Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base (1954–1969) is a former
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 ...
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 ...
base located near the town of
Burns Flat in
Washita County
Washita County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 11,629. Its county seat is New Cordell. The county seat was formerly located in Cloud Chief. The county was created in 1891.
History ...
,
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
, 15 miles (24 km) southwest of the city of
Clinton, Oklahoma
Clinton is a city in Custer County, Oklahoma, Custer and Washita County, Oklahoma, Washita counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 9,033 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census.
History
The community began in 1899 when ...
. Today it is the site of the
Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark
: ''For the military use of the facility before 1969 see Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base''
The Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark, also known as the Oklahoma Air & Space Port is a spaceport in Washita County, Oklahoma, near the town of Burns Flat ...
.
History
Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base, located southwest of Clinton, was established in October 1943 during World War II as Naval Air Station Clinton and served as a
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 ...
(SAC) heavy bomber and aerial refueling aircraft base during the
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 ...
, from September 1954 through December 1969.
The beginnings of Clinton-Sherman AFB came in 1942 when the Navy Department acquired approximately five thousand acres of Washita County farmland by condemnation for a
naval air station. Four long runways, three hangars, twenty-four barracks, and numerous temporary facilities soon appeared next to the town of Burns Flat. More than 3,500 officers and enlisted men served with the Special Task Air Groups in the operation of aircraft drones and glider bombs. The depth of this bomber landing pad is approx. 16 metres
![S-495](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/S-495.03.jpg)
After World War II, the air station closed and all facilities transferred to the War Assets Administration. On January 27, 1949, the federal agency conveyed ownership of the entire installation to the city of Clinton, with a recapture clause in case of national emergency. Soon thereafter, the Sherman Iron Works rented space for the salvaging of more than nine thousand surplus military aircraft.
On September 15, 1954, the federal government leased the site from the city of Clinton and began extending one runway that eventually reached a length of , constructing new facilities, and building nine hundred military family housing units. Reactivated as Clinton-Sherman AFB, the mission of the new SAC airfield was pilot training and developing of specialized aircraft equipment. During the next ten years the Air Force acquired 528 more acres and an additional 3,580 acres of easements.
In March 1959, with a new assignment of B-52s, the 4123d Strategic Wing and its
98th Bombardment Squadron arrived at Clinton-Sherman AFB to conduct a nine-month test of the SAC airborne alert program. The
70th Bombardment Wing
The SCC68070 is a Philips Semiconductors-branded, Motorola 68000-based 16/32-bit processor produced under license. While marketed externally as a high-performance microcontroller, it has been almost exclusively used combined with the Philips SC ...
, along with its
6th Bombardment Squadron and
902d Air Refueling Squadron
The 902d Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 70th Bombardment Wing at Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base, Oklahoma, where it was inactivated on 31 December 1969.
The squadron' ...
, replaced the 4123d on February 1, 1963. With
B-52 Stratofortress
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...
and
KC-135 Stratotanker
The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It is the predominant variant of the C-135 Stratolifter family of transpo ...
aircraft, the new units conducted strategic bombardment readiness and training and air refueling readiness, training and support operations to meet Air Force global commitments. For several months in both 1968 and 1969, all wing aircraft, most aircrew and maintenance personnel, and some support personnel were loaned to other SAC units engaged in combat operations in the Far East and Southeast Asia. The 70th Bomb Wing and its components ceased operations and inactivated on December 31, 1969, with Clinton-Sherman AFB concurrently inactivating as a USAF installation.
A KC-135 aircraft and crew from the base were lost in the
1965 USAF KC-135 Wichita crash.
See also
*
Oklahoma World War II Army Airfields
During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces (AAF) established numerous airfields in Oklahoma for training pilots and aircrews of AAF fighters and bombers or as major maintenance and supply centers.
Most of these airfields were under t ...
References
* Maurer, Maurer. ''Air Force Combat Units Of World War II''. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office 1961 (republished 1983, Office of Air Force History, ).
* Ravenstein, Charles A. ''Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977''.
Maxwell Air Force Base
Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. O ...
,
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
: Office of Air Force History 1984. .
strategic-air-command.com
External links
{{authority control
Installations of the United States Air Force in Oklahoma
Buildings and structures in Washita County, Oklahoma
Military airbases established in 1954
Post-World War II aircraft storage facilities
1954 establishments in Oklahoma
1969 disestablishments in Oklahoma
Military installations closed in 1969
World War II airfields in the United States