Scott Airforce Base
Scott Air Force Base, located in southwestern Illinois, east of St. Louis, Missouri, is a unique and strategically vital installation that serves as the “nerve center” of America’s global mobility enterprise. Unlike many Air Force bases primarily focused on flying operations, Scott AFB is a command and control hub, hosting the headquarters for several of the U.S. military’s most critical organizations.2 Foremost among these are U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), a unified combatant command responsible for coordinating all global transportation for the Department of Defense, and Air Mobility Command (AMC), the major command that provides rapid global mobility and sustainment for the armed forces. The base’s primary host unit, the 375th Air Mobility Wing (375 AMW), supports these vast commands while also conducting its own operational missions, including executive airlift using C-21 and C-40 aircraft, and operating in-flight refueling missions with the KC-135 Stratotanker.
Beyond these major command headquarters and the host wing, Scott Air Force Base is a true “Total Force” installation, integrating active duty, Air Force Reserve, and Air National Guard units. It is home to the 18th Air Force, AMC’s operational warfighting component, and the 618th Air Operations Center (Tanker Airlift Control Center), which plans and directs nearly all AMC missions globally. The 126th Air Refueling Wing (126 ARW) of the Illinois Air National Guard operates KC-135s at Scott, while the 932nd Airlift Wing (932 AW), an Air Force Reserve Command unit, performs an executive airlift mission with C-40s. The base also hosts numerous other vital tenant units, including elements of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC), and the Air Force Network Integration Center, all contributing to Scott AFB’s central role in connecting and sustaining U.S. military operations worldwide.
