When Kelly Air Force Base closed on July 13, 2001, it was the oldest continuously operating military airfield in the country.
In operation for 85 years, Kelly served as an Air Force logistics center for decades, performing programmed depot maintenance on planes — many of them bombers, according to newspaper archives.
At its peak, Kelly employed 25,000 people. Its storied history includes being staffed largely by female machinists, known as “Kelly Katies,” during World War II, and serving as the training center where aviation legends like Ira C. Eaker, Curtis LeMay and Charles Lindbergh learned to fly Curtiss Jenny planes, archives show…