Former Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base (BRAC 1991)

Summary
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Total Acreage: 1,912 Acres
Closed: September 1994

History
The former Lockbourne AFB has been known by several names since it began as the Northwest Training Center of the Army Air Corps. In 1942, it was renamed for the nearby town of Lockbourne, Ohio, and became the Lockbourne Army Air Base. It was renamed Lockbourne Air Force Base in 1948 and was re-designated as the Rickenbacker Air Force Base in 1974, to honor Captain Edward V. Rickenbacker, a World War I hero. 

The property was primarily used as a training base for B-17 and glider crews from 1942 to 1949. In 1951, the base became a Strategic Air Command Base and in 1965, a Tactical Air Command Base. In 1980, the base was transferred to the Ohio Air National Guard and renamed the Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base. In 1984, 1,642.62 acres (of the original 4,371.07 acres) were conveyed to the Rickenbacker Port Authority, which renamed the site Rickenbacker International Airport and established the passenger terminal. RPA merged with the Columbus Airport Authority in 2003, forming the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, which currently owns and operates the RIA.

Property Transfer
Most property directly adjacent to the base is owned by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority. Remaining adjacent property to the northeast belongs to several owners and is primarily agricultural. 

Environmental Actions
The major operations of Rickenbacker ANGB that have used and disposed of hazardous materials/wastes include aircraft maintenance, aerospace ground equipment maintenance, liquid fuels maintenance, transportation maintenance, transportation paint shop operations, power production, machine shop operations and flight simulation. The operation involves such activities as corrosion control, non-destructive inspection, fuel cell maintenance, engine maintenance and pneudraulics. Varying quantities of waste oils, recovered fuels, spent cleaners, strippers, solvents and other hazardous wastes were generated and disposed of by these activities.

The Air Force has been conducting its environmental restoration program at Rickenbacker ANGB since 1986. This program has been executed under the guidelines 5 of the Air Force’s Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act authority and the State of Ohio programs for Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulation. In 2011, the Air Force awarded a nine-year performance based contract to manage the environmental program and closed 44 of the 51 sites by the end of 2018.