Overview
Known for most of its operational life as Blytheville Army Airfield (1942–1946) or Blytheville Air Force Base (1953–1988), the facility was renamed Eaker Air Force Base on 26 May 1988, in honor of General Ira Eaker, an air pioneer and second commander of Eighth Air Force during World War II.
Eaker was the architect of a strategic bombing force that ultimately numbered forty groups of 60 heavy bombers each, supported by a subordinate fighter command of 1,500 aircraft, most of which was in place by the time he relinquished command of Eighth Air Force at the start of 1944.
During its operational lifetime the mission of Eaker Air Force Base was that of a training base during World War II and both a tactical as well as a strategic bomber base during the Cold War. After the Cold War, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) 1991 commission recommended Eaker be closed in a cost-cutting move. The facility closed on 15 December 1992.
Read more about this topic: Eaker Air Force Base