Grissom Air Force Base
| Grissom Air Force Base | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | KGUS |
| IATA code | CIS |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 247 m (810 ft )
|
| Start-and runway | |
| 5/23 | 3810 m × 61 m asphalt |
The Grissom Air Force Base , is a base of the Air Force Reserve Command in Indiana , United States.
history
The Grissom Air Reserve Base was established on July 1, 1942 as Bunker Hill Naval Air Station , among the many student pilots trained as pilots for the US Navy , Marine Corps and US Coast Guard was the baseball player Ted Williams . After the Second World War, the base was initially closed and the surrounding areas were converted back into agricultural land . With the beginning of the Korean War , however, the base was reopened by the US Air Force as Bunker Hill Air Force Base , subordinated to the Tactical Air Command and the 4433rd Air Base Squadron and the 323rd Fighter-Bomber Wing stationed. It was renamed after Virgil Grissom in 1968 .
In 1955, the 319th Fighter Interceptor Squadron of the Air Defense Command was added. On September 1, 1957, the insinuation change took place under the Strategic Air Command , starting in May 1959 with was B-47 - bombers equipped 305th Bomb Group stationed at the base. In the same year the first KC-135 Stratotanker arrived with the 305th Bomb Group . In 1961, the exchange of the B-47 to the B-58 Hustler bombers began. On May 12, 1968, Bunker Hill Air Force Base was renamed in honor of the Indiana astronaut Virgil "Gus" Grissom, who was killed in an Apollo 1 accident . 19 months later the 305th Bomb Group was replaced by the 305th Air Refueling Wing , so the task of the base changed away from the bombers to air refueling in this task area, it became one of the largest bases for KC-135 Stratotankers in the USA. With the arrival of the 434th Special Operations Wing , an Air Reserve unit came to the base for the first time. The 434th Special Operations Wing was then equipped with A-37 aircraft.
In 1987 a second Air Reserve squadron, the 931st Air Refueling Group, came to the airfield, which then housed a total of 3 squadrons. With the end of the Cold War the task of the armed forces changed and required changes. Due to these changes, one active and one squadron of the reserve were deactivated in 1994. In October of the same year, the subordination was changed from Strategic Air Command to Air Force Reserve Command.
Current situation
At the moment, in addition to the 31st Air Refueling Group, some smaller units of the US Army and the US Marine Corps are stationed on the base.
future
The Grissom Air Reserve Base was named with the Tinker Air Force Base as an alternative to the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base as the stationing location for the new Boeing KC-46.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James on the stationing of the KC-46 tankers. Retrieved August 25, 2019 .