Open House doc.indd - Kirtland Air Force Base

kirtland afb 1941-2011
The Albuquerque Municipal Airport opened for commercial air travel in 1939.
Photo courtesy of Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center History Office
6 | OPeN HOuse | Thunderbirds Air show | KAFB Nucleus
The military installation known today as “Kirtland Air Force
Base” has been making significant contributions to America’s national
defense for many decades. Two milestones occur in 2011
— the 70th anniversary of the Albuquerque Army Air Base’s construction
and activation; and the 40th anniversary of the merger
of the former Kirtland, sandia and Manzano bases into what has
been Kirtland AFB since 1971.
The Air Force Nuclear Weapons center Historian, Al Moyers,
put those anniversaries into perspective for contemporary Airmen.
“For today’s Airman, just as for Airmen of the past and the
future, knowledge and understanding of the heritage of their service,
their base and their organization provides them the perspective
to better execute today’s mission while planning for tomorrow’s
missions,” he said.
The base’s history includes many high points.
In January 1941, construction of Albuquerque Army Air Base
began, adjacent to the new Albuquerque Municipal Airport.
Army and Navy pilots had been using the city’s airport for aircraft
refueling and maintenance since 1939, when a small Army
detachment was established there to provide service for transient
military planes.
On March 18, 1941, lt. col. Frank D. Hackett arrived onstation
and assumed responsibility as the base’s first permanently
assigned commander.
The first time a military airplane used the base’s new runways
was April 1, 1941, when lt. sid Young landed a B-18 Bolo bomber
on the north-south runway. On April 19, 1941, the air base was
declared ready to receive the advance cadres of tactical units that
would prepare Air corps crews for combat.
That summer, the 19th Bombardment Group came to the Albuquerque
base from March Field, calif., to conduct pre-deployment
aircrew training for the Pacific campaign.
On June 19, 1941, Trans World Airlines, which had experience
flying large airplanes, set up a four-engine aircraft school here to
train pilots. That contract service was the beginning of aircrew
training on Kirtland.
By February 1942, there were enough military pilots for the
Army Air corps to take the base over as an advanced flying training
school.
On Feb. 25, 1942, Albuquerque Army Air Base was renamed
“Kirtland Army Air Field,” in honor of the late col. Roy c. Kirtland,
one of the Army’s earliest aviation pioneers.
less than four months after the Air Force became a separate
service, Kirtland Army Air Field was renamed “Kirtland Air Force
Base” on Jan. 13, 1948.
In 1942, the Army Air corps established “sandia Base” around
Oxnard Field, which had been a private airport on Albuquerque’s
east Mesa since 1928. By 1943, the mechanics’ training program
had ended and sandia Base became a convalescent center for
wounded aircrew members.
After World War II, sandia Base became a storage and dismantling
facility for surplus aircraft. More than 2,000 planes were
taken apart and melted down, reclaiming 10 million pounds of
aluminum.
In June 1947, construction began in the foothills of the Manzano
Mountains on a project that would be declared operational in April
1950. It was renamed “Manzano Base” on Feb. 22, 1952. That development
took advantage of the area’s natural terrain features to store
weapons in hardened facilities.
On July 1, 1971, the three Albuquerque-area bases — Kirtland,
sandia and Manzano — merged into one installation — Kirtland
AFB — to reduce costs by consolidating common operations and
functions.