Archives sets program on early years of Dover Air Force Base July 2

Mike Leister, director of the Air Mobility Command Museum in Dover, will present a program at the Delaware Public Archives about the early years of Dover Air Force Base at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, July 2. In 1940 the City of Dover accepted an offer to build a federally funded airport.

By December 1941 the airport had become Dover Army Airfield. From anti-submarine patrols in obsolete aircraft to secret rocket testing and fighter pilot training, the base flourished until it was closed in 1946. As the Korean War expanded, the facility was reactivated, and in 1953 it became an airlift base.

Today, Dover Air Force Base is an indispensable part of the global transportation network, and how it all came about is a fascinating story. Leister has been director of the Air Mobility Command Museum for 30 years. Among his many accomplishments, he has founded two aviation museums and the Delaware Museum Association. He serves as a senior mentor for museum professionals within the USAF Heritage Program and occasionally for the Small Museum Association where he received the first Lifetime Achievement Award. He was a 2008 inductee into the Delaware Aviation Hall of Fame.

The AMC Museum is widely acknowledged as the gem of the USAF Heritage Program. The program is free to the public and will last approximately one hour. No reservations are required. The Delaware Public Archives is at 121 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. North in Dover. For more information, go to www.archives.delaware.gov.