Pease Air Force Base History

• 1930's: Portsmouth Airport opens as a 300 acre municipal airport
• World War II: The U.S. Navy leases the airport
• 1946: Exclusive airfield field rights are transferred to the U.S. Air Force
• 1951: The Air Field is selected to be developed as Strategic Air Command (S.A.C.)
• 1952: Additional space is purchased for expansion
• 1954: Ground breaking for S.A.C. facilities
• June 30, 1956: Portsmouth Air Force Base officially opens
  It eventually becomes home to the 100th Bombardment Wing and the 509th Bombardment Wing
• 1956: The 1st B-47 bombers arrive
• 1957: Portsmouth Air Force Base is renamed Pease Air Force Base in honor of Captain Harl Pease, Jr.
• 1966: New Hampshire Air National Guard relocated the 157th Military Air Lift Group to Pease AFB
• 1975: Pease Air Force Base is designated as the 157th Air Refueling Group
• 1988: Pease is one of eighty-six military institutions selected to be closed by the Commission of Base Realignment and Closure
• 1990: Military personnel begin leaving
• March 31, 1991: Pease Air Force Base is the first base to be officially closed