In fact, it’s arguable that Wright-Patterson has an outsized role in shaping modern American air power, at least on the Air Force side.
“The evolution of America’s air power is the story of Wright-Patterson,” said Michael Gessel, vice president of federal government programs at the Dayton Development Coalition, which has made protecting the base one of its primary missions.
Wright-Patterson has been involved from the birth of modern military aviation in developing the technology and weapons that project global air power, he said.
Clayton Swope is deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project and a senior fellow in the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
He’s also a Middletown native familiar with the Dayton area and Wright-Patterson.
“I’d say (Wright-Patterson) makes sure the Air Force is an well-oiled machine,” Swope said in an interview Monday. “It’s kind of soup-to-nuts, making sure things are working as they’re supposed to today, tomorrow and into the future.”
“I think it also has an outsized role with the (Air Force) budget,” he added.
Air Force Materiel Command, based at Wright-Patterson, spent or obligated nearly $83 billion in fiscal year 2025, about 38% of the Air Force budget.
In fact, Ohio as a whole, with Wright-Patterson, the NASA Glenn Research Center, GE Aerospace and more, is an “aerospace powerhouse,” Swope said.
“It really is a center not just for the aviation side, but for the space side,” he said. “It’s really part of our national power.”
Credit: U.S. Central Command Public Affa
Credit: U.S. Central Command Public Affa
The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, headquartered at Wright-Patterson, keeps planes such as B-2 bombers and the F-15E flying from inception to retirement. The center is part of AFMC, which is headquartered at the base.
Also anchored to Wright-Patterson: The Air Force Research Laboratory, which researches and helps develop the science and technologies behind modern Air Force and Space Force warfare capabilities.
The National Air and Space Intelligence Center, and the National Space Intelligence Center, are charged with staying on top of threats to the United States in the air and space.
U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, said the men and women of Wright-Patterson “were in that conflict before anyone showed up to fly against that adversary,” analyzing regional threats and abilities, helping to gather the data needed to keep U.S. pilots safe.
“All aspects of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base systems have been at play in preparing our advantage against Iran,” said Turner, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee.
In the recent military action, Central Command, also known as “CENTCOM,” said U.S. and Israeli forces launched precision munitions from air, land, and sea, including, for the first time, CENTCOM Task Force Scorpion Strike low-cost one-way attack drones.
Credit: U.S. Central Command Public Affa
Credit: U.S. Central Command Public Affa
B-2s flew a round-trip the United States to strike Iranian ballistic missile sites with 2,000-pound guided bombs, Air and Space Forces Magazine said.
Some 30 Air Force F-35 Lightning II fighters, from the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath and the 158th Fighter Wing of the Vermont Air National Guard, were in theater or participated in the early strikes, the magazine also reported.
As well, dozens of C-17 Globemaster III cargo planes hauled weapons and equipment to the Middle East in recent weeks.
One of 11 combatant commands in the Department of Defense, CENTCOM is responsible for military operations in the Middle East.
“We are aggressively pushing into that air space over that Southern flank to ensure that we control it, and we destroy anything that moves that attempts to shoot us,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in a press conference Monday. “Think of it as shooting the archers instead of the arrows, and that’s where we want to be.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine said once President Trump gave the “go” order for Epic Fury Friday afternoon, “Pilots and crews rehearsed their strike packages for the final time, air crews began loading their final weapons and two carrier strike groups began to move to their launching point.”
The first attacks involved U.S. Cyber Command and U.S. Space Command “layering non-kinetic effects, disrupting, degrading and blinding Iran’s ability to see, communicate and respond,” the four-star general said.
More than 100 aircraft launched from the land the sea were involved in what was a daylight strike against Iran Saturday morning.
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