See: Meridian Regional Airport

Meridian Regional Airport

Meridian Regional Airport is a public airport located on Key Field, a joint civil-military airfield located southwest of the city of Meridian in Lauderdale County, Mississippi, United States. It is owned by Meridian Airport Authority....

 for civil airport information

Key Field Air National Guard Base is the home base of the Mississippi Air National Guard

Mississippi Air National Guard

The Mississippi Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of Mississippi. It is, along with the Mississippi Army National Guard, an element of the Mississippi National Guard...

 186th Air Refueling Wing

186th Air Refueling Wing

The United States Air Force's 186th Air Refueling Wing is a Mississippi Air National Guard unit located at Meridian Regional Airport/Key Field, Mississippi. The 186th traces its origins to the 153rd Observation Squadron which was orgainized in September 1939 and served on active duty in Europe...

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Overview

Key Field is home to the Mississippi Air National Guard

Mississippi Air National Guard

The Mississippi Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of Mississippi. It is, along with the Mississippi Army National Guard, an element of the Mississippi National Guard...

 186th Air Refueling Wing

186th Air Refueling Wing

The United States Air Force's 186th Air Refueling Wing is a Mississippi Air National Guard unit located at Meridian Regional Airport/Key Field, Mississippi. The 186th traces its origins to the 153rd Observation Squadron which was orgainized in September 1939 and served on active duty in Europe...

. The 186th ARW operates a fleet of KC-135R Stratotankers. The KC-135R is a mid-air refueler that can carry as much as 30,000 gallons of fuel to all parts of the World. Key Field is also home to the Army National Guard

Army National Guard

Established under Title 10 and Title 32 of the U.S. Code, the Army National Guard is part of the National Guard and is divided up into subordinate units stationed in each of the 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia operating under their respective governors...

 185th Army Aviation Support Facility, Company G. The 185th operates a fleet of CH-47 Chinook

CH-47 Chinook

The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is an American twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter. Its top speed of 170 knots is faster than contemporary utility and attack helicopters of the 1960s...

 helicopters. The Chinook is a multi-purpose transport/cargo helicopter capable of carrying 55 troops and gear or can also sling-load up to 25,000 pounds.

Air Rescue and Firefighting capabilites are provided by the Air National Guard. Due to their mission as a Refueling Wing, they provide the entire Airport with firefighting capabilities that rival any airport in the Southeastern United States.

BRAC 2005 realigned Key Field ANGS. Distribute the 186th Air Refueling Wing (ANG)'s KC-135R/T aircraft to meet the Primary Aircraft Authorizations (PAA) requirements established by the Base Closure and Realignment recommendations of the Secretary of Defense, as amended by the Base Closure and Realignment Commission.

Establish 12 PAA KC-135R/T aircraft at the 128th Air Refueling Wing

128th Air Refueling Wing

The United States Air Force's 128th Air Refueling Wing is an Air Mobility Command located at General Mitchell International Airport, Wisconsin...

 (ANG), General Mitchell Air National Guard Base

General Mitchell Air National Guard Base

General Mitchell Air National Guard Base is the home base of the Wisconsin Air National Guard 128th Air Refueling Wing.-Overview:The 128th Air Refueling Wing, Wisconsin Air National Guard, has had a long and illustrious record of service to the State of Wisconsin and the United States of America...

, Wisconsin.
If the State of Mississippi decides to change the organization, composition and location of the 186th Air Refueling Wing (ANG) to integrate the unit into the Future Total Force.

Establish Key Field as a Regional Operations and Security Center (ROSC) location, with the 186th Air Refueling Wing's Expeditionary Combat Support (ECS) elements remaining in place.

Reassign a sufficient number of aircrews and maintenance personnel of the 186th Air Refueling Wing (ANG) to the 172d Airlift Wing (ANG), a C-17 unit located on Thompson Field, Mississippi to bring that unit to a fully manned status, with the Air Force providing retraining where necessary.

All other personnel allotted to the 186th Air Refueling Wing (ANG) will remain in place and assume a mission relevant to the security interests of the State of Mississippi and consistent with the integration of the unit into the Future Total Force, including but not limited to air mobility, C4ISR, engineering, flight training or unmanned aerial vehicles. Where appropriate, unit personnel will be retrained in skills relevant to the emerging mission.

This recommendation does not effect a change to the authorized end-strength of the Mississippi Air National Guard. The distribution of aircraft currently assigned to the 186th Air Refueling Wing (ANG) is based upon a resource-constrained determination by the Department of Defense that the aircraft concerned will better support national security requirements in other locations and is not conditioned upon the agreement of the state.