Wendover Air Force Base 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 ...
base in
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 ...
now known as
Wendover Airport
Wendover Airport is a county-owned, public-use airport located one nautical mile (2 km) southeast of the central business district of Wendover, city on the western edge of Tooele County, Utah, United States.
Description
The air ...
. 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 ...
, it was a training base for
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 ...
and
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 ...
bomber crews. It was the training site of the
509th Composite Group
The 509th Composite Group (509 CG) was a unit of the United States Army Air Forces created during World War II and tasked with the operational deployment of nuclear weapons. It conducted the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in ...
, the
B-29
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 Fly ...
unit that carried out the
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the onl ...
.
After the war, Wendover was used for training exercises, gunnery range and as a research facility. It was closed by the Air Force in 1969, and the base was given to Wendover City in 1977.
Tooele County, Utah
Tooele County ( ) is a County (United States), 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, Utah, Tooele. The county was created in 1850 and organi ...
, assumed ownership of the airport and base buildings in 1998, and the County continues to operate the airfield as a public airport. A portion of the original bombing range is now 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 ...
(UTTR) which is used extensively by the Air Force with live fire targets on the range.
Origins
Wendover Air Force Base's history began in 1940, when the
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, cla ...
began looking for additional bombing ranges. The area near the town of Wendover was well-suited to these needs; the land was virtually uninhabited, had generally excellent flying weather, and the nearest large city (
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
) was away (Wendover had around 100 citizens at the time).
Though isolated, the area was served by the
Western Pacific Railroad
The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route dire ...
, and many of its citizens were employed by the railroad.
Construction of the base began on 20 September 1940 and on the range on 4 November 1940. Wendover Air Base became a subpost of
Fort Douglas
Camp Douglas was established in October 1862, during the American Civil War, as a small military garrison about three miles east of Salt Lake City, Utah, to protect the overland mail route and telegraph lines along the Central Overland Route. In ...
in Salt Lake City on 29 July 1941. By that time a total of had been acquired for the base and associated gunnery/bombing range long and wide.
Ranchers protested the loss of their grazing land, which they claimed would wipe them out and cost the state of Utah $1.5 million annually. They took their complaints to
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Henry Hooper Blood
Henry Hooper Blood (October 1, 1872June 19, 1942) was an American businessman and the List of Governors of Utah, seventh governor of Utah.
Biography
Henry was born to William Hooper Blood, a farmer and city councilman, and Jane Wilkie Hooper. Hi ...
, but the
War Department War Department may refer to:
* War Department (United Kingdom)
* United States Department of War (1789–1947)
See also
* War Office, a former department of the British Government
* Ministry of defence
* Ministry of War
* Ministry of Defence
* Dep ...
pressed on with the development of the bombing range.
The first military contingent arrived on 12 August 1941, to construct targets on the bombing range. To provide water, a pipeline was run from a spring on
Pilot Peak to the base.
World War II
![Wendover-1943](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Wendover-1943.jpg)
With the entrance of the United States into
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 ...
, Wendover Field took on greater importance. It was the Army Air Force's largest bombing and gunnery range. In March 1942 the Army Air Force activated Wendover Army Air Field and also assigned the research and development of guided missiles, pilotless aircraft, and remotely controlled bombs to the site. The new base was supplied and serviced by the Ogden Air Depot at
Hill Field
Hill Air Force Base is a major U.S. Air Force (USAF) base located in northern Utah, just south of the city of Ogden, and bordering the Cities of Layton, Clearfield, Riverdale, Roy, and Sunset with its largest border immediately adjacent to C ...
. In April 1942, the Wendover Sub-Depot was activated and assumed technical and administrative control of the field, under the Ogden Air Depot. The Wendover Sub-Depot was tasked to requisition, store, and issue all Army Air Forces property for organizations stationed at Wendover Field for training.
By late 1943 there were some 2,000 civilian employees and 17,500 military personnel at Wendover. Construction at the base continued for most of the war, including three paved runways, taxiways, a ramp, and seven
hangars
A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...
. By May 1945 the base consisted of 668 buildings, including a 300-bed hospital, gymnasium, swimming pool, library, chapel, cafeteria, bowling alley, two movie theatres, and 361 housing units for married officers and civilians.
Heavy Bombardment Group training
Wendover's mission was to train heavy bomb groups. The training of
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
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 ...
and
Consolidated B-24 Liberator
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 ...
groups began in April 1942, with the arrival of the
306th Bomb Group flying B-17s.
From March 1942 through April 1944, Wendover AAF hosted twenty newly formed B-17 and B-24 groups during one phase of their group training.
The
Second Air Force
The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended ...
organized bombardment training into three phases. In the first, training focused on the individual crew members. In the second, training involved the whole crew, who would conduct training together. The third and final phase saw the group's crews training together, with formation flying and practice combat missions. Until the end of 1943, each phase of training was conducted at a different base.
Fighter training
In April 1944, the role of Wendover Army Air Base changed with the arrival from Louisiana of
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 ...
fighters of the
72nd Fighter Wing
The 72d Fighter Wing was a wing of the United States Army Air Forces. It was assigned to Second Air Force, stationed at Colorado Springs Army Air Base, Colorado. It was inactivated on 9 April 1946.
History
The wing (military aviation unit), wing ...
.
The program ended in September after three groups, totalling 180 men, had been trained.
509th Composite Group
In June 1943, preparations began for the operational use of
atomic bomb
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
s. Although not as suitable for the atomic mission as the British
Avro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...
with its cavernous bomb bay,
Major General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
Leslie R. Groves, Jr.
Lieutenant General Leslie Richard Groves Jr. (17 August 1896 – 13 July 1970) was a United States Army Corps of Engineers officer who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan Project, a top secret research project ...
, the director of the
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
, and
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
Henry H. Arnold
Henry Harley Arnold (June 25, 1886 – January 15, 1950) was an American general officer holding the ranks of General of the Army and later, General of the Air Force. Arnold was an aviation pioneer, Chief of the Air Corps (1938–1941), ...
, the Chief of
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), wanted to use an American plane, if this was at all possible, so the
Boeing 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 Fl ...
was chosen, even though it required substantial modification. The modification project was codenamed
Silverplate
Silverplate was the code reference for the United States Army Air Forces' participation in the Manhattan Project during World War II. Originally the name for the aircraft modification project which enabled a B-29 Superfortress bomber to drop a ...
, but this codename eventually came to identify the training and operational aspects of the program as well.
![Wendover-housing](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Wendover-housing.jpg)
Arnold selected
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
Paul Tibbets
Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. (23 February 1915 – 1 November 2007) was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force. He is best known as the aircraft captain who flew the B-29 Superfortress known as the '' Enola Gay'' (named after his mot ...
, an officer with a distinguished combat record in Europe and North Africa, who had expert knowledge of the B-29 as one of its
test pilot
A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...
s, to form and train a group to deliver atomic bombs. Tibbets chose the Wendover over
Great Bend, Kansas
Great Bend is a city in and the county seat of Barton County, Kansas, United States. It is named for its location at the point where the course of the Arkansas River bends east then southeast. As of the 2020 census, the population of the ci ...
, and
Mountain Home, Idaho
Mountain Home is the largest city and county seat of Elmore County, Idaho, United States. The population was 15,979 in the 2020 census. Mountain Home is the principal city of the Mountain Home, Idaho Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes ...
, as the location for his training program. It was remote, which was good for secrecy and security, but within reasonable distance by air from the Manhattan Project's Site Y, at
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos is an census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, that is recognized as the development and creation place of the atomic bomb—the primary objective of the Manhattan Project by Los Alamos National Labora ...
, and the
Naval Auxiliary Air Station Salton Sea Naval Auxiliary Air Station Salton Sea, was a United States Navy military facility located eight miles south of Salton City, California on the west shore of the Salton Sea.
History
It was an auxiliary field to Naval Air Station San Diego commissio ...
, where bombing tables for the mission would be prepared. The base was given the code name "Kingman", and became the Manhattan Project's Site K. The activity to assemble, modify and flight test prototype bombs was named "
Project W-47
The 216th Army Air Forces Base Unit (AAF BU) (Special) provided base services at Wendover Army Airfield, where the 509th Composite Group was stationed during World War II. As such, it became involved in the Manhattan Project's program of testing ...
".
On 14 September 1944, the
393d Bomb Squadron
The 393rd Bomb SquadronOfficially, the 393d Bomb Squadron is part of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. It operates Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit nuclear-capable strategic bomber aircraft.
The squadron was first organiz ...
arrived at Wendover from its former base at
Fairmont Army Air Base
Fairmont State Airfield is three miles south of Fairmont, in Fillmore County, Nebraska. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''general aviation'' facility. It has no scheduled airline service.
M ...
,
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...
, where it had been an
operational training unit
Royal Air Force Operational Training Units (OTUs) were training units that prepared aircrew for operations on a particular type or types of aircraft or roles.
OTUs
; No. 1 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF (1 OTU): The Unit was formed in ...
(OTU) with the
504th Bombardment Group
The 504th Bombardment Group (504th BG) was a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization.
The unit served primarily in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II as part of Twentieth Air Force. The 504th Bomb Group's aircraft ...
since 12 March. When its parent group deployed to the
Marianas
The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...
in early November 1944, the squadron was assigned directly to the
Second Air Force
The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended ...
until creation of the 509th Composite Group on 17 December 1944.
As part of the formation of the 509th, about 800 people stationed at the field, were transferred to the new group. To make the 509th Composite Group as self-contained as possible, other units were assigned, including the 390th Air Service Group, with the 603d Air Engineering and 1027th Materiel Squadrons; the
320th Troop Carrier Squadron
The 320th Troop Carrier Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was activated on 17 December 1944, and inactivated on 19 August 1946 at Roswell Army Air Field, New Mexico. The squadron was later consolidated with the 302d Transpor ...
, known as the "Green Hornet Airlines"; the 1395th Military Police Company, and later the 1st Ordnance Squadron. A Manhattan Project unit, the 1st Technical Detachment, was attached to the group.
The
216th Army Air Forces Base Unit
The 216th Army Air Forces Base Unit (AAF BU) (Special) provided base services at Wendover Army Airfield, where the 509th Composite Group was stationed during World War II. As such, it became involved in the Manhattan Project's program of testing ...
(Special) constructed prototype atomic weapons (without nuclear material) and drop tested them. Little was known about the flight characteristics of the prototype atom bomb designs and how the fusing mechanism would work. In February 1945, a Flight Test Section was created within the 216th Army Air Forces Base Unit to carry out testing with prototype bombs in the shape of the
Little Boy
"Little Boy" was the type of atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 during World War II, making it the first nuclear weapon used in warfare. The bomb was dropped by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress ''Enola Gay'' p ...
and
Fat Man
"Fat Man" (also known as Mark III) is the codename for the type of nuclear bomb the United States detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in warfare, the fir ...
bombs. It was originally equipped with five
Silverplate
Silverplate was the code reference for the United States Army Air Forces' participation in the Manhattan Project during World War II. Originally the name for the aircraft modification project which enabled a B-29 Superfortress bomber to drop a ...
B-29s, three flight crews and five maintenance crews.
To help out with an increasingly demanding schedule, four crews from the 393d Bombardment Squadron were made available. The Flight Test Section carried out 24 drop tests in June and 30 in July.
About two-thirds of the June tests were with Fat Man shapes and the rest with Little Boy ones. In July, all but four of the tests were with Fat Man shapes, some with explosive-filled
Pumpkin bomb
Pumpkin bombs were conventional aerial bombs developed by the Manhattan Project and used by the United States Army Air Forces against Japan during World War II. It was a close replication of the Fat Man plutonium bomb with the same ballistic an ...
s. Test drops were carried out at Wendover, at the
Naval Ordnance Test Station
Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake is a large military installation in California that supports the research, testing and evaluation programs of the United States Navy. It is part of Navy Region Southwest under Commander, Navy Installat ...
at
Inyokern
Inyokern (formerly Siding 16 and Magnolia) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, United States. Its name derives from its location near the border between Inyo and Kern Counties. Inyokern is located west of Ridgecrest, a ...
, and at the Naval Auxiliary Air Station Salton Sea. Testing continued up to the last minute, with the Fat Man firing unit, known as the X-unit, only being successfully tested at Wendover on 4 August, and a final test of the X-unit was carried out six days later.
The aircrews trained continuously until May. Each bombardier completed at least 50 practice drops of inert
pumpkin bomb
Pumpkin bombs were conventional aerial bombs developed by the Manhattan Project and used by the United States Army Air Forces against Japan during World War II. It was a close replication of the Fat Man plutonium bomb with the same ballistic an ...
s before Tibbets declared his group combat-ready.
The ground support echelon of the 509th Composite Group received movement orders and moved by rail on 26 April 1945 to its port of embarkation at
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, Washington. On 6 May the support elements sailed on the ''SS Cape Victory'' for the Marianas, while group materiel was shipped on the SS ''Emile Berliner''. An advance party of the air echelon flew by C-54 to
North Field, Tinian
North Field is a former World War II airfield on Tinian in the Mariana Islands. Abandoned after the war, today North Field is a tourist attraction. Along with several adjacent beaches on which Allied forces landed during the Battle of Tinian, th ...
, between 15 and 22 May. It was joined by the ground echelon on 29 May 1945, marking the group's official change of station.
It was from Tinian that it carried out the
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the onl ...
.
The 216th Army Air Forces Base Unit moved to
Oxnard Field
Oxnard Field (also known at various times as Albuquerque Airport and Albuquerque Army Air Field) was the first airport in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It served as the home of commercial aviation in Albuquerque from 1928 to 1929 and remained in use for ...
in September 1945, where it was transferred to the Manhattan District's 9812th Technical Services Unit on 17 December 1945. Oxnard was later designated
Sandia Base
Sandia Base was the principal nuclear weapons installation of the United States Department of Defense from 1946 to 1971. It was located on the southeastern edge of Albuquerque, New Mexico. For 25 years, the top-secret Sandia Base and its subsidiar ...
. The Special Ordnance Detachment took with it its special tools and equipment, and even some of its buildings.
The test program resumed at Sandia in January 1946.
JB-2 Testing
![Jb2-1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Jb2-1.jpg)
In early September 1944, a detachment of the Special Weapons Branch,
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. Loca ...
, Ohio, arrived at Wendover with thirteen
Republic-Ford JB-2
The Republic-Ford JB-2, also known as the Thunderbug, KGW and LTV-N-2 Loon, was a United States copy of the German V-1 flying bomb. Developed in 1944, and planned to be used in the United States invasion of Japan ( Operation Downfall), ...
flying bombs. The JB-2 was a United States copy of the Nazi
V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany), Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buz ...
, which was reverse-engineered from malfunctioning wrecks of V-1s recovered in England. The United States JB-2 was different from the German V-1 in only the smallest of dimensions. At Wendover, a launch ramp was constructed for the JB-2, engineered from plans developed from aerial photographs of ramps used by the Germans in the Low Countries. In addition to the ground launch ramp, a B-17 Flying Fortress was modified to be able to carry the jet bomb underneath a wing and air launch it. Numerous tests were conducted and an initial production order was 1,000 units was made by the Army, with subsequent planned production of 1,000 per month. The fortunes of war in Europe in the spring of 1945 led to the decision to use the JB-2 in the Pacific Theater, to be used as part of
Operation Downfall
Operation Downfall was the proposed Allied plan for the invasion of the Japanese home islands near the end of World War II. The planned operation was canceled when Japan surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, th ...
, the planned invasion of Japan. The sudden end of the war in September 1945 led to the curtailment of the JB-2 program and the weapon was never used in combat.
Postwar use
The training of B-29 aircrews and the testing of prototype atom bombs was the last major contribution of Wendover Field during World War II. After war's end, some crew training continued, but at a reduced level. For a while, B-29s which had returned from the Marianas were flown to Wendover for storage. In the summer of 1946, the Ogden Air Technical Service Command at
Hill Army Air Field north of Salt Lake City assumed jurisdiction over all operations at Wendover Field except engineering and technical projects.
A fast-moving fire on the night of 6 July 1946 destroyed a hangar and seven buildings, described as "mobile-type, wooden structures", as well as six training planes, before it was brought under control. Damage was estimated at US$1.5 million by Colonel Ray Harris, commanding officer, Ogden Air Technical Command.
![Wendover AFB - Hangar](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Wendover_AFB_-_Hangar.jpg)
Wendover played a key role in the postwar weapons development industry with three areas being developed. The first was further testing of the JB-2 Loon flying bomb. In the case of the second area, the B-17 Flying Fortress, obsolete as a combat aircraft, was being tested to fly remotely. Gliding bombs, based on captured technology from the wartime
Henschel Hs 293
The Henschel Hs 293 was a World War II German radio-guided glide bomb. It is the first operational anti-shipping missile, first used unsuccessfully on 25 August 1943 and then with increasing success over the next year, ultimately damaging or sink ...
German radio-controlled glide bomb were being developed that could be controlled by radar or radio. The third consisted of bombs that could be controlled by the launching plane. The historic GAPA (ground to air pilotless aircraft) Boeing project resulted in the first supersonic flight of an American Air Force vehicle on 6 August 1946.
In March 1947, the
Air Proving Ground Command
The Army Air Forces Proving Ground Command (AAF PGC) was the primary testing command of the United States Army Air Forces (1946-47), and then the United States Air Force (1947-57).
In March 1946, the Army Air Forces Center was redesignated the A ...
research programs were moved to
Alamogordo Army Airfield
Alamogordo () is the seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains and to the west by Holloman Air Force Base. The population was ...
, New Mexico. As a result, 1,200 personnel from Wendover Field were moved to New Mexico from Utah and were relocated to
Alamogordo
Alamogordo () is the seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains and to the west by Holloman Air Force Base. The population was ...
to conduct guided missile research projects. Three ongoing projects were transferred: Ground-to-Air Pilotless Aircraft (GAPA), JB-2 Loon flight testing, and
ASM-A-1 Tarzon
The ASM-A-1 Tarzon, also known as VB-13, was a guided bomb developed by the United States Army Air Forces during the late 1940s. Mating the guidance system of the earlier Razon radio-controlled weapon with a British Tallboy bomb, the ASM-A-1 sa ...
gliding bomb.
Transferred to 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 ...
'
Fifteenth Air Force
The Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Force ...
in March 1947. With the establishment of the
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 Signal ...
as an independent service later that year, the installation was renamed Wendover Air Force Base in 1947,
but while bombardment groups deploying on maneuvers used the bombing range, the rest of the base remained unused. It was inactivated in 1948 and declared surplus, although retained in a caretaker status. The Air Materiel Command assumed responsibility for the base in July 1950, placing it under the jurisdiction of the
Ogden Air Material Area at Hill Air Force Base. Between 1950 and 1954, the base was manned by a skeleton crew of thirteen. The buildings deteriorated. Some were removed, some demolished, and some burned down.
Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command (TAC) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. It was inactivated on 1 J ...
(TAC) reactivated the base under the
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...
on 1 October 1954, and tactical units deployed there for exercises, utilizing the base for the next four years. TAC invested several million dollars renovating the base facilities, and constructed new targets on the range. But only 331 personnel were assigned to the base in 1956. The base was deactivated again in December 1957. It transferred back to Ogden on 1 January 1958 and renamed Wendover Air Force Auxiliary Field, while the range was renamed Hill Air Force Range in 1960, and inactivated in August 1961.
![Wendover Barracks](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Wendover_Barracks.jpg)
The base was reactivated on 15 July 1961, but the only personnel based there were a fifteen-man firefighting detachment. By 1962, when the base was again deactivated, only 128 of the original 668 buildings remained. The
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) wanted to sell the base to the town of Wendover, leaving only the bombing ranges and radar site with the Air Force. The base was renamed Decker Field, and again declared surplus in 1972. The base continued to be used occasionally for training by
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...
units, and the firefighting detachment remained until 1977.
Wendover was officially listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on 1 July 1975.
The entire facility was declared surplus in 1976,
and on 9 July 1976, the water system and its annexes were transferred to the city of
Wendover, Utah
Wendover is a city on the western edge of Tooele County, Utah, United States. The population was 1,115 at the 2020 census.
Description
Wendover is on the western border of Utah and is contiguous with West Wendover, Nevada. Interstate 80 runs j ...
. The GSA deeded most of the base, including runways, taxiways, hangars, hospital complex, and several warehouses to Wendover for a civil airport on 15 August 1977. The Air Force retained about of the cantonment area and of the radar site.
Beginning in 1980 the
4440th Tactical Fighter Training Group began holding regular exercises known as
Red Flag from
Nellis AFB
Nellis Air Force Base ("Nellis" colloq.) is a United States Air Force installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exercises such as Green Flag-West flown in " Military Oper ...
, Nevada. These exercises used Wendover, with over 9,000 men and women deployed to Decker Field, Utah. About 5,200 sorties were flown, representing over 9,500 flying hours.
Red Flag exercises at Wendover were discontinued after 1986.
The U.S. Air Force relinquished the remainder of Decker Field to the town of Wendover in 1992.
Current uses
![Wendover AFB Restored Off Svc Club](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Wendover_AFB_Restored_Off_Svc_Club.jpg)
, Wendover Air Force Base is used as a civil airport, with an unusually long runway for such a facility (there are two runways).
The airfield is very isolated in northwest Utah, sitting in the middle of a vast wasteland miles away from any major population center. It is probably for this reason, and the dry hot climate, that much of the airfield remains today. Still-extant facilities include the vast runway system, numerous ramps, taxiways, dispersal pads, and most of the original hangars (including the Enola Gay B-29 hangar). Most of the hospital complex and many barracks remain, as does a chow hall, chapel, swimming pool and many other World War II-era buildings.
In 2009, a hangar at the base dubbed The Manhattan Project's Enola Gay Hangar was listed as one of the most endangered historic sites in the United States. A local group, "Historic Wendover Airfield", is attempting to preserve the former base.
Numerous films, television shows and documentaries have been filmed using Wendover Field, including ''
The Philadelphia Experiment
The Philadelphia Experiment was an alleged event claimed to have been witnessed by an ex- merchant mariner named Carl M. Allen at the United States Navy's Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, sometime around ...
'' (1984), ''
Con Air
''Con Air'' is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by Simon West and starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich. Written by Scott Rosenberg and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the film centers on a prison break aboard a J ...
'' (1997), ''
Mulholland Falls
''Mulholland Falls'' is a 1996 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Lee Tamahori, written by Pete Dexter, and starring an ensemble cast featuring Nick Nolte, Jennifer Connelly, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Melanie ...
'' (1996), ''
Independence Day
An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...
'' (1996), ''
Hulk
The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk' ...
'' (2003) and ''
The Core
''The Core'' is a 2003 American science fiction disaster film directed by Jon Amiel and starring Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Delroy Lindo, Stanley Tucci, D. J. Qualls, Richard Jenkins, Tcheky Karyo, Bruce Greenwood, and Alfre Woodard. The fi ...
'' (2003).
See also
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Utah World War II Army Airfields
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List of HABS documentation of Wendover Air Force Base The following is a listing of the documentation available for the former Wendover Air Force Base, Utah, through the public-domain Historic American Buildings Survey
Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Ser ...
References
Sources
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External links
Historic Wendover Airfieldat
Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields
Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields is an online database An online database is a database accessible from a local network or the Internet, as opposed to one that is stored locally on an individual computer or its attached storage (such as a CD) ...
Return to Wendover in 2005: An interview with Paul Tibbets Jr.Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms a
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary
*, and many other records for subsidiary structures
Center for Land Use Interpretation Wendover Residency Unit
{{Manhattan Project
Airports in Utah
Buildings and structures in Tooele County, Utah
Formerly Used Defense Sites in Utah
Manhattan Project sites
Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Utah
Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Utah
National Register of Historic Places in Tooele County, Utah
Historic American Buildings Survey in Utah
Transportation in Tooele County, Utah
Military installations closed in 1957