Qualla: Keesler Air Force Base https://qualla.com/keesler-air-force-base en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:13 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/2/v/keesler-air-force-base-wp/wc-130h-over-hurlburt-field-19.jpg Qualla: Keesler Air Force Base https://qualla.com/keesler-air-force-base Keesler Air Force Base: Introduction https://qualla.com/keesler-air-force-base/ Photo credit Public domain. Second Lieutenant Samuel Reeves Keesler Jr. was shot six times over the skies of Verdun. Wounded in the chest and abdomen during an aerial reconnaissance mission on October 8, 1918, the Mississippi-born observer still managed to shoot down the lead aircraft of a four-plane German formation before his own plane was forced to the ground. Captured by the enemy, Keesler's fortitude so impressed his German captors that they remarked upon it. He died the following day in a field hospital. Twenty-three years later, when the Army needed a name for its newest technical training center on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, they chose his. Keesler Air Force Base has operated in Biloxi ever since, growing into one of the largest and most important training installations in the United States Air Force.

Read more: Keesler Air Force Base on Qualla

Image: Public domain

]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/2/v/keesler-air-force-base-wp/dj2v-keesler-air-force-base-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Keesler Air Force Base: Born for War, Built for Learning https://qualla.com/keesler-air-force-base/ Photo credit Trifused, CC BY-SA 4.0. In January 1941, Biloxi city officials made the Army an offer: come build a base here. The timing was urgent. War was coming, and the nation needed trained mechanics and technicians at a pace peacetime systems could never deliver. The War Department activated the installation on ...

Read more: Keesler Air Force Base on Qualla

Image: Trifused | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/2/v/keesler-air-force-base-wp/dj2v-keesler-air-force-base-born-for-war-built-for-learning.mp3 0:06 2 full Keesler Air Force Base: The Tuskegee Connection https://qualla.com/keesler-air-force-base/ Photo credit Tequask, CC BY-SA 4.0. Keesler's wartime story includes a chapter that speaks to both the promise and the pain of its era. The Tuskegee Airmen trained at Keesler Field. By autumn 1943, more than 7,000 Black soldiers were stationed on base, serving as pre-aviation cadets, radio operators, aviation techn...

Read more: Keesler Air Force Base on Qualla

Image: Tequask | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/2/v/keesler-air-force-base-wp/dj2v-keesler-air-force-base-the-tuskegee-connection.mp3 0:06 3 full Keesler Air Force Base: Cold War Classrooms https://qualla.com/keesler-air-force-base/ Photo credit Tequask, CC BY-SA 4.0. When World War II ended, Keesler pivoted rather than closed. In 1947, the Radar School transferred in from Boca Raton, making Keesler responsible for the two largest military technical schools in the country. By 1949, the base had added radio operations training from Scott Air Fo...

Read more: Keesler Air Force Base on Qualla

Image: Tequask | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/2/v/keesler-air-force-base-wp/dj2v-keesler-air-force-base-cold-war-classrooms.mp3 0:06 4 full Keesler Air Force Base: Storms and Resilience https://qualla.com/keesler-air-force-base/ Photo credit US Air Force from USA, Public domain. The Gulf Coast does not let its inhabitants forget the sea. Hurricane Camille devastated Biloxi in 1969, flooding much of Keesler's Back Bay housing area. Then, on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made a direct hit. About fifty percent of the base came under water. The commissa...

Read more: Keesler Air Force Base on Qualla

Image: US Air Force from USA | Public domain

]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/2/v/keesler-air-force-base-wp/dj2v-keesler-air-force-base-storms-and-resilience.mp3 0:06 5 full Keesler Air Force Base: The Hurricane Hunters' Home https://qualla.com/keesler-air-force-base/ Photo credit Tequask, CC BY-SA 4.0. Today, Keesler hosts about 3,100 students at any given time through the 81st Training Wing, studying everything from electronics and avionics to meteorology, cryptography, and air traffic control. But the base's most famous residents fly into the worst weather on Earth on purpose...

Read more: Keesler Air Force Base on Qualla

Image: Tequask | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/2/v/keesler-air-force-base-wp/dj2v-keesler-air-force-base-the-hurricane-hunters-home.mp3 0:06 6 full