Cheli Air Force Station, formerly located within

Bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...

in southeastern

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

, was a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

installation and a

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

Radar Bomb Scoring Radar Bomb Scoring is a combat aviation ground support operation used to evaluate Cold War aircrews' effectiveness with simulated unguided bomb drops near radar stations of the United States Navy, the USAF Strategic Air Command, and Army Project ...

site of the

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...

, from 1947 to 1961.

History

It was originally a U.S. Army Air Forces depot from 1943 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 ...

to 1947. After its 1961 closure it has housed facilities of the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed F ...

, and the

California Army National Guard The California Army National Guard (CA ARNG) is one of three components of the California National Guard, a reserve of the United States Army, and part of the National Guard of the United States. The California Army National Guard is composed o ...

Maywood Army Air Forces Specialized Storage Depot

The military site was established as the Maywood Army Air Forces Specialized Storage Depot in 1943 during

, and was part of

Air Materiel Command Air Materiel Command (AMC) was a United States Army Air Forces and United States Air Force command. Its headquarters was located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. In 1961, the command was redesignated the Air Force Logistics Command wi ...

. The function of the depot was to store and distribute aircraft parts. The site was transferred to the United States Air Force (USAF) when it became a separate service branch from the

Army Air Force 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 ...

in 1947.

Cheli Air Force Station

Cheli Air Force Station was named when the

military installation A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

was transferred to the USAF in 1947, in honor of San Francisco born Medal of Honor recipient Major Ralph Cheli. Cheli AFS had 31 military and 1,139 civilians on June 30, 1958.

Los Angeles Bomb Plot—Radar Bomb Scoring

The Los Angeles Bomb Plot, or LA Bomb Plot #7 or Los Angeles RBS, was a

(RBS) site of the

Radar Bomb Scoring Division Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weat ...

, established at Cheli Air Force Station , for evaluating bomber training missions on practice targets in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

.Map of flight path between Sacramento and Santa Barbara on pdf page 56
/ref> The site was first controlled by Detachment 8 of the 3903rd Radar Bomb Scoring Group in 1952, redesignated the 11th Radar Bomb Scoring SQ in 1953, which was commanded by Lt Col James O. McHan. The Los Angeles Bomb Plot RBS site was near

Beale AFB Beale Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base located approximately east of Marysville, California. It is located outside Linda, about east of the towns of Marysville and Yuba City, and about north of Sacramento. The ho ...

Castle AFB Castle Air Force Base (Castle AFB, 1941–1995) is a former United States Air Force Strategic Air Command base in California, located northeast of Atwater, northwest of Merced, and about south of Sacramento. The Central Valley base in unin ...

, and

March AFB March Air Reserve Base (March ARB), previously known as March Air Force Base (March AFB) is located in Riverside County, California between the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley, and Perris. It is the home to the Air Force Reserve Command's ...

bomber bases, as well as the Brown Field Bombing Range, Camp Beale Bombing Range, Madera Bombing Range, Muroc Bomb & Gunnery Range,

Saline Valley Saline Valley is a large, deep, and arid graben, about in length, in the northern Mojave Desert of California, a narrow, northwest–southeast-trending tectonic sink defined by fault-block mountains. Most of it became a part of Death Valley Natio ...

Bombing Range, and Trabuca Bombing Range. Bomb run locations included those of a Castle AFB bomber using the "A/B Santa Barbara" Initial Point and the " LA # 'I' " target. The radar site closed in 1961, after the Los Angeles RBS unit moved to a

Wall, South Dakota Wall ( Lakota: ''Makȟóšiča Aglágla Otȟuŋwahe'', "Town alongside the Badlands") is a town in Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 699 at the 2020 census. History Wall was platted in 1907 when the Chicago an ...

RBS site, located at the

Badlands Bombing Range The Badlands Bombing Range (BBR) refers to Rapid City Army Air Base target ranges for World War II which included the current Air Force Retained Area, an inactive United States Air Force site "20 miles southeast" of Scenic, South Dakota. The ret ...

which had opened in August 1960.Cevga.com
/ref>

Units

Known units serving at the Maywood Army Air Forces Specialized Storage Depot and Cheli AFS/Los Angeles Bomb Plot include: * 822th Army Air Forces Specialized Depot — Maywood Army Air Forces Specialized Storage Depot * 4822th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Specialized Depot) — Maywood Army Air Forces Specialized Storage Depot * Office of Special Investigations, District 18 — Cheli Air Force Station * 3903rd Radar Bomb Scoring Group, Detachment 8 — Los Angeles Bomb Plot, Cheli AFS * 11th Radar Bomb Scoring Squadron — Los Angeles Bomb Plot, Cheli AFS

Closure

After the Los Angeles Bomb Plot/Los Angeles RBS closed on 3 November 1961, the Cheli Air Force Station was closed in accordance with Air Force Special Orders G-132, on 28 November 1961. The federal

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...

(GSA) received control of the property. In 1972 the property was transferred from the GSA to the

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...

(later United States Postal Service). The final formal transfer of of land to the USPS was on 23 January 1976. The remaining of the former Cheli AFS were transferred to the U.S. Army in 1974 for the Patton United States Army Reserve Center.Patton United States Army Reserve Center, 5340 Bandini Boulevard, Bell CA A portion is also used by the

. Additional Cheli AFS parcels were transferred in 200

References

{{Reflist, 26em

External links

California Military History.org: History of the Cheli Air Force Station
— ''and of the preceding Maywood Army Air Forces Specialized Storage Depot''. Installations of the United States Air Force in California Formerly Used Defense Sites in California Maywood, California Buildings and structures in Los Angeles County, California Radar stations of the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command radar stations 1950s in California Military installations established in 1947 Military installations closed in 1961 1947 establishments in California 1961 disestablishments in California