Altus Air Force Base

Active Air Force pilot training base, the economic mainstay of Altus

Altus Air Force Base, about six kilometres east-northeast of downtown, is the economic and demographic anchor of the city. It opened during World War II as a training base for bomber crews and was reactivated in 1953; today it houses the 97th Air Mobility Wing and is the formal training base for C-17 Globemaster and KC-46 Pegasus pilots, plus the boom operators who work the tankers.

The base is not generally open to the public, though it occasionally holds open days and air shows with formation flyovers — worth catching if your visit coincides. The aircraft pattern over the city is constant and the rolling thunder of a four-engine transport overhead is the soundtrack of Altus. The base gate is visible from US-62.

sight landmark
A story
Altus AFB is where every U.S. Air Force pilot who flies the C-17 Globemaster or KC-46 Pegasus tanker is trained — meaning if you've ever been on a military airlift mission anywhere in the world, the pilot probably learned the aircraft here in southwest Oklahoma.