Ellsworth Air Force Base

About 10 miles northeast of Rapid City, Ellsworth has anchored western South Dakota's military presence since the Army established a bomber training base here in 1942. Today it's home to the 28th Bomb Wing — one of the Air Force's two B-1B Lancer wings — and has been selected as the preferred base to host the first operational B-21 Raider unit. In 2005, an 8–1 BRAC commission vote kept it off the closure list. It's still very much open for business.