil Corporation and Georgia Air Services agreed to lease the airport, once completed, for $12,000 per year. In September 1941,Eddie Rickenbacker, America's leadingflying ace ofWorld War I, and then the president and general manager ofEastern Airlines, agreed to have this airport namedRickenbacker Field in his honor. In the same month, theU.S. Navy requested permission to use this airport for theflight training ofNaval aviators. (The Navy had established the "Naval Aviation Reserve Base Atlanta", at what is now theDeKalb-Peachtree Airport, in March 1941.) In October, Georgia Air Services signed a $70,000 contract for two 180x160-ft.airplane hangars to be built. Although it was far from completion, the dedication of this airfield took place in October 1941
After theJapaneseattack on Pearl Harbor, work on this new airfield accelerated rapidly. In January 1942,Lawrence Dale Bell, the founder and president of theBell Aircraft Company, inspected this site for a proposed government-financedairplane factory for theDepartment of War. Meanwhile, theDepartment of the Navy announced its intention to take over the new airfield as an auxiliarynaval air station. The Navy shortly began land-condemnation proceedings.
The Department of War, in turn, announced that it would not contest the wish of the Department of the Navy to take over Rickenbacker Field, and that it would build its new factory elsewhere. The Cobb County government appealed to theSecretary of the Navy,Frank Knox, urging him to change the Navy's plans. Since other options were available for flight training. Secretary Knox relinquished the Navy's claim on this airfield and left it to theArmy Air Forces. (DuringWorld War II, the Navy established an auxiliary naval air station atGainesville, Georgia, just northeast of Atlanta.)
On January 23, 1942, the Bell Aircraft Company and the Department of War announced that an aircraft factory employing up to 40,000 workers would be built near Marietta. Also, the Department of War announced on February 19 that "Rickenbacker Field" would be renamed theMarietta Army Airfield. Although its construction began in March 1942, its official ground-breaking ceremony took place in May 1942, with CaptainRickenbacker present. Rickenbacker went on to establish and pay for an aviation educational program to train workers for bothcivil aviation andmilitary aviation. Also in 1942, theCity of Atlanta began work on its contribution: a pipeline to supply the new factory with water from theChattahoochee River.
In addition to taking over Rickenbacker Field, theUnited States Army Air Forces (USAAF) purchased a parcel of land just north of the airfield for a cantonment area. The Marietta Army Airfield was activated on June 6, 1943, with its personnel housed in tents as part of the58th Bombardment Operational Training Wing. At the end of June 1943, there were 42officers and 356enlisted men stationed here.
The mission of the Marietta Army Airfield was acceptance testing ofB-29 Superfortressheavy bombers for the USAAF, the modification of B-29s, and the operation of an Army Air Depot. Barracks for the soldiers reached completion in November 1943. By January 1, 1944, the number of soldiers stationed here had risen to 73 officers and 1,263 enlisted men. For a period of time, the Marietta Army Airfield was assigned to the USAAF'sSecond Air Force under theXX Bomber Command. On 12 April 1944, the Marietta Army Airfield was reassigned to the "17th Bombardment Operation Training Unit".
In the spring of 1943 the adjacent Bell Aircraft Company's factory, an additional plant (besides a pair ofBoeing plantsRenton,Washington andWichita, Kansas (formerStearman Aircraft) and aMartin plant atOffutt Field,Omaha, Nebraska[3][4]) for manufacturingB-29 Superfortresses was completed. The "Defense Plant Corporation" of the Department of War paid for the construction of this factory, and the department called it "Plant #6". Bell Aircraft completed its first B-29 on schedule, and this was firsttest-flown on November 4, 1943. The production of B-29s at this factory increased slowly during 1944, and by the fall of 1944, Bell Aircraft's output of new B-29s began to meet and exceed the goals of the Department of War.
By January 1945, Bell Aircraft had completed 357 B-29A's. After the completion of the last one of these, the production in Marietta was switched to the B-29B Superfortress, which was a simplified version of the B-29 without the computerized gun system and other components that raised the allowable bomb load from 11,000 to 18,000 pounds. The new B-29B radar, mounted in a wing-shaped radome under the fuselage, gave much better images of the ground. The315th Bombardment Wing based atNorthwest Field,Guam, received most of the B-29Bs for night low altitude pathfinder led missions againstJapan. Bell built a total of 311 B-29Bs before the plant closed in January 1946. At its height, the Bell Bomber plant employed 28,263.
Marietta Army Airfield remained open after the war and became the home ofGeorgia Air National Guard (ANG) andAir Force Reserve units. The first post-war ANG unit, the128th Fighter Squadron, activated at Marietta on 20 August 1946, withP-47 Thunderbolts. This was followed by the activation of the headquarters of the116th Fighter Group on 9 September and the activation of the headquarters of the54th Fighter Wing which commanded 56 units of theAir National Guard throughout theSoutheastern states.
In 1948, part of the land andbarracks at the originalNaval Air Station Atlanta in nearbyChamblee were given to the state for the purpose of creating anengineering technology school that could rapidly train returning soldiers for civilian work in various technical fields.
Also in 1948 the airfield becameMarietta Air Force Base as a result of the creation of theUnited States Air Force. In 1950, the Air Force renamed the baseDobbins Air Force Base in honor of Captain Charles M. Dobbins ofMarietta, a World War II transport pilot. Captain Dobbins died nearSicily on July 11, 1943, when US Navy gunners who had earlier suffered aLuftwaffe (German air force) attack mistakenly downed his C-47. He was flying his third mission of the day, dropping paratroopers.
Following the war, the Bell Aircraft Plant #6 remained closed for five years. In 1951,Lockheed Aircraft Corporation took over the plant to modify B-29s for theKorean War. Lockheed also went on to build 394B-47 Stratojets at the plant under license from Boeing. Additionally, Lockheed also conducted a B-47 modification program at Marietta. To handle the B-47 production and modification work, the airfield received a 10,000 × 300 ft (91 m) runway. Over the years, the Lockheed plant constructed theLockheed JetStar business jet (C-140),C-130 Hercules,C-141 Starlifter, andC-5 Galaxy.
In 1957,Naval Air Station Atlanta (NAS Atlanta) at the present dayPeachtree-DeKalb Airport in nearbyChamblee moved to Dobbins AFB. The Navy constructed a cantonment area on the southwest portion of Dobbins AFB for their use.
In 1962, theSouthern Technical Institute (now part ofKennesaw State University) began classes on land given to the University System of Georgia by Dobbins AFB four years prior.
In June 1992 the official name was changed from Dobbins Air Force Base toDobbins Air Reserve Base (Dobbins ARB).[5] In 2003, theAir Force Reserve Command changed the name again toDobbins Joint Air Reserve Base (Dobbins JARB).[6][7] However, with the closure of the NAS Atlanta on 29 September 2009, the name reverted to Dobbins Air Reserve Base once again.
In September 2005, the53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Hurricane Hunter aircraft flew out of Dobbins JARB afterHurricane Katrina did major damage to their normal home atKeesler Air Force Base inBiloxi,Mississippi. Numerousevacuees also came tometro Atlanta through Dobbins JARB, including manymedevaced medical patients taken in by local hospitals.
Over the years, a wide variety of U.S. Army Air Forces and U.S. Air Force aircraft have been stationed at Dobbins AFB with the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard, including theP-51 Mustang,F-51 Mustang,F-84 Thunderstreak,F-86 Sabre,C-97 Stratocruiser,C-123 Provider,C-124 Globemaster II,F-100 Super Sabre,F-105 Thunderchief,F-4 Phantom II,C-7 Caribou,C-130 Hercules and theF-15 Eagle. Naval aircraft have included theA-4 Skyhawk,A-7 Corsair II,A-6 Intruder,F/A-18 Hornet andC-9 Skytrain II of the U.S. Navy andOV-10 Bronco,AH-1 SeaCobra,UH-1 Huey andF/A-18 Hornet aircraft of the U.S. Marine Corps.
In 1995,Lockheed merged withMartin Marietta to becomeLockheed Martin. TheC-130 Hercules remains in production 60 years after the first one rolled out in 1955. Work also continues on theF-22 Raptor and theJoint Strike Fighter. Dobbins ARB has its ownZIP code,30069, and Lockheed Martin also has its own ZIP code,30063, however, Marietta is the onlyplace name (city) considered acceptable by theUnited States Postal Service for the latter.
Dobbins ARB is also anautomatedweather station, reporting five minutes before every hour. Until sometime in 2008, it only reported from 7am to 11pm (6:55 to 10:55/22:55), although it occasionally reported overnight during unusual weather conditions, such as strong winds due to the2004 hurricanes (Frances,Jeanne,Ivan).Local conditions shown onThe Weather Channel (TWC) andWeatherscan are now taken from adifferent system set up by TWC during the mid-2000s (decade); until then, overnight conditions for localcable TV systems came fromFulton County Airport.
Like most U.S. bases, Dobbins ARB has had to fend off several attempts at closing it, as part of streamlining the country's military and reducing unnecessary spending.Development has steadily encroached upon the base since the war. 1978OV-1 Mohawk 1989A-7 Corsair II and 1993C-130 Herculesplane crashes into residential areas near the base raised questions of safety in having a base in such a densely populated suburban area. The airfield now sits in a vast sea of urban development; flying demonstrations at air shows were discontinued some years ago because of safety concerns, although the Navy hosted air shows in 2004 and 2006, and the Air Force side hosted air shows in 2008 and 2010 (2008 marked the first time in over 15 years of a USAF Thunderbirds performance at KMGE).
Public complaints about the noise continue, and attempts to close the facility have been thwarted so far by powerful localpoliticians, such as formerU.S. SenatorSam Nunn in 1995. However, some have proposed that it again become a commercial airport, as it was originally envisioned (there have been calls for Dobbins ARB to become thesecond major commercial airport in metro Atlanta, to be a major reliever toHartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest airport in the world).
Dobbins ARB is the onlyU.S. military facility left innorthern Georgia after the 2005Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) recommendations were enacted. TheGeorgia Air National Guard transferred toRobins AFB in 1996, leavingAir Force Reserve C-130s as the only Air Force flying unit at the base. The 248th Medical Company (Air Ambulance) and elements of the151st Aviation Regiment of theArmy National Guard are also based there. More units relocated to Dobbins ARB as theGeorgia Army National Guard took over NAS Atlanta as the latter closed due to BRAC and became a tenant non-flying command known as Navy Operational Support Center Atlanta.
Dobbins is also the home of the U.S. Air Force Reserve's Transportation Proficiency Center which provides accelerated training for Airmen joining the Air Force Reserve in transportation career fields, specialized skill training, and pre-mobilization readiness training for Reserve component transportation Airmen called to active duty service.[8]
Near Dobbins ARB's main gate stands a Wichita-built B-29 named "Sweet Eloise" (B-29-80-BW, AAF Ser. No. 44-70113), which is on public display as a memorial to World War II bomber production at the site. However, at least two Marietta-built B-29s have survived the years. One is on display at theGeorgia Veterans State Park nearCordele (B-29A-15-BN, AAF Ser. No. 42-93967) and the other (B-29B-55-BA, AAF Ser. No. 44-84053) is located atRobins Air Force Base's Museum of Flight inWarner Robins, Georgia.
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Flying and notable non-flying units based at Dobbins Air Reserve Base.[9][10]
United States Air Force[edit]Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC)
United States Marine Corps[edit]
| United States Army[edit]Army National Guard (ARNG)
United States Navy[edit]
National Guard[edit]
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency This article incorporatespublic domain material fromDobbins Air Reserve Base.United States Air Force.Currentmilitary installations inGeorgia | ||||||
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