History Reese Air Force Base, Texas, served primarily as a pilot training base throughout its 50-year history. Since its establishment in 1941, the flying training school at Reese trained more than 25,000 pilots ranging from single-engine planes to multi-engine bombers.
Environmental Activities Decades of cleaning solvent usage associated with aircraft maintenance and repair at the base resulted in a plume of groundwater contamination stretching off base for 3-1/2 miles. The Air Force utilized a Performance-Based Remediation contract to clean up the groundwater plume, resulting in a 99-percent decrease in size in only eight years.
Property Transfer AFCEC achieved whole base transfer in 2006. The Air Force transferred nearly 3,000 acres of land to the Lubbock Reese Redevelopment Authority for its use in furthering education, research, engineering and technology at the Reese Technology Center. RTC is home to 20 businesses that contribute approximately 750 public and private sector jobs to the local economy. An additional 3,500 students from Texas Tech University and South Plains College call RTC home, including the world-renowned Wind Science and Engineering Research Center.