Canal Winchester Messenger - June 13th, 2021

PAGE 10 - MESSENGER - June 13, 2021
Rugged rugby
Messenger photo by Pat Donahue
Fortress Obetz played host June 5 to the Rugby Ohio High
School State Championships. The championships crowned
champions in seven divisions for both boys and girls with
the Super Elite D1 Boys Final seeing St. Ignatius defeating
Moeller 22-8. Rugby Ohio President Chris Northup said that
Fortress Obetz will always be his choice for the state tournament
because it is built for rugby and has a rugby turf that
makes it the best place to play.
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Lockbourne Air Force Base
According to “Crossroads of Liberty, a
Pictorial Tribute to
Lockbourne/Rickenbacker AFB-ANGB-
IAP,” written by Robert M. Stroup II and
advised by military historian Donald C.
Porter, before Pearl Harbor was attacked
in 1941, plans were already underway to
construct an airfield near the village of
Lockbourne.
A site was surveyed on Oct. 23, 1941
that consisted of over 1,500 acres.
“On Jan. 2, 1942, authorization was
received to proceed with construction of
base facilities. On January 17, a directive
was issued approving the acquisition of 33
parcels of land of different sizes and various
ownerships, mostly in the form of
farmland. While some owners were reluctant
to part with ground, most recognized
that the nation was at war and this was a
necessary commitment. Due to the
urgency of war, land owners were given
just 30 days to relocate, a task made even
more difficult by winter weather,” wrote
Stroup in “Crossroads of Liberty.”
Construction began on facilities to first
accommodate training for glider pilots,
then B-17 pilots. Following the end of the
war, Lockbourne’s mission shifted to support
of the fledgling Air Force, National
Guard and Reserve.
The Tuskegee Airmen were an important
part of the base’s history in the late
1940s, as well as the Strategic Air
Command in later years. Lockbourne
nearly doubled in size in the 1950s due to
the Korean War, necessitating another
acquisition of local land.
In 1974, Lockbourne was renamed
Rickenbacker Air Force Base in honor of
Eddie Rickenbacker. Five years later, following
re-alignment recommendations at
the federal level, the base started closing
down after SAC operations were transferred
elsewhere. It officially closed in
1994, albeit with an active Ohio National
Guard and Naval Reserve presence still to
this day, and operations converted to commercial
transportation.
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