Арканзас штатындағы Литтл-Рок Әуе базасы

United States Air Force base in Jacksonville, Arkansas

Little Rock Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 17 mile (27 km) northeast of Little Rock, Arkansas. Little Rock AFB is the primary C 130 Hercules training base for the Department of Defense, training C 130 pilots, navigators, flight engineers, and loadmasters from all branches of the US military in tactical airlift and aerial delivery. It is home to C 130H and C 130J aircraft, as well as the C 130 Center of Excellence (i. e., schools for C 130H and C 130J crews). The host unit at Little Rock AFB is the 19th Airlift Wing (19 AW), assigned to the Air Mobility Command's 18th Air Force. The wing provides the Department of Defense the largest C 130 Hercules transport fleet in the world, supplying humanitarian airlift relief to victims of disasters, as well as airdropping supplies and troops into the heart of contingency operations in hostile areas. Other organizations at Little Rock AFB include the 189th Airlift Wing of the Arkansas Air National Guard, and the C 130 division of the U. S. Air Force Weapons School. All of these organizations fly the C 130 Hercules. Little Rock Air Force Base is the fourth largest employer in the state of Arkansas, with a local economic impact of $813.6 million.

Little Rock Air Force Base was authorized in 1953 and construction began on 6 November 1953. The base opened on 24 January 1955 with 6,100 acres donated by landowners, valued at $1.2 million in 1952.

On 1 October 1986, the 189 ARG saw yet another mission change when it was redesignated as the 189th Tactical Airlift Group (189 TAG) and converted to the C 130 aircraft, with transfer of operational claimancy to MAC. During the 1991 Gulf War, the 314 TAW's two operational C 130 squadrons and the 189 TAG's C 130 squadron supported operations from both the middle east and European theaters. Later that year, the 314th Tactical Airlift Wing was redesignated as the 314th Airlift Wing (314 AW), and following the disestablishment of MAC in 1992, the base and the 314 AW were transferred to the new Air Mobility Command (AMC). The 189 TAG was also redesignated as the 189th Airlift Group (189 AG) the same year, followed by redesignation as the 189th Airlift Wing (189 AW) in 1995. In 1993, the base and the 314 AW transferred to Air Combat Command (ACC), as part the U. S. Air Force's decision to transfer continental U. S. based C 130s from AMC to ACC. In 1997, the U. S. Air Force reversed this decision, returning most C 130 airlift back to AMC claimancy. However, given the 314 AW's primary training mission as the Formal Training Unit (FTU) for C 130s, the base and the 314 AW were transferred to the Air Education and Training Command (AETC), and the base's two operational Regular Air Force C 130 squadrons were organized under the 463d Airlift Group, an AMC unit. From the mid 1990s to the late 1990s, the 314 AW and the 463 AG supported the air war over Serbia and since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the 463 AG has supported both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom until the 463 AG was inactivated on 1 October 2008. In its 50 year history, Little Rock Air Force Base has been operated by six Air Force Major Commands (MAJCOMs): SAC, TAC, MAC, AMC, ACC, and AETC. These represent every possible MAJCOM a continental U. S. based operational flying base could have been assigned to except for the former Air Defense Command/Aerospace Defense Command (ADC), Air Force Systems Command (AFSC), and the current Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). In 2012, First Lady Michelle Obama visited the Little Rock base to mark the second anniversary of the Let's Move initiative.

Little Rock Air Force Base is the home of the 19th Airlift Wing, the host unit. There are also two major associate units located here, the 314th Airlift Wing reports to Air Education and Training Command, and the C 130 division of the U. S. Air Force Weapons School reports to Air Combat Command. Additionally, the 189th Airlift Wing of the Arkansas Air National Guard is located here. The 189th AW also reports to Air Education and Training Command.

Flying and notable non flying units based at Little Rock Air Force Base. Units marked GSU are Geographically Separate Units, which, although based at Little Rock, are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location.