Bucholz Army Airfield is a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

airfield An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

located on Kwajalein Atoll,

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Inte ...

. Its position is ideal for refueling during trans-Pacific flights, and the airport is available to civilians through

Air Marshall Islands Air Marshall Islands is an airline based in Majuro, Marshall Islands. It is the flag carrier of the Marshall Islands, operating inter-island services in the Central Pacific. Its main base is Marshall Islands International Airport, Majuro. Hi ...

and

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

. Since the entirety of Kwajalein Atoll is a military base, non-military passengers on commercial flights are transported to and from the neighboring island of Ebeye, the civilian population center of Kwajalein Atoll.

History

Bucholz Army Airfield was initially built by the Japanese in 1943 as part of a large naval base. It came under heavy air attacks in late 1943 to neutralize the island. The atoll was assaulted by American forces on 31 January 1944. Employing the battle hardened tactics developed under fire during the Battle of Tarawa, the United States launched a resolute dual assault on the main islands of Kwajalein in the south and Roi-Namur in the north. The Japanese put up ill-fated resistance, though outnumbered and under-prepared. The futile Japanese defense left only 4 survivors of an original garrison of 3,500. After the defeat of the Japanese, Kwajalein was developed into a major United States Military airbase and staging area for further operations by Seabees of the 109th Naval Construction Battalions Building the Navy's Bases Online, Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Island

/ref> with CBs 74, 107, and 3rd Bn 20th Marines) assisting. After repairing and expanding the captured Japanese airfield, 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 ...

(USAAF) moved Headquarters, Seventh Air Force from

Nanumea Nanumea is the northwesternmost atoll in the Polynesian nation of Tuvalu, a group of nine coral atolls and islands spread over about of the Pacific Ocean just south of the equator and west of the International Date Line. Nanumea is with a ...

to the airfield in April 1944, and moved the B-24 Liberator-equipped

11th Bombardment Group An international call prefix, international dial-out code or international direct dial code (IDD code) is a trunk prefix that indicates an international phone call. In the dialling sequence, the prefix precedes the country calling code (and, furt ...

from

Tarawa Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''

30th Bombardment Group from

Abemama Abemama (Apamama) is an atoll, one of the Gilberts group in Kiribati, and is located southeast of Tarawa and just north of the Equator. Abemama has an area of and a population of 3,299 . The islets surround a deep lagoon. The eastern part o ...

to Bucholz at the beginning of April. From Kwajalein, the heavy bombers struck at enemy targets in the

. Along with the heavy bomber groups, the USAAF reassigned the F-5 (

P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive ...

)-equipped

28th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of ...

to Kwajalein to fly long-range photographic missions over the Marshalls and reported directly to Headquarters, Seventh Air Force. The USAAF combat units remained until late 1944 until being moved forwards into the Marianas, being assigned to airfields on

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

and Saipan. The United States then used Kwajalein as a maintenance and supply hub, supplying forward bases with supplies and equipment. After the war, the United States used Kwajalein as a main command center and preparation base for Operation Crossroads and an extensive series of nuclear tests (comprising a total of 67 blasts) at the Marshalls' atolls of Bikini and

Enewetak Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...

. Later, in the 1950s and 1960s, Bucholz became part of the Atomic Energy Commission Pacific Testing Area. Marshall Islands were officially made a Territory of the United States, and became an independent republic in 1986, Kwajalein atoll is still used by the United States for missile testing and various other operations. Although this military history has deeply influenced the lives of the Marshall Islanders who have lived in the atoll through the war to the present, the military history of Kwajalein has made tourism almost non-existent and has kept the environment in relatively pristine condition. American civilians and their families who reside at the military installations in Kwajalein are able to enjoy this environment with few restrictions. As of 2009, Bucholz Army Airfield is still operated by the

. All civil and military operations require 24 hours' prior permission, and passengers transiting through Kwajalein on the same aircraft are not permitted to deplane.

Airlines and destinations

References

External links

USAKA Airfield Services

* AirNa
airport information for PKWA

pacificwrecks.com
* Maurer, Maurer (1983), Air Force Combat Units Of World War II, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History {{authority control Airports in the Marshall Islands Kwajalein Atoll Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command in the Pacific Ocean Theater Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II Marshall Islands in World War II United States Army airfields 1943 establishments in the Marshall Islands

History

Airlines and destinations

See also

References

External links