CoBases – US Military Bases

Category: Arkansas

There are 3 military bases in Arkansas (AR). One Air Force Base called Little Rock who is operated by Air Mobility Command in Jacksonville and two Army Bases, Pine Bluff Arsenal and Fort Chaffee.

Arkansas, while not as prominently recognized for military installations as some other states, still plays a valuable role in the United States military structure. The state’s contributions are centered around training facilities, logistics support, and the National Guard presence.

The military installations in Arkansas are primarily focused on providing training for various branches of the military and supporting the logistical needs of the Department of Defense. These bases and facilities offer environments conducive to a wide range of training scenarios and exercises, including those related to combat, ordnance disposal, and specialized military tactics.

Arkansas’s military presence includes the following key aspects:

  1. Training Support: Arkansas provides facilities that support the training of both active duty and reserve military personnel. The state’s varied terrain allows for diverse training opportunities that are crucial for preparing military members for a range of operational environments.
  2. National Guard: The Arkansas National Guard plays a significant role in the state, with facilities dedicated to the training and readiness of Guard members. These units are essential for both state-level responsibilities, such as emergency response and disaster relief, and federal missions, including overseas deployments.
  3. Logistics and Maintenance: Some of the military installations in Arkansas are involved in logistical support operations, which include the maintenance, repair, and overhaul of military equipment. This ensures that the Armed Forces have the necessary resources to maintain operational readiness.
  4. Community and Economic Impact: Military installations in Arkansas contribute to the local and state economy through direct employment and by providing business opportunities for local contractors and suppliers. The presence of military personnel and their families also contributes to the economic and cultural fabric of their local communities.

Overall, Arkansas’s military installations may not be as extensive or as large as those in some other states, but they are nonetheless important for the specialized roles they play in training, logistics, and support for the U.S. military. The state’s contributions help sustain the overall readiness and effectiveness of the nation’s defense capabilities.

  • Pine Bluff Arsenal

    Pine Bluff Arsenal Facts

    • Location: Jefferson County,  northwest of the city of Pine Bluff, Arkansas
    • Website:
      Visit Pine Bluff Arsenal Website ›
    • Phone: (870) 540-3217
    • Longitude:
      -92.06852
    • Latitude:
      34.295232
    • DSN:
      966-3217

    Pine Bluff is considered to one our nations major chemical weapon facility. There are only 9 Army installations in the USA that stored chemical weapons and PBA is one of them. From the 1950s through the 1970s there were many biological weapons operations conducted here as this is also a major incendiary munitions and chem. / bio defense site. Nearly 13% of the nation’s obsolete chemical weapons are here and going through the chemical weapons disposal process in accordance with the Clean Air Act. There are also more than 75% of the nation’s original chemical weapons that have gone through safe disposal successfully at PBA.

    Since its establishment in 1941 PBA has always had a supportive and well established working relationship with in the community. The nearly 15,000 acre instillation employs nearly 1400 people to work at the Army Depot, 1000 of these are non – military jobs.

    People her are concerned for their livelihood. With other facilities having been closed and more going on the chopping block it is rational to be concerned with the unemployment rate in Pine Bluff at 9.1 percent and the percentage for Arkansas only at 5.3% which is on a small 4% difference between Pine Bluff and the state. In 16 years the state of Arkansas has lost nearly 40,000 manufacturing jobs. 500 of those jobs came from Pine Bluff which was a devastating blow to the area.

    Pine Bluff Arsenal From Sky

    Pine Bluff Arsenal Bomb Defusing

    Pine Bluff Arsenal Experimental Guns

    It is the goal of the University of Arkansas to establish more local jobs at Pine Bluff. And though they have worked diligently the outlook for overall employment in the area is still looking bleak when there are so many of the local adults without a high school diploma. The current poverty rate for Pine Bluff is a shocking 25.5 %, which is 10% greater than the poverty level for the State of Arkansas.

  • Little Rock Air Force Base

    Little Rock Air Force BaseFacts

    • Location: Jacksonville, Arkansas
    • Website:
      Visit Little Rock Website ›
    • Phone: (501) 987-1110
    • Longitude:
      -92.146389
    • Latitude:
      34.918056
    • DSN:
      731-1110

    In central Arkansas you will find Little Rock AFB near the Arkansas city of Jacksonville. You can reach LRAFB from Jacksonville by taking the highway to the main gate exit. Laughingly, if you arrive in Little Rock by bus, plane, or train you will find that there is no transportation service from these places to the base. In 1953 the construction of the $31million base began, after the Air Force decided in 1952 to build the base near the town of Jacksonville Arkansas.

    Although the first commander of this base worked very hard during the construction of the base he never saw the base open to air traffic in September of 1955. In June of 1955 Col. Joseph A. Thomas in the base’s only aircraft at the time when it crashed. His Name is on the Little Rock AFB Memorial at Jacksonville AFB, Jacksonville, Arkansas. This memorial was dedicated to the airmen who had lost their lives while assigned to LRAFB. This Memorial is truly a wonderful remembrance with its beautifully written passage.

    For the greater part, the air crafts that are used at the base are meant for airlift tasks. This could be for dropping relief supplies to disaster victims, airdropping supplies to troops, and in some cases airdropping troops into remote areas within hostile territory. Training for these air crafts is also done at this base and for the air crews from the department of defense, the coast guard, and 31 ailed nations.

    Little Rock Military Planes
    Little Rock Air Force Base Jacksonville Front Yard
    Little Rock Plane in Action

    LRAFB is not a large base with only 6,000 acres and one runway, and a population of approximately 7,000 both active duty and civilian personnel. There are also approximately 5,500 family members who are living on base and they work on or around the base. LRAFB has a strong and long history of its members being there to help out in any way they can within the local community.