Carswell Air Force Base | |
|---|---|
| Part of Strategic Air Command (SAC) | |
| Fort Worth, Texas | |
| Coordinates | 32°46′09″N 097°26′30″W / 32.76917°N 97.44167°W
  Carswell AFB |
| Site information | |
| Owner | United States Department of Defense |
| Condition | Good |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1941 |
| In use | 1942–1994 |
| Battles/wars | World War II, Cold War |
Carswell Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) base, located northwest of Fort Worth, Texas. For most of its operational lifetime, the base's mission was to train and support heavy strategic bombing groups and wings.
Carswell was a major Strategic Air Command (SAC) base during the Cold War. It was the headquarters of several SAC intercontinental bombardment wings, equipped with the latest heavy bombers from B-29 Superfortresses; B-36 Peacemakers and B-52 Stratofortresses. The west side of the airfield was home to United States Air Force Plant 4, a 602-acre (2.44 km2) industrial complex occupied over the decades by Convair, General Dynamics, and now by Lockheed Martin. The bulk of the Air Force Convair B-36, B-58 Hustler, F-111 Aardvark, EF-111 Raven and F-16 Fighting Falcon fleets were built there.
With the end of the Cold War and the subsequent downsizing of the American military, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission of 1991 recommended that Carswell AFB be closed by 1994. Today, the facility is known as Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth. It retains an Air Force Reserve presence as well hosting Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve Army Aviation Reserve and Air National Guard flying units which were formerly located at Naval Air Station Dallas.