Forbes Field Air National Guard Base - History - Closure of Forbes AFB and Conversion To Forbes Field ANGB

Closure of Forbes AFB and Conversion To Forbes Field ANGB

In August 1967, the RB-57Bs of the Kansas Air National Guard's 190th Tactical Reconnaissance Group moved to Forbes from the former Hutchinson Air National Guard Base (formerly Naval Air Station Hutchinson), Kansas.

Forbes AFB was ordered closed by the Department of Defense as part of a post-Vietnam reduction in force on 17 April 1973. Most of the facility was turned over for civilian use, but an Air Force presence remained in the form of the Kansas Air National Guard's 190th Air Refueling Wing (190 ARW), operating the KC-135 Stratotanker. Originally gained by the Strategic Air Command, the 190 ARW's gaining command shifted to the Air Mobility Command (AMC) with the disestablishment of SAC in 1992. Initially operating the KC-135A, then KC-135E, the 190 ARW currently flies the KC-135R. On 1 October, Forbes AFB became an Air National Guard installation and was redesignated as Forbes Field Air National Guard Base, a designation it retains today. Joint military-civilian use was authorized.

In April 1976, title was transferred to the city of Topeka, less the Kansas Air National Guard enclave on the northern third of the 6,000-foot (1,800 m) north-south ramp, a portion of the south ramp and four associated buildings reserved for the Kansas Army National Guard. and the former USAF dental clinic. The last went to Unified School District 501. Shawnee County received the golf course and attendant buildings, while the USAF retained the 1,063-unit Base Housing complex known as Cullen Village for later sale. The Army and Air Force Exchange Service retained one building in the old supply depot west of US 75 and the state received the former USAF hospital complex. The remainder—more than 2,100 acres of runway and taxiway and 283 acres of buildings and facilities mostly east of US 75—was deeded to the city of Topeka. The cantonment area was redesignated the Topeka Air Industrial Park.

In June 2007, the 190 ARW gained custody of all KC-135R aircraft previously operated by the Kansas Air National Guard's 184th Air Refueling Wing (184 ARW) at nearby McConnell AFB. This action consolidated all of the Kansas ANG's KC-135R assets into a single wing located at Forbes Field. The 184 ARW was subsequently redesignated as the 184th Intelligence Wing (184 IW), a non-flying unit at McConnell AFB.