During World War II, Sioux Falls was home to the Army Air Forces Technical School. From 1942 through 1945, some 45 thousand men and women trained there and brought new wealth to the community, changed social attitudes, stimulated construction and created the city’s first modern airport.
In the new book Reveille for Sioux Falls, Lynwood Oyos argues that the school changed the city as much as the railroads in the 19th Century. Oyos is professor emeritus of history at Augustana College in Sioux Falls. He joined Dakota Midday and discussed how the air base transformed Sioux Falls from a agricultural community into a cosmopolitan city.