Kegelman Air Force Auxiliary Field is located near the

Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge The Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States system of national wildlife refuges. It is located in Alfalfa County in northern Oklahoma, north of Jet (pop. 230), along Great Salt Plains Lake, which is formed by a dam on t ...

Alfalfa County, Oklahoma Alfalfa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,642. The county seat is Cherokee. Alfalfa County was formed at statehood in 1907 from Woods County. The county is named after Wi ...

, across the

Great Salt Plains Lake Great Salt Plains Lake is a reservoir located within the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma in the United States named because of the salt flats in the area and for the Salt Fork Arkansas River, which is dammed to for ...

, east of

Cherokee, Oklahoma Cherokee is the largest city within, and county seat of, Alfalfa County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,476 at the 2020 census, a decline of 1.5 percent from 2010. History Settlement and founding After the land opening of 1893, ...

in 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 territorie ...

. The field has one runway, a fire station, personnel offices and a

NEXRAD NEXRAD or Nexrad (Next-Generation Radar) is a network of 160 high-resolution S-band Doppler weather radars operated by the National Weather Service (NWS), an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) within the United ...

tower, which is used for weather forecasting for both the military and civilian entities. It is located on . Currently, Kegelman AFAF is a sub-base of

Vance Air Force Base Vance Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in southern Enid, Oklahoma, about north northwest of Oklahoma City. The base is named after local World War II hero and Medal of Honor recipient, Lieutenant Colonel Leon Robert Va ...

under the control of the

71st Flying Training Wing The 71st Flying Training Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Education and Training Command. It is stationed at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma where has conducted pilot training for the Air Force and allied nations since 1972. ...

(71 FTW). The airfield was previously administered by Will Rogers Field,

Clovis Army Air Field Cannon Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base, located approximately southwest of Clovis, New Mexico. It is under the jurisdiction of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The host unit at Cannon is the 27th Special Operatio ...

, Woodward Army Air Field, and Liberal Army Airfield prior to the U.S. Air Force becoming an independent service in 1947. Vance AFB student pilots and instructor pilots use the airfield to practice landings in

T-6A Texan II The Beechcraft T-6 Texan II is a single-engine turboprop aircraft built by the Raytheon Aircraft Company (Textron Aviation since 2014). A trainer aircraft based on the Pilatus PC-9, the T-6 has replaced the United States Air Force's Cessna T- ...

aircraft, and refer to the field with the

callsign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

"Dogface". The installation was first known as the Great Salt Plains Auxiliary Field, but was renamed Kegelman in 1949. It was named in honor of famed USAAF pilot Colonel Charles Clark "Sonny" Kegelman, a native of

El Reno, Oklahoma El Reno is a city in and county seat of Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 16,989, marking a change of 1.55% from 16,729, recorded in the 2010 census. The city was begun shortly after the 1 ...

and 1932 graduate of

El Reno High School El Reno High School is a set of school buildings in El Reno, Oklahoma. Architectural history El Reno High School, located at 407 South Choctaw, is a -story horizontally massed, detached building (two stories over raised basement). Measuring 1 ...

, who led the first joint-Allied raid of the

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...

against Nazi targets in Europe in World War 2 on 4 July 1942.

References

See also: * http://gc.kls2.com/airport/CKA * http://maps.avnwx.com/airport/KCKA Installations of the United States Air Force in Oklahoma {{Oklahoma-geo-stub