McConnell Air Force Base

McConnell AFB is one of the few military bases around the United States of America with the clear objective to perform air refueling activities for any type of aircraft. It is located in the Sedwick County, close to Wichita, in the southeastern part of Kansas. The base is named in the memory of two brothers native from Wichita who fought during World War II. It is operated by the Air Force.

History

The history begins in 1924. Wichita hosted a local summit with over 100000 officials and superiors. One of the most important decisions taken was to raise the funds for a local airport. It took the authorities 5 years to raise the funds and finish the construction. The new airport was opened in the summer of 1929. The first unit hosted on site was the 127-th Observation Squadron, part of the National Guard. It arrived at the base in 1941, with six aircrafts. The airport was connected with the Boeing factory nearby. It was taken over by the Air Materiel Command in 1942 in order to deal and distribute the newly built aircrafts to other military installations throughout the United States of America. After World War II ended, the facility was given back to the local authorities in 1946, with the last units departing the same year. Over the Cold War, the base was responsible not just for refueling operations, but also for bombing operations wherever they were needed.

After the end of the Cold War and a few commissions for base realignment and closure, the base changed some of its objectives, as well as the hosting units. In 1994, it was used by the Singaporean forces as a training ranch.

The War on Terrorism saw a new raise of McConnell AFB. It was used for Operation Noble Eagle with a few jets. Later that year, it sent units to Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries of Asia in order to support and help the troops involved in Operation Enduring Freedom. After 2002, some of the local aircrafts were deployed at other military bases in order to reduce the high costs. These days, the base is involved in refueling operations only.

Units

The host unit at McConnell AFB is the 22-nd Air Refueling Wing, consisting of 6 different groups with specific purposes around the base. At the same time, the base is also the home of a few associate tenant units, such as the 22-nd ARW Fact Sheet, the 184-th Intelligence Wing and the 931-st Air Refueling Group. Most of the tenant units are deployed for small periods of time.

Housing

The local housing office has the primary mission to ensure a proper balance between your accommodation as a newcomer, your ability to perform the required missions and the happiness of your family members. Get in touch with this office early, for your application to be processed as quick as possible. Those who prefer the off site housing system can always get in touch with a Wichita real estate agency, although they might pay more.