World
War II saw the blossoming of "tent camps" throughout
the United States and Abilene was no exception. Camp Barkeley,
a few miles south of Abilene, became an Army infantry training
camp for thousands of recruits. Army inductees were trained for
various duties while there.
Army Air Corps cadets learned to fly trainers and P-47 Thunderbolt fighters while stationed at Tye Army Air Field, a Camp Barkeley adjunct. When both installations were closed at the end of WW II, the deed to Tye Army Air Field was sold to Abilene for $1. Fifteen hundred acres of the former Army Air Field were used by the Texas National Guard as a training facility.
Following the outbreak of the Korean crisis, Abilenians called for a military installation. Armed with 1,500 acres and determination, civic leaders besieged Washington, DC and Pentagon officials with their request for a military installation. Proving beyond a shadow of a doubt they meant business, Abilenians raised $893,000 to purchase an additional 3,500 acres to provide a home for the military base they hoped would be in Abilene.
Several
prominent men were instrumental in convincing authorities of the
suitability of Abilene. Oliver Howard, the late W.P. Wright Sr.
and others worked in the city to promote interest in the military
facility. Together with Senator Lyndon B. Johnson and Congressman
Omar Burleson, civil leaders persuaded military and civilian officials
to put a military base in Abilene.
After letters and visits had been exchanged, the Department of Defense announced in July 1952 Congress had approved the $32,273,000 needed in appropriations for constructing a base in Abilene.
The local community was interested in providing for the Air Force an exemplary relationship between the community and an Air Force base. After initial ground-breaking ceremonies on Sept. 24, 1953, construction of the base progressed rapidly.
The red brick ranch-style architecture boasts a Texas influence throughout the base. A unique feature of the base is all buildings are permanent structures.
Known
as Abilene Air Force Base, the Strategic Air Command base was
dedicated by the city fathers at the end of Abilene's Diamond
Jubilee April 15, 1956. On Dec. 6 that same year, the base was
renamed Dyess AFB in honor of Lt. Col. William Edwin Dyess.
On Feb. 8, 1961, Dyess Air Force Base became home to the Tactical Air Command's 64th Troop Carrier Wing (Medium) flying the C-130 Hercules Abilene and the entire Big Country community celebrated President Reagan's announcement on Dec. 21, 1983, that Dyess AFB would receive the Air Force's first operational B-1B's. The arrival ceremony June 29,1985, for the Star of Abilene included more than 50,000 people, most from our host neighbor Abilene, Texas.