Barksdale Field officially opened in 1933. It is named in honor of Lt. Eugene Hoy Barksdale, United States Army Air Corps, who lost his life on August 11, 1926, while flight testing an observation airplane in Dayton, Ohio.

By the mid-1930s, Barksdale Field was the headquarters and main base of the 3rd Wing, used by fighter and attack pilots to hone their gunnery and bombing skills. The 1940s saw the training of bomber crews. Barksdale then became headquarters for the Air Training Command from 1945 to 1949 and began phasing out bomber crew training. Barksdale Field was renamed Barksdale Air Force Base January 13, 1948.

From 1972 through 1973 almost all of the base's resources were deployed overseas for operations over Vietnam. All aircraft and crews returned to Barksdale in January and October of 1973. January 1, 1975, Headquarters Eighth Air Force was installed on Barksdale.

In April 1982, and again in December 1990, the space shuttle Columbia made a stop at Barksdale on its way back to Cape Canaveral.

In April 1992, 265 buildings on Barksdale’s main base were placed on the National Register of Historic Places including much of family housing.

Barksdale was the first location President George W. Bush was flown to after the September 11 terrorist attacks. The SR-71 Blackbird is on display at Barksdale AFB.

Barksdale hosts a large complement of B-52 bombers and A-10 "tank busters". During World War II Barksdale played host to the major contingent of the Free French Air Forces. Barksdale Air Force Base has a large display of past B-52's inservice up the recent ones in use now.

Barksdales Economic Impact statement from 2005 reports that the base is home to nearly 16,000 active duty personnel, dependents, private and civilian contractors. This represents a payroll of over $400 Million dollars. Barksdale represents nearly $300 Million in direct expenditures into the community that results in an overall economic impact to nearly $700 Million.

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