Pease Air National Guard Base

Pease Air National Guard Base is situated at Portsmouth International Airport at Pease in New Hampshire. It occupies a portion of what was formerly Pease Air Force Base, a Strategic Air Command facility. The site began as Portsmouth Municipal Airport in the 1930s. The U.S. Air Force assumed control in 1951, developing it into a SAC base that formally opened as Portsmouth Air Force Base on June 30, 1956. It was renamed Pease Air Force Base on September 7, 1957, in honor of Captain Harl Pease, Jr. The base was home to the 100th Bombardment Wing and, from 1958, the 509th Bombardment Wing, operating aircraft such as the B-47 Stratojet, B-52 Stratofortress, FB-111 Aardvark, KC-97 Stratofreighter, and KC-135 Stratotanker. Its mission was strategic warfare and nuclear strikes.

In 1966, the New Hampshire Air National Guard's 157th Military Airlift Group relocated to Pease AFB, later becoming the 157th Air Refueling Group in 1975. Pease Air Force Base closed on March 31, 1991, following the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure process. The majority of the former base was transferred to the Pease Development Authority for reuse as a civilian airport and commercial center, now known as Pease International Tradeport. The remaining military portion became Pease Air National Guard Base, with the 157th Air Refueling Wing as the host unit. Since 2009, the 64th Air Refueling Squadron, an active duty U.S. Air Force unit, has been associated with the 157th. The 157th ARW transitioned to the KC-46A Pegasus in 2019, receiving its final aircraft in February 2021. The base operates one runway, 16/34, with an asphalt and concrete surface. Pease is also a Superfund site due to historical contamination from aircraft maintenance operations.