32.50194444, -93.66277778
Barksdale Air Force Base (Barksdale AFB) (IATA: BAD, ICAO: KBAD, FAA LID: BAD) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in Bossier Parish, Louisiana in northwest Louisiana. Much of the base is within the city limites of Bossier City, Louisiana, along the base's western and northwestern edge. Barksdale AFB occupies more than 22,000 acres (89 km2) east of Bossier City and along the southern edge of Interstate 20. More than 15,000 active-duty and Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) members serve at Barksdale.
The host unit at Barksdale is the 2nd Bomb Wing (2 BW), the oldest bomb wing in the U.S. Air Force. It is assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command's (AFGSC) Eighth Air Force (8 AF). Equipped with about 44 B-52H Stratofortress bombers, 2 BW provides flexible, responsive global combat capability and trains all AFGSC and AFRC Boeing B-52 Stratofortress crews.
The base was established in 1932 as Barksdale Field, named for World War I aviator and test pilot Lieutenant Eugene Hoy Barksdale (1896–1926).