Bruning Army Air Field was a flight training installation of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

used during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and located in northeast Thayer County,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

, at coordinates 40°20'25" North, 97°25'42" West, approximately six miles east of Bruning.

History

Bruning AAF was one of eleven Nebraska training airfields of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. The airfield was constructed in 1942. The site is bordered on the west by low hills and a small creek bed. Level farm ground is on the north, east and south boundaries. On 12 September 1942, twelve land owners received notice from the federal government that they had ten days to move off their farms, including livestock, farm equipment, feed and all possessions, leaving crops in the fields. They were compensated approximately $50 an acre. Some of the vacated farm buildings and houses were moved, while others were demolished. Immediately thereafter, construction began on the Bruning Army Air Field, with approximately 1,000 construction workers were used to build the field on 1,720 acres (7 km²) of land, with an additional 2,122 acres (9 km²) south of the base leased for a gunnery range. At its peak of activity, Bruning had 3,077 military and 500 civilian personnel assigned. The base consisted of three runways of 6,800 feet (2,070 m) in length, formed in a triangle, with the main parking

apron An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...

(600 by 2,135 ft) located on the north-south (17/35)

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

. Three hangars and 231 support buildings were constructed. The base was activated on March 18, 1943, and dedicated on August 28, 1943. The first unit arrived for training on August 2, 1943. Bruning AAF was under the command of

Second Air Force The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended ...

Headquarters,

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, and provided final training for

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

heavy bombers and

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

fighter-bomber crews. Twelve bombardment squadrons and nine fighter squadrons completed proficiency training at the field before receiving orders for overseas combat assignments. Complete engine and airframe repairs were available for the B-24 bombers and P-47 fighters attached to Bruning AAF. The host unit at the airfield was the 510th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron until 1 March 1944, when it was replaced by the 262d Army Air Forces Base Unit (Operational Training Unit, Fighter). The 510th was assigned to the 16th Bombardment Operational Training Wing (July - December 1943), then was transferred to the

72nd Fighter Wing The 72d Fighter Wing was a wing of the United States Army Air Forces. It was assigned to Second Air Force, stationed at Colorado Springs Army Air Base, Colorado. It was inactivated on 9 April 1946. History The wing was initially activated as a co ...

in December 1943. The following units trained at Bruning AAF: * 456th Bombardment Group - August 2-October 8, 1943 : 744th, 745th, 746th and 747th Bombardment Squadrons : Deployed to Fifteenth Air Force in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, ( B-24 Liberator) * 449th Bombardment Group - September 12- December 3, 1943 : 716th, 717th, 718th and 719th Bombardment Squadrons : Deployed to Fifteenth Air Force in

, ( B-24 Liberator) * 487th Bombardment Group - September 20-December 15, 1943 : 836th, 837th, 838th and 839th Bombardment Squadrons : Deployed to

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, ( B-24 Liberator) * 507th Fighter Group- October 20-December 12, 1944 : 463rd, 464th, and 465th Fighter Squadrons : Deployed to

Twentieth Air Force The Twentieth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) (20th AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. 20 AF's primary mission is Interco ...

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

, (

P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

) * 508th Fighter Group - November 15-December 18, 1944 : 466th, 467th, and 468th Fighter Squadrons : Deployed to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

as replacement training group, (

) * 23d Fighter Squadron - November 1943 - March 1944 : Component of 36th Fighter Group at Scribner Army Air Field, Nebraska : Deployed to

Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...

(

) * 516th Fighter Squadron - 3 March - 1 April 1944 : Component of

407th Fighter-Bomber Group The 407th Air Expeditionary Group (407 AEG) is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces Central Command, 332d Air Expeditionary Wing. It was stationed at Ali Air Base, Iraq, until the closure of the bas ...

: Replacement Training Unit (

A-24 Dauntless The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/d ...

A-36 Apache The North American A-36 (listed in some sources as "Apache" or "Invader", but generally called Mustang) was the ground-attack/dive bomber version of the North American P-51 Mustang, from which it could be distinguished by the presence of rectang ...

) * 517th Fighter Squadron - 3 March - 1 April 1944 : Component of

: Replacement Training Unit (

) Local historians record that 23 airmen died in training accidents at the base, and an additional 28 were killed in a single incident on August 4, 1944, when a

C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (Royal Air Force, RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF, Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF, Royal New Zealand Air Force, RNZAF, and South African Air Force, SAAF designation) is a airlift, military transport ai ...

carrying a graduating class of fighter pilots ran into a thunderstorm and crashed near Naper, Nebraska, killing all on board. Bruning AAF was placed on reserve status effective 7 February 1945 and assigned to Air Technical Service Command. The 4167th Army Air Force Base Unit was assigned to the airfield with a mission to maintain the airfield in reserve status until such time as it may be needed as an active station. The base was declared surplus by the USAAF on November 21, 1945 and turned over to the State of Nebraska. In 1947, 174 buildings were dismantled at Bruning. On January 15, 1948, Nebraska Department of Aeronautics acquired a quitclaim deed for Bruning Army Airfield from the U. S. War Assets Administration. The Nebraska Department of Aeronautics eventually took over a total of six former Army airfields after the war, and continued to operate nearly all of them for many years as state operated civilian airports. The Bruning field was operated as a State airfield until August 1969, although gradually all but a small portion of one runway were closed. The property is now closed to traffic and is leased to local farmers and a cattle feedlot company Bruning Army Airfield is now abandoned, with only a few buildings and the large Sub Depot hangar still standing, as well as remnants of foundations and floors found at the site. The integrity of Hangar 52 is fairly good, but Hangar 53 is in very poor condition, near ruins. The North-South and SW-NE runways are used as the home of Mid-America Feed Yard, a large commercial cattle feed lot, and the NW-SE runway is still visible. On July 19, 1998 the Thayer County Historical Society dedicated a Nebraska State Historical Monument on Highway 4 about 6 miles (10 km) east of Bruning, near the site of Bruning AAF.

References

ArmyAirForces.Com
* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .

External links

Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields is an online database detailing information and first hand memories about airports in the United States which are no longer in operation, or are rarely used. The website was started by Paul Freeman in 1999 a ...

: Western Nebraska
Nebraska Historical Marker - Bruning Army Air Field

Mid-America Feedyard

{{USAAF 2d Air Force World War II Defunct airports in Nebraska 1943 establishments in Nebraska Airports in Nebraska Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Nebraska Buildings and structures in Thayer County, Nebraska

History

See also

References

External links