Kirtland Air Force Base


Kirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base. It is located in the southeast quadrant of the Albuquerque, New Mexico, urban area, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base was named for the early Army aviator Col. Roy C. Kirtland. The military and the international airport share the same runways, making ABQ a joint civil-military airport.
Kirtland AFB is the largest installation in the Air Force Global Strike Command and sixth largest in the United States Air Force. The base occupies 51,558 acres and employs over 23,000 people, including more than 4,200 active duty and 1,000 Guard, plus 3,200 part-time Reserve personnel. In 2000, Kirtland AFB's economic impact on the City of Albuquerque was over $2.7 billion.
Kirtland is the home of the Air Force Materiel Command's Nuclear Weapons Center. The NWC's responsibilities include acquisition, modernization and sustainment of nuclear system programs for both the Department of Defense and Department of Energy. The NWC is composed of two wings–the 377th Air Base Wing and 498th Nuclear Systems Wing–along with ten groups and seven squadrons.
Kirtland is home to the 58th Special Operations Wing, an Air Education and Training Command unit that provides formal aircraft type/model/series training. The 58 SOW operates the HC-130J, MC-130J, UH-1N Huey, HH-60G Pave Hawk and CV-22 Osprey aircraft. Headquarters, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center is also located at Kirtland AFB. Additionally the 150th Special Operations Wing of the New Mexico Air National Guard, an Air Combat Command -gained unit, is also garrisoned at Kirtland. It is also home to the Kirtland Underground Munitions Maintenance and Storage Complex, the largest known repository of nuclear weapons in the world.

History

Kirtland Air Force Base was named for Colonel Roy C. Kirtland in February 1942. Colonel Kirtland learned to fly in 1911 in one of the first Wright airplanes at Dayton, Ohio. During World War I, he organized and commanded a regiment of mechanics and served as an inspector of aviation facilities. Recalled from retirement in 1941 at age 65, he was oldest military pilot in the Air Corps. Colonel Kirtland died of a heart attack on 2 May 1941 at Moffett Field, California.
Kirtland Air Force Base has dramatically changed since its establishment as a U.S. Army airfield in 1941. It has evolved from a hastily constructed training and testing facility necessitated by World War II, to a significant USAF center for R&D. What began as a 2,000-acre air base has grown into a 51,800-plus-acre facility.

Origins

Kirtland Air Force Base's beginnings stem from three private airfields of 1928 to 1939 and are similar to that of other installations choosing to adapt existing runways and hangars for military use.
In 1928, two Santa Fe Railroad employees working with the town of Albuquerque, graded two runways on East Mesa with one approximately 5,300 feet long and the other just under 4,000 feet. Albuquerque Airport was wholly a private venture, irrespective of the town's involvement. Immediately following construction of the airport, other individuals and promoters became interested in Albuquerque as a crossroads location for southwestern air traffic. James G. Oxnard, a New York entrepreneur, bought Franklin's interest in Albuquerque Airport, expanding the facility toward the end of 1928.
The airfield soon drew business from private flyers, as well as Transcontinental Air Transport and Western Air Express, commercial airlines that set up operations at the new airport. The city's viability as a crossroad of air traffic in the Southwest was confirmed by this early success. As the 1920s closed, the two airlines initiated competitive passenger, mail, and cargo service between the Midwest and California; which positioned Albuquerque as an important transcontinental airfield.
WAE soon moved to the West Mesa Airport and was joined by TAT as the two airlines merged to become Trans World Airlines. This new facility, also private, became known as Albuquerque Airport, and the first, which was renamed Oxnard Field, also continued to service general aviation needs. In the mid-1930s, Mayor Tingley, other city officials, and TWA management began to conceive of a municipal airport, the next necessary step in confirming Albuquerque's status as a "Crossroads of the Southwest." With the help of President Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration funds, construction on a new airport was begun four miles west of Oxnard Field and completed in 1939, on the cusp of World War II.
In January 1939, Major General Henry "Hap" Arnold, who became chief of the U.S. Army Air Corps, proposed to Congress that money be spent on a strong air defense. It soon became a national priority to secure airfields and bombing and gunnery ranges. An effort was also being made in cooperation with the WPA and Civil Aeronautics Authority to build up civilian airports of value to national defense efforts. Albuquerque city leaders began to examine the possibility of an air base locating on the mesa, and through extensive negotiations with the AAC, succeeded in their efforts when the Army established an air base on the East Mesa in 1939.

World War II

As of late 1939, Army and Navy pilots began using Oxnard Field for refueling and maintenance for a variety of military flights. Later that same year, the Army Air Corps leased 2,000 acres neighboring Albuquerque Airport, four miles west of Oxnard Field. The Army eventually condemned the Oxnard Field property for military use, with subsequent transfer to the federal government.
Construction of Albuquerque Army Air Base began in January 1941 and was completed in August 1941. Albuquerque Army Air Base received its first military aircraft in March, and on 1 April 1941 a lone B-18 bomber landed on the north–south runway. With the assignment of five pilots to the aircraft, the day marked the official opening of Albuquerque Army Air Base. The first buildings on the installation were simple wood-frame structures constructed quickly in order to fulfill the country's urgent need for trained pilots to fight the war. Most of the buildings were Theater of Operations construction while some were of the Mobilization type. The Mobilization type buildings included the station hospital, theater, chapel, and Link training buildings.
During World War II there were three levels of pilot training:
  • Primary Flying School
  • Basic Flying School
  • Advanced Flying School
The Albuquerque Army Air Base provided advanced flying training in "AT" trainer aircraft and transition training in combat-ready aircraft, primarily the B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-24 Liberator. In addition to pilot training, the Albuquerque Army Air Base provided bombardier training at its Advanced Flying School. During this period, the facility was under the Flying Training Command and the Air Training Command.
In addition to the main airfield, several auxiliary airfields were used to support the flying school:
The 19th Bombardment Group arrived at Albuquerque AAB from March Field, California, in April 1941, shortly after the base was activated. Its purpose was to train air and ground crews for reconnaissance and bombing duty on Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortresses" before deployment to Clark Field in the Philippine Islands. The 19th Bombardment Group became the most famous bomber unit of World War II for its part in the strategic campaign against Japan. The 30th, 32nd, and 93rd Bombardment Squadrons and the 38th Reconnaissance Squadron were assigned to the 19th Bombardment Group. The 3rd Air Base Squadron, also assigned to the 19th Bombardment Group, was the first to arrive on base. Headquarters, materiel, quartermaster, ordnance, and signal detachments accompanied it. On 10 April, the squadrons began operations.
Because B-17s were in short supply, the pilots trained on Douglas B-18 Bolos and Northrop A-17s, as well as Stearman PT-17 biplanes. Under the command of Lt. Colonel Eugene Eubank, the 19th Bombardment Group focused on precision, high-altitude, and formation flying. They also flew mock attacks on New Mexico villages and ranches. Eubank was known for being a taskmaster, demanding that his pilots gain extensive cockpit experience and that the men cross-train as navigators and bombardiers. As such, it was purported that every B-17 flight had a half-dozen pilots aboard, two flying, two practicing dead reckoning and celestial navigation, and two making practice bomb runs.

Ferrying command training

The 19th Bombardment Group transferred to active duty in September 1941. It was replaced by the AAC Ferrying Command Specialized Four Engine school. The school operated under the Army Air Corps Ferrying Command, which had been established in late May 1941 and charged with transporting aircraft overseas for delivery to the Royal Air Force. The students were training to ferry Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers, and other multi-engine aircraft to the RAF in Great Britain. TWA chose Albuquerque for the school's location because of its 10,000-foot runway, which could accommodate B-24s, as well as its fair weather. The students were trained in pilot skills, instrument flying, meteorology, radio, briefing, and general transition.
TWA pilots and ground crews were readily available as instructors; the difficulty was in housing the students because base quarters were not finished. Consequently, they doubled up in the barracks. The first contingent of B-24 trainees arrived in Albuquerque on 19 June 1941. The facility was officially titled the Air Corps Ferrying Command Four-Engine Transition School but was unofficially referred to as the "Four-Engine School" or "Jack Frye School"—for the president of TWA. Its location on the base was called the Eagle Nest Flight Center.
Using Link Trainers and B-24 training aircraft, the TWA instructors trained more than 1,100 pilots and crewmen during the eight months the company operated the school. On 7 February 1942, the U.S. Army transferred the training function from TWA back to the USAAF, and the school was redesignated the Combat Crew Training School. The Air Corps Ferrying Command was redesignated the Army Air Forces Ferrying Command in March 1942, a month after the AAC transferred the school from TWA training back to the military. The command was then redesignated the Air Transport Command in July 1942—the same month that the school was transferred from Albuquerque to Smyrna Army Airfield, Tennessee.