Abilene Helped Build Dyess From a One-Dollar Airfield

Dyess begins with an airfield Abilene nearly lost. The military opened the field west of town in 1942 for flight training, then made it inactive after the war. The federal government sold the property to the City of Abilene for one dollar, and the Texas Army National Guard used it for several years.

When city leaders wanted an active base again in the early 1950s, local support became something you could point to on a map. Abilene raised money to buy thousands of adjoining acres and offered that land with the old airfield for a new installation. Construction began in September 1953. Abilene Air Force Base opened in April 1956.

That December, the base took the name of Lt. Col. William Edwin Dyess. The Albany native survived the Bataan Death March, escaped captivity, and returned to service. He later died in a training crash after keeping his damaged aircraft away from people on the ground.

The aircraft have changed, but the two-part mission is still easy to recognize. The 7th Bomb Wing operates B-1B Lancers, while the 317th Airlift Wing flies C-130J Super Hercules aircraft. The base is federal, but its footprint carries a local origin story: an old field, a one-dollar transfer, and a city that bought land to bring the flight line back.