Lovelock Aerial Gunnery Range was a

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 opposing ...

facility in two Nevada areas used for "aerial gunnery, strafing, dive bombing ndrocket fire". By 21 November 1944, the Lovelock Range had been approved by the Secretary of the Navy to be developed for

Naval Air Station Fallon Naval Air Station Fallon or NAS Fallon is the United States Navy's premier air-to-air and air-to-ground training facility. It is located southeast of the city of Fallon, east of Reno in western Nevada. Since 1996, it has been home to the U.S. Na ...

, (pdf p. 143 of Archive Summary Report—Findings: Dixie Valley Bombing Target No. 21) and on 13 January 1945, "Lovelock Air to Air" began when "leased under the Second War Powers Act". (pdf p. 35 of Archives Search Report—Findings: Dixie Valley Bombing Target No. 21. Note: The sentence with "''Minden, Winemucca, Lovelock, and Fallon''" was subsequently used in edited form in 1973's ''Welcome Aboard'' ("''Fallon, along with Nevada sites at Minden, Tonopah, Lovelock and Winnemucca''") and that edited quotation was used verbatim in the 2002 Archives Search Report, p. 4-1. The 1997 ''The Economic Evolution of Fallon'' returned to the originally list's wording, but added "the Civil Aviation Administration and the Army Air Corps began building four airfields" and capitalized "Western Defense Program".) By February 1945, land was being acquired for the North Range in the

Black Rock Desert __NOTOC__ The Black Rock Desert is a semi-arid region (in the Great Basin shrub steppe eco-region) of lava beds and playa, or alkali flats, situated in the Black Rock Desert–High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area, a si ...

which was that included of "Patented" (leased private) land. The South Range in the Granite Springs Valley was , and in March 1945 "1920 Acres more" were added. (pdf p. 143 of Archive .Summary Report—Findings: Dixie Valley Bombing Target No. 21) The post-war range was reactivated in October 1945 when the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

closed more than to the public in the two Lovelock Aerial Gunnery Range regions. The Department of the Interior permit for the North Portion was cancelled by a 6 March 1946 letter, and the

Bureau of Yards and Docks The Bureau of Yards and Docks (abbrev.: BuDocks) was the branch of the United States Navy responsible from 1842 to 1966 for building and maintaining navy yards, drydocks, and other facilities relating to ship construction, maintenance, and repair. ...

was directed to cancel the leases for the South Portion on 7 January 1947.

Black Rock Desert Gunnery Range

The 1942 area of in the

for World War II

USAAF 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 ...

aerial gunnery (Targets 25, 26, 27 in areas 1, 2, 3) was used for a 1949 Navy range of that was reactivated near Sulphur, Nevada. After a 1955 request by congressman

Clair Engle Clair Engle (September 21, 1911July 30, 1964) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from California from 1959 until his death in 1964. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for participating in the v ...

, the Black Rock Desert Gunnery Range was closed by 1964.

Sahwave Mountain Air to Air Gunnery Range

In 1958, after the World War II, Lovelock South range was "renamed Sahwave Mountain Air to Air Gunnery Range. The 500,000 acres was acquired by Public Land Order No. 3632. Formal acquisition of the range was completed in August". Used for "only machine gun" fire, the "Basic Sahwave air-to-air gunnery range" was in use by October 1958. On 25 October 1976, after an INS platform failure during night training, Lockheed SR-71A, ''61-7965'', (Article 2016) was lost near Lovelock. The pilot and reconnaissance systems operator both ejected safely.

References

{{Reflist , refs= {{cite book , last=Loomis , first=David , year=1993 , title=Combat zoning: military land-use planning in Nevada , url=https://archive.org/details/combatzoningmili00loom , url-access=registration , publisher=

University of Nevada Press University of Nevada Press is a university press that is run by the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE). Its authority is derived from the Nevada state legislature and Board of Regents of the NSHE. It was founded by Robert Laxalt in 1961. T ...

, isbn=9780874171877 , pag
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, access-date=18 April 2010 Bombing ranges Military installations in Nevada Military installations closed in 1947 United States Navy installations Formerly Used Defense Sites in Nevada History of Humboldt County, Nevada Pershing County, Nevada