March Joint Air Reserve Base

March Air Reserve Base (March ARB), formerly March Air Force Base (March AFB), is situated in Riverside County, California, between Riverside, Moreno Valley, and Perris. Established in 1917 as Alessandro Flying Training Field, it was renamed March Field in 1918. The base has been continuously operational since its inception. It served as a primary flight training base during World War I and later became an operational base for various bomber and fighter units throughout the inter-war years. During World War II, March Field was a training site for bombardment groups. Post-war, it was assigned to Tactical Air Command, then Continental Air Command, before becoming a Strategic Air Command (SAC) base in 1949, hosting B-29, B-47, and B-52 bombers, as well as KC-97 and KC-135 tankers during the Cold War and Vietnam War. In 1982, it transitioned to the 22nd Air Refueling Wing, operating KC-10A Extenders. In 1996, March officially became March Air Reserve Base under the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), ending 78 years of active duty presence.

Currently, March ARB is home to the Air Force Reserve Command's Fourth Air Force Headquarters and the host 452nd Air Mobility Wing (452 AMW), which operates C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft and KC-135R Stratotankers. The base also hosts units from the Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, California Air National Guard (including the 163d Attack Wing operating MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial systems, and the 144th Fighter Wing with F-16s), and the California Army National Guard. Civilian flight activities include a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air Unit and a California Department of Forestry air unit. Amazon Air has also operated cargo flights from the base. March ARB features two concrete runways: 14/32, measuring 4,054.4 meters, and 12/30, measuring 932.9 meters. The base has explored joint civil-military public use, with past commercial operations by DHL and current operations by Amazon Air, though Amazon Air is slated to cease operations in May 2025. The base is a Superfund site listed on the National Priorities List since 1989.