Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station (Niagara Falls Air Force Base -1971) is an Air Force Reserve Command military installation operationally-gained by the Air Mobility Command. It is located adjacent to Niagara Falls International Airport, New York, east-northeast of Niagara Falls, New York. The station is the last "federal" USAF installation in the state, the other remaining USAF installations falling under the Air National Guard). The host unit for the base is the 914th Air Refueling Wing of the Air Force Reserve Command which operates the KC-135 Stratotanker. The 107th Attack Wing of the New York Air National Guard is also stationed at the base. A Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) for all five branches of the U.S. is also located at the station. Both the 914 ARW and 107 ATW number in excess of 3,000 military personnel. History The Army's Air Service had begun operations in western New York by 1917 when a school for photofinishers opened in Rochester. Niagara Falls Airport opened at Niagara Falls, New York, in 1928 as a city-owned municipal airport with four crushed-stone runways. Bell Aircraft Corporation completed a manufacturing plant in Wheatfield adjacent to the airport for World War II military pursuit planes in 1941 and the 3522d Army Air Force Base Unit managed the airport and coordinated use of the airfield. Bell Modification Center The Bell Modification Center at the Niagara Falls Airport was 1 of 21 built by Materiel Command in 1942 "to fit the mass production aircraft models to the needs of the specific theaters of operations". Bell was contracted to operate the center, and the airfield leased by the USAAF was improved with macadam runways (three at 4000x150 feet and the E/W runway at 4200x300), taxiways, etc. Military units at Niagara Falls included a Modification Center Headquarters and a training school, "Niagara Falls East Tr Sch" (a different modification center, "Buffalo Mun-Mod Ctr B", was located at the 1925 Buffalo Municipal Airport). Naval air station The Naval Air Station Niagara Falls was established in 1946 and the installation was expanded. Jurisdiction of the airport returned to a civilian agency later in 1946 (a USAF joint-use agreement was made for Air Force Reserve and NYANG use of the airport). Continental Air Command's First Air Force assigned the Air Force Reserve's 90th Reconnaissance Wing to the military installation on 26 December 1946, followed by the 26th Reconnaissance Group (23 October 1947) and