Tullahoma named 'Great American Defense Community' for 2022

Ben Benton, Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tenn.
·4 min read

Mar. 20—Tullahoma, Tennessee — home to Arnold Air Force Base for the past seven decades — is among five communities in the U.S. named a Great American Defense Community in 2022 during a Defense Communities National Summit in Washington, D.C., this month.

Tullahoma is home to the state's only active-duty Air Force base.

Tullahoma has partnered with Arnold Air Force Base and other community organizations to improve the lives of the base's families, veterans, guard and reserve members, along with the base's employees, Mayor Ray Knowis said in a statement on the honor.

The air base in Tullahoma is the "best-kept secret in the Air Force," according to the Association of Defense Communities program. According to its website, the defense community program started in 2016 was designed to recognize and celebrate communities "with an exceptional commitment to improving the lives of service members, veterans and their families."

Arnold Air Force Base is nestled on more than 40,000 acres in Middle Tennessee, and Tullahoma — which lies in Coffee and Franklin counties — is home to a workforce of more than 1,700 people comprised of active duty military, Department of Defense civilians and defense industry contractors who work in various fields to support and conduct the ground test and evaluation mission of the Arnold Engineering and Development Complex, according to the association and base histories.

Many veterans and retirees, some of whom now work at Arnold in civilian roles, also call the area home.

Arnold Air Force Base, the Tullahoma-based Hands-On Science Center and the University of Tennessee Space Institute partner to support "Engineer's Week," competitions and science projects for military children at local schools in support of the need for an advanced aerospace and engineering workforce in the region, the mayor and association officials said.

"We are absolutely delighted that Tullahoma has been recognized as a Great American Defense Community by the Association of Defense Communities," Tullahoma Area Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Winston Brooks said Thursday in an email.

Brooks said the award "is a true testament to the many dedicated organizations and individuals who work every day to support and sustain" the air base and Tullahoma community.

The base commander praised the local relationship, too.

"We are blessed to have a tremendous partnership with our community surrounding Arnold Air Force Base," Arnold Engineering and Development Complex commander Col. Jeffrey Geraghty said in a statement.

Day-to-day interactions throughout the community and "strong, long-standing traditions of open communication" between state, federal and local leaders go hand-in-hand with the "patriotism and pride we all share in this defense mission," Geraghty said.

Arnold celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2021. The base was built on the site of the Army's World War II-era Camp Forrest, which existed between 1941 and 1946, according to air base historical documents.

Arnold was dedicated by President Harry Truman and named for Henry "Hap" Arnold, a five-star U.S. Air Force general, and designated "Arnold Engineering and Development Center" in June 1951, and within a few years, conducted the base's first test on the J-47 jet engine, according to historical information on the base.

By 1961, the Arnold Engineering and Development Complex's jet engine testing facilities were fully functional, and for the past 60 years or so, the majority of the U.S. Department of Defense's fighters, bombers and cruise missiles have been tested there. Construction of more facilities continued, and in recent years, the "center" part of its name was swapped for "complex."

"Nearly every high-performance aircraft and missile since 1951 in operation today in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and United States Air Force has part of its roots here at Arnold Air Force Base," Complex Test Division chief Col. Lincoln Bonner said of the base's anniversary in 2021 in a statement. "And that's not something that most of the public gets to know or gets to see."

Tullahoma was the only single town to get the Great American Defense Community award in 2022. Other recipients were more regional and included Antelope Valley, California; Florida's Space Coast; Northern Virginia; and West Valley Partners, Arizona, officials said.

Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton.