Hill Air Force Base is a major

U.S. 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 Sign ...

(USAF) base located in northern

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, just south of the city of Ogden, and bordering the Cities of

Layton Layton or The Laytons may refer to: Places United States * Layton, Florida, a city * Layton, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Layton Township, Pottawattamie County, Iowa * Layton, New Jersey, an unincorporated community * Layton, Pennsyl ...

, Clearfield, Riverdale,

Roy Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...

, and Sunset with its largest border immediately adjacent to Clearfield and Layton. It is about north of

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

. The base was named in honor of Major Ployer Peter Hill of the

U.S. Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

, who died test-flying ''NX13372'', the original Model 299 prototype of the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. As of 2018 Hill AFB is the sixth-largest employer in the state of Utah. Hill AFB is the home of the Air Force Materiel Command's (AFMC) Ogden Air Logistics Complex (OO-ALC) which is the worldwide manager for a wide range of aircraft, engines, missiles, software, avionics, and accessories components. The OO-ALC is part of the

Air Force Sustainment Center The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

. The host unit at Hill AFB is the AFMC's

75th Air Base Wing The 75th Air Base Wing (75 ABW) is a wing of the United States Air Force based out of Hill Air Force Base, Ogden Utah. It provides base operating support for the Ogden Air Logistics Complex, the 388th, 419th Fighter Wing, 84th Combat Sustainm ...

(75 ABW), which provides services and support for the OO-ALC and its subordinate organizations. Additional tenant units at Hill AFB include operational fighter wings of Air Combat Command (ACC) and Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC).

History

Hill Air Force Base is named in honor of Major Ployer Peter Hill (1894–1935), the Chief of the Flying Branch of the

(USAAC) Material Division of

Wright Field Wilbur Wright Field was a military installation and an airfield used as a World War I pilot, mechanic, and armorer training facility and, under different designations, conducted United States Army Air Corps and Air Forces flight testing. Lo ...

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

. Major Hill had died as a result of injuries he received from the crash of the

Boeing Aircraft Company The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

's experimental aircraft

Boeing Model 299 The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

at Wright Field, the prototype airplane for what became the famous B-17 Flying Fortress. Hill Air Force Base traces its origins back to the ill-fated

U.S. 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, cl ...

's Air Mail "experiment" of 1934, when the idea originated for a permanent air depot in the

area. In the following years, the USAAC surveyed the region for a suitable location for the permanent western terminus of the air mail. Several sites in Utah were considered, and the present site near Ogden emerged as the clear favorite. In July 1939, Congress appropriated $8.0 million for the establishment and construction of the Ogden Air Depot. Hill Field officially opened on 7 November 1940. Following

American entry into World War II Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor took place on December 7, 1941. The U.S. military suffered 18 ships damaged or sunk, and 2,400 people were killed. Its most significant consequence was the entrance of the United States into World War II. The US had ...

in December 1941, Hill Field quickly became an important maintenance and supply base, with round-the-clock operations geared to supporting the war effort. Battle-worn warplanes like the A-26,

B-17 The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

B-24 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 ...

, B-29,

P-40 The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...

P-47 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-bomber ...

P-61 The Northrop P-61 Black Widow is a twin-engine United States Army Air Forces fighter aircraft of World War II. It was the first operational U.S. warplane designed as a night fighter, and the first aircraft designed specifically as a night figh ...

, were sent to Hill Field for structural repairs, engine overhauls, and spare parts. The peak wartime employment at Hill Field was reached in 1943 with a total of just over 22,000 military and civilian personnel. Men and women at the depot rehabilitated and returned thousands of warplanes to combat. Starting in 1944, Hill Field was utilized for the long-term storage of surplus airplanes and their support equipment, including outmoded

P-40 Tomahawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...

s and

P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...

s which had been removed from combat service and replaced by newer and better warplanes.

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-bom ...

s, B-24 Liberators,

B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 F ...

es, and many other types of aircraft were also prepared for and placed in storage at Hill over the course of the 1940s and 1950s. Hill Field became the Hill Air Force Base on 5 February 1948, following the creation of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, 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 ...

. During the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, Hill AFB was assigned a major share of the

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 ...

's logistical effort to support the combat in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. Hill AFB personnel quickly removed needed warplanes from storage, renovated them, and added them to active-service USAF flying

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

Then during the 1960s, Hill AFB began to perform the maintenance support for various kinds of jet warplanes, mainly the F-4 Phantom II during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

, and then afterwards, the more modern F-16 Fighting Falcon,

A-10 Thunderbolt II The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republic ...

and C-130 Hercules, and also air combat missile systems and

air-to-ground rockets Air-to-ground weaponry is aircraft ordnance used by combat aircraft to attack ground targets. The weapons include bombs, machine guns, autocannons, air-to-surface missiles, rockets, air-launched cruise missiles and grenade launchers. See als ...

. Hill AFB continues to carry out these tasks to the present day.

Major commands assigned

* Materiel Div, Office of Chief of the Air Corps, 1 December 1939 – 11 December 1941 *

Air Service Command The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

, 11 December 1941 – 17 July 1944 * AAF Materiel and Services, 17 July 1944 – 31 August 1944 *

Army Air Forces Technical Service Command An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, 31 August 1944 – 1 July 1945 * Air Technical Service Command, 1 July 1945 – 9 March 1946 *

, 9 March 1946 – 1 April 1961 * Air Force Logistics Command, 1 April 1961 – 1 June 1992 * Air Force Materiel Command 1 June 1992 – present

Base operating units

* Ogden Air Depot, 7 November 1940 – 8 April 1942 * 9th Station Complement, 8 April 1942 – 2 January 1943 * 482d Base HQ and Air Base Sq, 2 January 1943 – 1 April 1944 * 4135th AAF Base Unit, 1 April 1944 – 26 September 1947 * 4135th AF Base Unit, 26 September 1947 – 27 August 1948 * HQ and HQ Sq, Ogden AMA, 27 August 1948 – 4 May 1950 * 25th Air Base Gp, 4 May 1950 – 1 May 1953 * 2849th Air Base Wg, 1 May 1953 – 8 July 1964 * 2849th Air Base Gp, 8 July 1964 – 1994 * 75th Air Base Wing 1994 – present

Role and operations

Ogden Air Logistics Complex

The Ogden Air Logistics Complex provides worldwide

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

ing and logistics management for the

F-35 Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide elect ...

, F-16 Fighting Falcon,

, and

Minuteman III The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. , the LGM-30G Minuteman III version is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States and re ...

intercontinental ballistic missile.

75th Air Base Wing

The

is responsible for the base operating support of all units at Hill AFB. The 75th ABW provides base operating support for the Ogden Air Logistics Complex, the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings, and 50+ mission partner units.

Hill Aerospace Museum

Hill AFB has also housed the

Hill Aerospace Museum Hill Aerospace Museum is a military aviation museum located at Hill Air Force Base in Roy, Utah. It is dedicated to the history of the base and aviation in Utah. History Preparations for a museum began in 1984, when ground was broken on an "Ae ...

since 1981. This contains more than 80 retired USAF, U.S. Army Air Forces,

U.S. 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 o ...

and former

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist repub ...

fixed-wing aircraft,

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

s, and missiles.

Utah Test and Training Range

The

Utah Test and Training Range The Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) is a Department of Defense military testing and training area located in Utah's West Desert, approximately west of Salt Lake City, Utah. UTTR is currently the largest contiguous block of over-land superson ...

is one of the only live-fire U.S. Air Force training ranges within the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It is located in far western Utah, close to the

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

border, and it extends both north and south of Interstate Highway 80, with several miles of separation on each side of the Interstate Highway. The portion of the bombing range that lies north of Interstate 80 is also west of the Great Salt Lake. The Utah Test and Training Range lies in

Tooele County Tooele County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 58,218. Its county seat and largest city is Tooele. The county was created in 1850 and organized the following year. Tooele County ...

, and the land is owned by the state of Utah, but the use of the airspace and training exercises are scheduled by Hill AFB. On September 8, 2004, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Genesis space probe crash-landed on the nearby

Dugway Proving Ground Dugway Proving Ground (DPG) is a U.S. Army facility established in 1942 to test biological and chemical weapons, located about southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, and south of the Utah Test and Training Range. Location Dugway P ...

, as planned.

Based units

Flying and notable non-flying units based at Hill Air Force Base. Units marked GSU are

Geographically Separate Unit In the United States military a Geographically Separate Unit (GSU) is a base that is physically separate from, yet not autonomous of its "parent" base. GSUs are "owned" by their parent organization and are typically quite small. Assignment to a ...

s, which although based at Hill, are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location.

United States Air Force

Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) *

(Host wing) ** 75th Civil Engineering Directorate ** 75th Communications and Information Directorate ** 75th Medical Group ** 75th Mission Support Group * Air Force Sustainment Center ** Ogden Air Logistics Complex *** 309th Aircraft Maintenance Group *** 309th Commodities Maintenance Group *** 309th Electronics Maintenance Group *** 309th Maintenance Support Group *** 309th Missile Maintenance Group *** 309th Software Engineering Group ** 448th Supply Chain Management Wing *** 748th Supply Chain Management Group (GSU) **** 414th Supply Chain Management Squadron **** 415th Supply Chain Management Squadron **** 416th Supply Chain Management Squadron **** 417th Supply Chain Management Squadron **** 419th Supply Chain Management Squadron *

Air Force Life Cycle Management Center The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), headquartered at Wright-Patterson AFB, is one of six centers reporting to the Air Force Materiel Command.AIR FORCE LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT CENTER (AFLCMC) Posted 8/3/2012 Printable Fact Sheet Led ...

** Fighters/Bombers Directorate *** A-10 Division (GSU) *** F-16 Division (GSU) *** F-22 Division (GSU) *** F-35 operating location (GSU) ** Armament Directorate *** Munitions Division (GSU) ** Battle Management Directorate *** Aerospace Enabler Division (GSU) ** Mobility Directorate *** Mature and Proven Aircraft Division (GSU) ** Logistics Directorate *** Product Data Services Division (GSU) ** Agile Combat Support Directorate *** Automatic Test Systems Division (GSU) * Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center ** ICBM Systems Directorate (GSU) Air Combat Command (ACC) * Fifteenth Air Force **

388th Fighter Wing The 388th Fighter Wing (388FW) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command Fifteenth Air Force. The unit is stationed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Units 388th Operations Group (388 OG) *4th Fighter Squadron (4 FS) ...

***

388th Operations Group The 388th Operations Group (388 OG) is the flying component of the 388th Fighter Wing, assigned to the Air Combat Command Twelfth Air Force. The group is stationed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. During World War II, its predecessor unit, the ...

****

4th Fighter Squadron The 4th Fighter Squadron, "Fighting Fuujins" is part of the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. It operates the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II aircraft, which replaced the unit's General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons in August ...

–

F-35A Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide ele ...

****

34th Fighter Squadron The 34th Fighter Squadron is part of the United States Air Force's 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. On 2 August 2016, the Air Force announced that the 34th had become the first squadron to achieve initial operating capability w ...

– F-35A Lightning II **** 388th Operations Support Squadron ****

421st Fighter Squadron The 421st Fighter Squadron is part of the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. It operates the Lockheed Martin F-35A aircraft conducting air superiority missions. The squadron is one of the most decorated fighter squadrons in the ...

F-35A Lightning II **** 729th Air Control Squadron *** 388th Maintenance Group **** 388th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron **** 388th Maintenance Squadron *** Headquarters Utah Test and Training Range Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) * 419th Fighter Wing ** 419th Operations Group ***

466th Fighter Squadron The 466th Fighter Squadron is the 419th Fighter Wing's operational flying squadron. It is located at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. The squadron was activated late in World War II. Intended as a long-range escort unit, it deployed to the Pacific, ...

– F-35A Lightning II ** 419th Maintenance Group *** 419th Maintenance Squadron *** 419th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron *** 419th Maintenance Operations Flight *** 419th Combat Logistics Support Squadron ** 419th Mission Support Group *** 419th Security Forces Squadron *** 419th Civil Engineer Squadron *** 419th Mission Support Flight *** 419th Logistics Readiness Squadron *** 67th Aerial Port Squadron

Connections to the Hi-Fi murders

Three enlisted United States Air Force airmen stationed at Hill AFB – Pierre Dale Selby, William Andrews and Keith Roberts – were convicted in connection with the

Hi-Fi murders The Hi-Fi murders were the torture and killings of three people during a robbery at the Hi-fi Shop, a home audio store in Ogden, Utah, on the evening of April 22, 1974. Several men entered the Hi-fi Shop shortly before closing time and began t ...

, which took place at the Hi-Fi Shop in Ogden, Utah, on April 22, 1974. Selby and Andrews were both sentenced to death for murder and aggravated robbery while Roberts, who had remained in a getaway vehicle, was convicted of robbery. Evidence gathered from a trashbin on base and from the perpetrators' barracks was instrumental in their convictions. One of the survivors of the attack, Cortney Naisbitt, later trained in computers and worked at Hill Air Force Base.

Accidents and Incidents

*October 19, 2022: An

Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather Stealth aircraft, stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both Air superiority fighter, air superiority and attack ...

crashed off the end of runway 14. The 388th Fighter Wing has stated that the solo pilot was seen by a local hospital and released with no injuries.

References

Note: Much of this text in an early version of this article was taken from pages on th
Hill Air Force Base Website
which as a work of the U.S. Government is presumed to be a

public domain resource The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

. That information was supplemented by: * Mueller, Robert (1989). Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982. USAF Reference Series, Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. * Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .

External links

* * * {{authority control 1939 establishments in Utah Military airbases established in 1939 Airports in Utah Buildings and structures in Davis County, Utah Buildings and structures in Weber County, Utah Military installations in Utah Post-World War II aircraft storage facilities Installations of the United States Air Force Military Superfund sites Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Technical Service Command Transportation in Davis County, Utah Transportation in Weber County, Utah Superfund sites in Utah Historic American Engineering Record in Utah World War II airfields in the United States