Part of Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC)
March is one of the oldest airfields operated by the United States military, being established as Alessandro Flying Training Field in February 1918, being renamed March Field the following month (for 2nd LtPeyton C. March, Jr., the recently deceased son of then-Army Chief of Staff Peyton C. March).
The host unit at March is the Air Force Reserve's 452d Air Mobility Wing (452 AMW), which in addition to its operatinal flying mission, also provides host base support for numerous tenant units. March ARB is also the home to Headquarters, 4th Air Force (4 AF) of the Air Force Reserve Command and multiple units of the California Air National Guard.
March is currently home to eight C-17 Globemaster IIIs, the first to belong strictly to the Air Force Reserve Command, as well as twelve KC-135R Stratotanker air refueling aircraft (these tankers were the first in the Air Force Reserve to convert to the Block 40 Pacer CRAG modernization upgrade). The base is also used by the California Air National Guard's 163d Reconnaissance Wing (163 RW) operating the RQ-1 Predator, F-16C alert site/detachment operations of the California Air National Guard's 144th Fighter Wing (144 FW) and a U.S. Customs Air Unit. The California Department of Forestry also uses the base on an intermittent basis.
