Sewart Air Force Base
| Sewart Air Force Base Smyrna Army Airfield  |
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|---|---|
| Part of Tactical Air Command (TAC) | |
| Smyrna, Tennessee | |
2006 USGS airphoto
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 Sewart AFB
Location of Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee
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| Coordinates | 36°00′32.32″N 86°31′12.27″W / 36.0089778°N 86.5200750°WCoordinates: 36°00′32.32″N 86°31′12.27″W / 36.0089778°N 86.5200750°W |
| Type | Air Force Base |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | United States Air Force |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1941 |
| In use | 1941–1971 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | Tactical Air Command |
| Occupants | 64th Troop Carrier/Tactical Airlift Wing (1966–1971) |
Sewart Air Force Base (1941–1971) is a former United States Air Force base located in Smyrna, about 25 miles southeast of Nashville, Tennessee. During World War II, it was known as Smyrna Army Airfield.
The War Department ordered the construction of a Bombardment Air Base near Nashville on 22 December 1941, shortly after the US had entered World War II. A tract of land consisting of 3,325 acres (1,346 ha) located off US Route 70 in Rutherford County, Tennessee near Smyrna, Tennessee, was selected and acquired by the United States Army Air Forces for use as an Army-Air Force Training Command Base. Six thousand workers erected 200 buildings and an airfield to accommodate the training needs of the Army Air Force.
In January 1942, Smyrna Army Airfield was assigned to the AAF Southeast Training Center with the Army Air Force Pilot School (Specialized 4-Engine) activated (phase 3 pilot training). In this phase, cadets flew B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator heavy bombers. Pilots graduating this phase were sent on to group combat training with the Second Air Force. Graduates were commissioned as Flight Officers (Warrant Officers), and those who graduated at the top of their class were commissioned as Second Lieutenants.
On 8 January 1943, the War Department constituted and activated the 76th Flying Training Wing (Specialized 4-Engine) at Smyrna and assigned it to the AAF Eastern Flying Training Command.
Throughout the war, numerous military personnel were stationed at Smyrna. At the end of hostilities, demobilization and defense reductions followed, resulting in the base being deactivated and placed in caretaker status in 1947. However, the installation's inactivity was short-lived and the newly created United States Air Force re-activated the facility as Smyrna Air Force Base in 1948.
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