Download coordinates as: Dyess Air Force Base (AFB) (IATA: DYS, ICAO: KDYS, FAA LID: DYS) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located about 7 miles (11 km) southwest of downtown Abilene, Texas, and 150 miles (240 km) west of Fort Worth, Texas.

The host unit at Dyess is the 7th Bomb Wing assigned to the Global Strike Command Eighth Air Force.

It was renamed in honor of Texas native and Bataan Death March survivor Lieutenant Colonel William Dyess.

Dyess AFB has nearly 200 facilities on base, plus 988 units of family housing, and encompasses 6,117 acres (24.75 km2) of land.

The base is named after Lt Col William Edwin Dyess, a native of Albany, Texas, who was captured by the Japanese on Bataan in April 1942.

Dyess escaped in April 1943 and fought with guerilla forces on Mindanao until evacuated by submarine in July 1943.

During retraining in the United States, his P-38 Lightning caught fire in flight on 23 December 1943 near Burbank, California.

The airfield was initially assigned to Second Air Force and its mission was to be a flying training center for cadets.

On 25 March 1944, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt training for flight cadets was taken over by the 261st Army Air Force Base Unit.

Shortly after the Korean War broke out, the city of Abilene called for the need of a military installation.

The city showed their determination for a new base by raising almost $1 million to purchase an additional 3,500 acres (14 km2) adjacent to the site.

Senator Lyndon B. Johnson's (D-TX) attention, who had the power to persuade military officials to reactivate the base in Abilene.

Finally, in July 1952, Congress approved the $32 million needed to construct an air force base on the Tye AAF site.

The 341st was part of the Strategic Air Command (SAC), flying the B-47 Stratojet, which it continued to operate until its inactivation on 25 June 1961.

The Army Air Defense Command Post was located 37 miles west at Sweetwater AFS.

Camp Barkeley served as a World War II infantry division training center, while Fort Phantom Hill was a frontier outpost and stop on the Butterfield stage route.

Since achieving IOC, Dyess has been recognized as the premier bomber-training center and leads the fleet in maintaining the highest mission capability status of its aircraft, avionics test stations and support equipment.

In January 2003, Dyess became the first Department of Defense installation in the United States to be powered exclusively from renewable wind energy.

From there, the 7 BW provides close air support to troops in the field and precision strike missions with the B-1B Lancer.

The wing performs combat training with the Boeing B-1B Lancer bomber and is the USAF's premier operational B-1B unit with 36 aircraft.

The 317th AW consists of these squadrons: Dyess AFB is also home to several tenant units, including Air Force Office of Special Investigations Detachment 222.