Ellsworth Air Force Base

Ellsworth Air Force Base is an active United States Air Force installation located approximately 10 miles northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota, near the town of Box Elder. Established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base, the installation was renamed Ellsworth Air Force Base in 1953 in honor of Brigadier General Richard E. Ellsworth. The host unit... is the 28th Bomb Wing, assigned to the Eighth Air Force under Air Force Global Strike Command. Ellsworth is one of only two active B-1B Lancer bomber wings in the U.S. Air Force, alongside the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess AFB in Texas. The base also supports MQ-9A Reaper operations and oversees the 28,000-square-mile Powder River Training Complex spanning portions of Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas. With a combined population of approximately 8,000 military members, family members, and civilian employees, Ellsworth is the largest employer in the region and the second largest in the state of South Dakota. The base has a long history of strategic bomber and missile operations dating back to World War II and has supported combat deployments including Operation Allied Force and Operation Enduring Freedom.Read More