The installation was named Homestead Army Air Field on 16 September 1942 as a base for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, and construction began the next day. Homestead opened as an Air Transport Command ferry airfield in November; ATC pilots were trained at the base from February 1943 in the C-46, C-54 and C-87 aircraft. The base was heavily damaged by a hurricane in September 1945, resulting in its inactivation on 14 December 1945. When the U.S. Air Force was established as a separate service on 18 September 1947, the old Homestead AAF lay in ruins.
Reactivated for the Cold War as a Strategic Air Command installation, an advance arrived at the old base in the summer of 1954 and initiated clean-up and reconstruction efforts. Renamed as Homestead Air Force Base on 1 February 1955. The 379th Bomb Wing was activated at Homestead on 1 November 1955. It replaced the 4276th Air Base Squadron at Homestead in November 1955 and spent the next few months becoming organized and manned. It received B-47 Stratojet and KC-97 Stratotankers in April 1956 and began training for strategic bombardment and air refueling operations. The wing moved to Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan without equipment in January 1961 in preparation for transition to the B-52 Stratofortress and KC-135 Stratotanker. The 19th Bomb Wing moved to Homestead in April 1956 and also flew the B-47 and KC-97. On 1 July 1961, it was redesignated as the 19th Bomb Wing and began converting to B-52s and KC-135s. The wing "moved without personnel or equipment to Robins AFB, Georgia", on 25 July 1968 and "absorbed resources of the 465th Bombardment Wing." In 1962, the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing, a unit of the Tactical Air Command, relocated to Homestead from George Air Force Base, California with its F-100 Super Sabre jet fighters and established itself as a TAC tenant unit at Homestead, the base remaining under SAC control. With the impending departure of the 19th Bomb Wing, control of Homestead passed from SAC to TAC on 1 July 1968. However, with the 31 TFW deployed to Southeast Asia, the 4531st Tactical Fighter Wing was established as a provisional unit for host wing duties at Homestead pending the return of the 31 TFW in 1970.
Hurricane Andrew
As Hurricane Andrew approached South Florida in late August 1992, the base evacuated their F-16 fighter aircraft to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio and their Air Force Reserve HC-130 and HH-60 rescue aircraft to Patrick Air Force Base near Cocoa Beach, Florida. Base personnel and their families were under evacuation orders prior to the arrival of the Category 5 storm. The planes and essential personnel stayed in Ohio until April 1993, at which point they were transferred to MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa, Florida. The stay at MacDill was short lived as the wing returned to Homestead in March 1994. During this time the base was on the Base Realignment and Closure Commission's initial base closings list, potentially dooming the base to closure. However, in the end the base was converted from an active duty base to its present-day reserve base status with the 482d Fighter Wing and its F-16 aircraft as the host wing, while concurrently maintaining a 24/7/365 alert detachment of F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft from the Florida Air National Guard's 125th Fighter Wing.
Based units
Flying and notable non-flying units based at Homestead Air Reserve Guard Base. Units marked GSU are Geographically Separate Units, which although based at Homestead are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location.
