Kirtland Air Force Base Information
Kirtland Air Force Base (IATA: ABQ, ICAO: KABQ) is a United States Air Force base 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.
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Overview
The base is the third largest installation in Air Force Materiel Command, covering 51,558 acres (209 km²) and employing over 23,000 people, including more than 4,200 active duty, 3,200 part-time Air Force Reserve, and 1,000 Air National Guard personnel.
Kirtland is the home of the Air Force Materiel Command's Nuclear Weapons Center (NWC). The NWC is the center of expertise for nuclear weapon systems, ensuring safe, secure and reliable nuclear weapons are available to support the National Command Structure and Air Force. 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 Armament Systems Wing–along with ten groups and 7 squadrons.
Kirtland is also home to the 58th Special Operations Wing (58 SOW), an Air Education and Training Command (AETC) unit that provides formal aircraft type/model/series training to the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) special operations forces (SOF) and Air Combat Command (ACC) combat search and rescue (CSAR) communities. The 58 SOW operates the MC-130H Combat Talon II and MC-130P Combat Shadow, HC-130 King, 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.
The 150th Fighter Wing of the New Mexico Air National Guard, an ACC-gained unit, is also home-based at Kirtland, operating the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
Major units
- Nuclear Weapons Center
- 377th Air Base Wing The 377 ABW provides munitions maintenance, readiness and training, and base operating support to approximately 76 Federal government and 384 private sector tenants and associate units. Among these is the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Defense Nuclear Weapons School, the mission of which is to provide nuclear weapons core competencies and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high explosive (CBRNE) response training to DoD, other Federal and State Agencies, and National Laboratory personnel.
- 498th Armament Systems Wing The 498th ABW is responsible for sustainment of nuclear munitions and cruise missiles, including operation of two munitions maintenance and storage complexes (at Kirtland AFB and Nellis AFB, Nev.) and the 498th Missile Sustainment Group at Tinker AFB, Okla. This encompasses the entire scope of nuclear weapon system support functions to include sustainment, modernization and acquisition support activities for both the Department of Defense and Department of Energy.
- Detachment 8, Air Force Research Laboratory
- Directed Energy Directorate This lab develops, integrates, and transitions science and technology for directed energy to include high-power microwaves, lasers, adaptive optics, imaging and effects to assure the preeminence of the United States in air and space.
- Space Vehicles Directorate This lab develops and transitions high pay-off space technologies supporting the warfighter while leveraging commercial, civil and other government capabilities.
Associate units
- 150th Fighter Wing (New Mexico Air National Guard) (1947–present)
- 58th Special Operations Wing (1994–present)
- Air Force Inspection Agency
- Air Force Nuclear Weapons and Counterproliferation Agency
- Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center
- Air Force Safety Center
- Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency
- Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration
- Detachment 1, 342 TRS Pararescue and Combat Officer Training *School
- Detachment 1, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center
- Detachment 3, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center
- Space Development and Test Wing (Air Force Space and Missile System Center)
- Distributed Mission Operations Center
- Kirtland NCO Academy
- Headquarters, New Mexico Wing, Civil Air Patrol, USAF Auxiliary
- National Weapons Directorate
- Office of Aerospace Studies
- Sandia National Laboratories
Unassociated organizations
- Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, a non-profit biomedical research organization
History
Kirtland Air Force Base was named for Colonel Roy C. Kirtland (1874–1941) 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 the age of 65, the oldest military pilot in the Air Corps, he died of a heart attack on 2 May 1941 at Moffett Field, California.
In 1939 the U.S. Army leased land east of Albuquerque airport to establish a flight training base, connecting both the municipal airport and a private field, Oxnard Field. Construction on permanent facilities at Albuquerque Army Air Base began 7 January 1941 and was completed in eight months. In march the first base commander was assigned, and the following month the base received its first military aircraft, a B-18 Bolo. By summer the first troop train had arrived, along with 2,195 trainees for the new B-17 Flying Fortress. The 19th Bomb Group, designated to fly the first B-17s overseas to the Philippines, completed its training at Kirtland in July and August 1941.
During World War II Kirtland trained flight crews for the B-17, B-24 and B-29 bombers. The 3007th Air Base Unit contained both advanced pilot training and bombardier training schools, with the latter using AT-11 Kansan trainers to train more than 5,000 bombardiers during the war.
In February 1946, Kirtland was placed under the Air Materiel Command and it ceased its flight training activities. Kirtland's new role was to develop proper aircraft modifications for weapons delivery and to determine ballistic characteristics for nuclear weapons. Kirtland's role in the testing and evaluation of special weapons increased in 1947 when Kirtland Army Air Field, became Kirtland Air Force Base.
In September 1948 the first Convair B-36 was modified to carry nuclear weapons at Kirtland, followed by the first B-47 Stratojet in December of that year.
In December 1949, Kirtland became headquarters for the Air Force Special Weapons Center. In 1963, the Special Weapons Center gave up much of its research and development work to the newly created Air Force Weapons Laboratory.
11 April 1950, – A B-29 bomber carrying a nuclear weapon, four spare detonators, and a crew of thirteen crashed into a mountain near Manzano Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, three minutes after departure from the Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque. The crash resulted in a major fire which was reported by the New York Times as being visible from "fifteen miles." The bomb's casing was completely demolished and its high explosives ignited upon contact with the plane's burning fuel. However, according to the Department of Defense, the four spare detonators and all nuclear components were recovered. A nuclear detonation was not possible because the weapon's core, while being carried on-board, was not placed in the weapon for safety reasons. All thirteen crew members were killed. [4]
On 1 July 1971, Kirtland merged with Manzano Base and Sandia Base, its neighbors to the east.
Early in 1974, at the direction of the Air Force Chief of Staff, the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center was organized at Kirtland to direct and oversee operational testing of aircraft and other equipment.
The Air Force Special Weapons Center was dismantled on 1 April 1976.
On 1 October 1982, the Air Force Space Technology Center was activated at Kirtland. On 13 December 1990, it was combined with three Air Force laboratories to become Phillips Laboratory. It recently joined other laboratories and became part of the Air Force Research Laboratory.
Also located on Kirtland AFB was the National Atomic Museum, which has since moved and been renamed the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History.
In 1992, the Kirtland Underground Munitions Storage Complex (KUMSC) was activated at Kirtland AFB. KUMSC is the largest storage facility for nuclear weapons in the world. The facility provides storage, shipping and maintenance for the United States Air Force and Navy. It is operated by the 898th Munitions Squadron (898 MUNS) and the 377th Security Forces Squadron (377 SFS). The facility is state of the art, with more than 300,000 square feet (28,000 m2) located entirely underground. Total number of deliverable nuclear warheads stored there is over 3,000. The majority of the munitions include the B83 and B61 gravity bombs, and W80, W87, and W88 warheads for the Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM), Minuteman III and Peacekeeper ICBM's. Around 2004, the "Laser Effects Facility" was featured on the documentary television series UFO Files episode "Alien Engineering".
In November 2009 the 377th Air Base Wing, commanded by Colonel Michael S. Duvall, and 498th Nuclear Systems Wing, commanded by Colonel Richard M. Stuckey, failed their nuclear security inspections. The inspections were conducted by Air Force Material Command and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.[1][2]
On 27 January 2010 the 898th Munitions Squadron, which manages and maintains 2,000 nuclear warheads in and around the base, was decertified. The action meant that the squadron could no longer perform its mission of safeguarding the weapons at the Kirtland Underground Munitions Maintenance and Storage Complex until it passed a nuclear surety inspection.[3] The squadron was recertified on 11 June 2010.[4]
Previous names
- Albuquerque Army Air Base, 8 March 1941
- Kirtland Army Air Field, 24 February 1942
Major commands
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Base operating units
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Kirtland in pop culture
- The 1943 RKO Radio Pictures film Bombardier was primarily filmed at the base.
- In an the science-fiction television show The X-Files, part of the episode Space takes place on the base.
- It was mentioned in the film Contact as being the place where AWACS planes originated from.
- The character Jane Margolis in the AMC television show Breaking Bad says in the episode "Phoenix" of season 2 that she draws tattoos for "college kids and airmen from Kirtland."
- Kirtland AFB becomes the temporary U.S. Capital after a nuclear blast destroys Washington, D.C. and four other cities in Lee Boyland's "Clash of Civilizations" trilogy.
Jet Fuel Spill
In 1999, after the opening of a new bulk-fuel-storage facility at the base, a jet fuel oil leak was discovered from a broken 16-in. pipe. It was later learned that the pipe had been leaking fuel undetected since 1950. The Air Force initially estimated that pipe leaked roughly between 1 and 2 million gallons of jet fuel in that 49-year span. However, state environmental officials believe the number may be as high as 8 million gallons. The escaped jet fuel is now floating a foot thick atop Albuquerque's water table 500 ft (150 m). beneath the ground toward the wells that supply the city's drinking water. New Mexico officials estimated the cleanup could cost $100 million and have maintained that the Air Force's original plan to clean up the spill could take 56 years.[5]
See also
- Air Force Materiel Command
- Western Air Defense Force (Air Defense Command)
- Central Air Defense Force (Air Defense Command)
- New Mexico Air National Guard
- New Mexico World War II Army Airfields
- 34th Air Division (United States)
- Kirtland AFB UFO sighting
- Mesa del Sol-a major new part of Albuquerque.[6]
References
| United States Air Force portal | |
| Military of the United States portal | |
| World War II portal |
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
- ^ Hoffman, Michael, "Two wings get F on nuclear inspection", Air Force Times 27 November 2009.
- ^ Hoffman, Michael, "Weapons center chief accepts inspection blame", Military Times, 11 February 2010.
- ^ Hoffman, Michael, "Kirtland AFB unit loses nuclear mission", Military Times, 12 February 2010.
- ^ Korte, Tim, (Associated Press) "Kirtland nuke squadron regains certification", Military Times, June 12, 2010.
- ^ Thompson, Mark, "Don't Bet on the Military to Plug the BP Leak". Time Magazine, June 15, 2010.
- ^ Metcalf, Richard (March 1, 2008). "Mesa del Sol Reshapes Region". http://nreionline.com/news/areas/forest_citys_mesa_delsol_0301. Retrieved Mar 1, 2008. .
- Much of this text in an early version of this article was taken from pages on the Kirtland Air Force Base Website, which as a work of the U.S. Government is presumed to be a public domain resource. That information was supplemented by:
- Mueller, Robert (1989). Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982. USAF Reference Series, Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-53-6
- Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
- Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
- Mauer, Mauer (1969), Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II, Air Force Historical Studies Office, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. ISBN 0-89201-097-5
- Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC, 2004.
External links
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kirtland Air Force Base |
- Kirtland Air Force Base website
- Kirtland Air Force Base History
- Defense Nuclear Weapons School
- Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center
- Det 12, Air Force Space and Missile Command
- Air Force Nuclear Weapons and Counterproliferation Agency
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KABQ
- ASN accident history for ABQ
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KABQ
- FAA current ABQ delay information
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Categories: 1940 establishments in the United States | Airfields of the United States Army Air Corps | USAAF West Coast Training Center | USAAF Bombardiers School | USAAF Second Air Force Heavy Bombardment Training Stations | Bases of the United States Air Force | Albuquerque, New Mexico | Buildings and structures in Bernalillo County, New Mexico | Military facilities in New Mexico | Facilities of the United States Air National Guard | Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in New Mexico | Transportation in Bernalillo County, New Mexico | Airports in New Mexico
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