Present Day
The host unit at March is the Air Force Reserve's 452d Air Mobility Wing (452 AMW), which in addition to its operational flying mission, also provides host base support for numerous tenant units. March JARB is also the home to Headquarters, 4th Air Force (4 AF) of the Air Force Reserve Command and multiple units of the California Air National Guard.
In 2005, the 452nd retired the venerable C-141 Starlifter and commenced transition to the C-17 Globemaster III as the first AFRC unit to operate the aircraft as an independent wing not associated with an active duty C-17 wing. March is currently home to nine C-17 Globemaster IIIs, which belong strictly to the Air Force Reserve Command, as well as twelve KC-135R Stratotankers. The tankers were the first in the Air Force Reserve to convert to the Block 40 Pacer CRAG modernization upgrade.
In 2007, the 163rd also saw a change in mission, transferring its KC-135R aircraft to other Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard units, with the majority of its aircraft transferred to the 452 AMW at March. The unit was then redesignated as the 163d Reconnaissance Wing (163 RW), operating the MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial system. With this change, the 163 RW also changed operational claiamncy from Air Mobility Command (AMC) to Air Combat Command (ACC).
Other activities at March ARB include F-16C/D alert site operations of the California Air National Guard's 144th Fighter Wing (144 FW), which is also operationally-gained by ACC.
Civilian agency flight activities include a permanently based U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air Unit, as well as a California Department of Forestry air unit that uses the base on an intermittent basis.
While the host unit is the 452 AMW, tenant organizations include the Fourth Air Force (4 AF) under Maj Gen Eric W.Crabtree, the 163d Reconnaissance Wing, the 701st Combat Operations Squadron (701 COS), the 4th Combat Camera Squadron (4 CTCS), the 144th Fighter Wing Detachment, the American Forces Network Broadcast Center, the 362nd Recruiting Squadron, U.S. Customs, the March Aero Club, the March Field Air Museum, the Air Force Audit Agency, a detachment from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations out of San Diego, CA; Selective Service System Detachment 3-3, several U.S. Army Reseve units from the 63rd Regional Support Command,Moffett Field, Mountain View, CA; the 358th Civil Affairs Brigade, part of USACAPOC, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and units from the California Army National Guard. In recent years both the California Army National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserve have built new buildings at March ARB, with the Army Reserve dedicating their initial buuilding in 2009, called the U.S. Army Reserve Center, Moreno Valley, CA. Navy Operational Support Center Moreno Valley, an Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) Base Exchange, and the March Commissary administered by the Defense Commissary Agency (DECA). In 2009, the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve moved their units from March, leaving their Marine Corps Reserve Center to the custody of NOSC Moreno Valley and the Navy Reserve, although the Marine facility is presently empty in a caretaker status.
In 2010, the 912th Air Refueling Squadron (912 ARS) was reactivated and assigned to March. An active duty squadron of the Regular Air Force and the Air Mobility Command (AMC), the 912 ARS will be part of the 452 AMW under the "Active Associate" concept, working in tandem with the Air Force Reserve Command's 336th Air Refueling Squadron and 452nd Maintenance Group, while remaining under the administrative control of the 92nd Air Refueling Wing (92 ARW) at Fairchild AFB, Washington.
In 2003, the Air Force Reserve Command changed the name of March Air Reserve Base to that of March Joint Air Reserve Base.
Read more about this topic: March Joint Air Reserve Base
Famous quotes containing the words present and/or day:
“There is natural ignorance and there is artificial ignorance. I should say at the present moment the artificial ignorance is about eighty-five per cent.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)
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—Annie Dillard (b. 1945)