Columbus Air Force Base

Columbus AFB Facts

• Location: Lowndes County, north of Columbus, Mississippi
• Website:
  Visit Columbus AFB Website ›
• Phone: (662) 434-7068
• Longitude:
  -88.447189
• Latitude:
  33.64
• DSN:
  742-7068

Columbus Air Force Base is positioned in Lowndes County, 14 kilometers in the northern part of Columbus, Mississippi. The base is the place for the 14th Flying Training Wing whose mission is to offer the best training and education to all the US Air force officers and undergraduate pilots and also the allied forces of the US Air Force. It was founded as Air Corps Advanced Flying School in 1941. The base started by providing training bombers and fighters whose original plan was a flying school for advance twin engine aircraft.

After the World War II, Columbus AFB started the training of the Air Force pilots and has been doing it since then. The base stopped its operation after the war until 1951 and began its operation as a flying school by training pilots during the Korean War. During the later part of the 1950s, the base houses B-52 bomber squadron and KC-135 tanker squadron.

It was on 1969 that Columbus Air Force Base started again its mission in training pilots and continuously doing it for the past 4 decades. The cadets undergo rigid hands on and theoretical training in flying bombers, fighters and transports. Upon graduation, the cadets were awarded and then sent to different combat training missions. Top graduates earn the rank as Second Lieutenant while the other graduates rank as Flight officers.

It was only on January 22, 1942 that the base was named Kaye Field but later on changed to Columbus Army Flying School because of the confusion with Key Field which is based in Meridian, Mississippi until the base is named the Columbus Air Force Base.

The Columbus AFB trains almost half of the Air Force pilots to date by undergoing the basic and fundamental flight instructions. Columbus Air Force Base is considered the busiest military traffic controller in the world.