Ontario Air National Guard Station
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Ontario Air National Guard Station is a former
California Air National Guard The California Air National Guard (CA ANG) is one of three components of the California National Guard, a reserve of the United States Air Force, and part of the National Guard of the United States. As militia units, the units in the California ...
facility located alongside
Ontario International Airport Ontario International Airport is an international airport two miles east of downtown Ontario, California, Ontario, in San Bernardino County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino. It ...
in
Ontario, California Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, ...
.


Origins in World War II

Ontario Army Air Field was established before World War II. It is located in San Bernardino County, California, in the city of Ontario. This airport was most known for being the hub for the Los Angeles Basin. Its routes consisted mostly between San Bernardino and Riverside. In 1921, local pilots created club called the Ontario Aircraft corporation to start flying the Jennie Bi-plane aircraft. This same organization classified a landing strip made from just dirt near the corner of Mission Boulevard and Grove Ave, people can see this today at the southwest corner. The start of World War II meant that the airport was required for use by the
United States 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 r ...
. This however helped the Airport expand by over 845 acres. This airport went from having pure dirt fields to concrete runways, a control tower for air traffic, and high tech landing gear. The cost was covered by the
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
. They covered the east and west expansion of 6,200 feet and the northeast/southwest expansion 4,700 feet which was originally planned to last for 39 years. The final cost for two runways in the year 1942 as $350,000.


Units during World War II

Source:


Establishment in 1949

In 1949, an
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 ...
training station was established at the former Ontario Army Air Field In April 1949, the City of Ontario granted a lease for certain airport property to 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 Sign ...
, the site to be used by the
California Air National Guard The California Air National Guard (CA ANG) is one of three components of the California National Guard, a reserve of the United States Air Force, and part of the National Guard of the United States. As militia units, the units in the California ...
. An armory for the 149th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was constructed and later CA ANG activities had a major impact on the airport. In 1952, in response to the desire of the Air National Guard to base fighter aircraft there, the city initiated the first of the three runway extensions. After two additional runway extensions, the airport had a 10,000 foot runway to service both commercial and military traffic.


The 1950s and onwards

The 1950s saw dynamic growth at Ontario International Airport (the airfield was designated "International" in 1946), with three major aircraft plants, including Lockheed, Douglas and Northrop, having facilities at the airport. A second runway extension of 1,200 feet was completed in 1956 and permitted the CA ANG's speedy
F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing So ...
s to land and take off at Ontario. The first extension (800 ft) came in 1952, and the third (1,800 ft) in 1962, each time to accommodate the faster aircraft being flown by what was by now the
163d Fighter Group The 163rd Attack Wing (163 ATKW) is a unit of the California Air National Guard (CA ANG), stationed at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California. If it were activated into federal service, elements of the 163 ATKW would be gained by the Uni ...
of the California Air National Guard. All three runway extensions were funded by the Air National Guard as military construction (MILCON). The 163 FG flew F-86F aircraft from Ontario from 1956 to 1959, and F-86H aircraft from 1959 to 1965. In 1965, the unit transitioned to the F-102 Delta Dagger and in 1968 was renamed the
163d Fighter-Interceptor Group The 163rd Attack Wing (163 ATKW) is a unit of the California Air National Guard (CA ANG), stationed at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California. If it were activated into federal service, elements of the 163 ATKW would be gained by the Uni ...
(163 FIG). Operationally-gained by the
Aerospace Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command of the United States Air Force, responsible for continental air defense. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was established in 1946, briefly inac ...
(ADC), the 163d continued to fill what was primarily a coastal air defense role for southern California, Nevada and Arizona. In 1975, the unit transitioned to the
O-2 Skymaster The Cessna O-2 Skymaster (nicknamed "Oscar Deuce") is a military version of the Cessna 337 Super Skymaster, used for forward air control (FAC) and psychological operations (PSYOPS) by the US military between 1967 and 2010. Design and developm ...
forward air control aircraft and was re-designated as the 163d Tactical Air Support Group (160 TASG), with operationally claimancy transferred from ADC to
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). In 1982, in preparation for transition to the
F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bow ...
and return to its earlier designation as the 163d Fighter Group, the 163 TASG transferred to
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 Fo ...
in nearby Riverside. Non-flying CA ANG operations continued at the site with the 148th Combat Communications Squadron until 1997, when Ontario ANGS was closed due to BRAC action and the 148th transferred to the renamed
March ARB 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' ...
.


Closure in 1995

About 40 years ago the Ontario Airport struggled with recurring passengers and cargo services. It had all it needed to be a successful airport such as the infrastructure and the passenger terminal, however it did not receive the attention it hoped for. It took several years for their luck to turn. Many airports are using the Ontario Airport as a case study for future airports such as Williams Gateway Airport, the former
Williams AFB Williams Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) base, located in Maricopa County, Arizona, east of Chandler, and about southeast of Phoenix. It is a designated Superfund site due to a number of soil and groundwater contamin ...
in Arizona. The Ontario Air National Guard Station closed as a result of the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission. Over the past 57 years military base closures have taken place though various processes. The Secretary of Defense implemented closures on an ad-hoc basis during 1961 - 1979. Individual service Chiefs and Congress strengthened its veto power for closures during 1980 to 1987. These changes lead to a few major bases being closed and none actually being closed. This being an issue, Congress finally granted authority to an independent Defense Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC) commission to work with the Department of Defense (DoD) to identify bases and installations to the executive and legislative branches for closure or realignment between 1988 and 1995. The BRAC had to responsibility of selecting which bases were to close throughout four rounds of base closures. Even though these BRAC actions represented a large amount of physical reductions in installations and associated units, the DoD continued to request more infrastructure cuts to offset reduced congressional funding for defense. Additional BRAC rounds were requested by the
United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
(DoD) because there continues to be a significant disparity between support structure capacity versus the number of units and associated military personnel levels. Congress however delayed providing additional BRAC legislation until the fall/winter of 2002.Kehl, B., & Rowley, Charles K. (2003). ''The Pentagon vs. Congress: The Political Economy of Military Base Closures during BRAC,'' ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. DoD had reported to congress that billions of dollars could be saved annually if excess base infrastructure could be eliminated .Webster, S., & Lyons, Donald I. (2004). ''National Patterns and Community Impacts of Major Domestic United States Military Base Closures, 1988--present,'' ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.


See also

*
California World War II Army Airfields During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) established numerous airfields in California for training pilots and aircrews of USAAF fighters and bombers. Most of these airfields were under the command of Fourth Air Force or the A ...
* 36th Flying Training Wing (World War II)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ontario Air National Guard Station Installations of the United States Air National Guard Military installations closed in 1995