Sewart Air Force Base
Originally known as Smyrna Army Airfield, Sewart Air Force Base was active from 1941-1971. At the beginning of World War II, the War Department ordered construction of a Bombardment Air Base consisting of 3,325 acres in Rutherford County Tennessee. Sewart Air Force Base was used as an Army-Air Force Training Command Base to train military service members to fly the B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-24 Liberator during combat in World War II.
At the end of World War II, demobilization and defense reductions resulted in Sewart Air Force Base to be deactivated and placed in caretaker status. However, this status was short lived, and the newly created United States Air Force re-activated the base as Smyrna Air Force Base in 1948.