Andersen Air Force Base
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| Andersen AFB
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| IATA: UAM – ICAO: PGUA – FAA: UAM | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military: Air Force Base | ||
| Operator | United States Air Force | ||
| Location | Guam | ||
| In use | 1944 - present | ||
| Occupants | • 36th Wing • 254th Air Base Group • 337th Air Support Flight - Australia • 44th APS • 497th Combat Training Squadron • 554th Red Horse Squadron • 734th Air Mobility Squadron • HSC-25 Island Knights • U.S. Dept. of Agriculture |
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| Elevation AMSL | 612 ft / 187 m | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 6L/24R | 10,558 | 3,218 | Asphalt/Concrete |
| 6R/24L | 11,185 | 3,409 | Asphalt/Concrete |
| Sources: FAA,[1] official site[2] | |||
Andersen Air Force Base (IATA: UAM, ICAO: PGUA, FAA LID: UAM) is a United States Air Force base on the northern end of the island of Guam, largely within the village of Yigo but also stretching into Dededo.
The host wing is the 36th Wing (36 WG) of the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), which includes an operations group, a maintenance group, a mission support group, a medical group, and a contingency response group.
Andersen's current role is that of a forward-based logistics-support center for exercise and contingency forces deploying throughout the Southwest Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.
Contents |
[edit] History
Andersen opened for use in late 1944 as a staging base for the 21st Air Force's, 314th Bombarment Wing's B-29 Superfortress bombers during World War II. Originally named North Field, the base was redesignated North Guam Air Force Base in 1947, and then renamed in honor of Brigadier General Roy Andersen on October 7, 1949.
The base was conceived as part of an Army Air Forces plan to prevent the need for a full-scale invasion of Japan after development of the B-29. North Field was one of three airfields constructed on Guam, and was the first B-29 airfield which was home to the 314th Bomb Wing. The first of two runways was completed on February 3, 1945, and the first combat mission flight departed on February 25, 1945. Daily bombing missions over Japan began in June and continued through August. See 330th Bomb Group
[edit] 1950s
After the end of World War II, Guam served as a collection point for surplus war goods that had accumulated in the Pacific Theater.
However, three days after North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, the 19th Bomb Group deployed B-29s to Andersen begin bombing targets throughout South Korea. A few days later, the group was detached from the 19th Bomb Wing and deployed to Kadena Air Base on Okinawa Island, Japan, though the rest of the wing stayed at Andersen and provided maintenance for transient aircraft and operated ammunition dumps until 1953.
In 1951, the Strategic Air Command (SAC) chose several overseas bases to support rotational unit deployments of its bombers from stateside bases, starting with B-29 Superfortress units and later including Convair B-36, B-47 Stratojet, B-50 Superfortress bombers, and KB-29 refueling tankers.
With hostilities in Korea at a standstill, the 19th Bomb Wing headquarters relocated to Kadena Air Base, Japan in 1953, and was replaced by the 6319th Air Base Wing of the Far East Air Forces (FEAF).
However, the FEAF Bomber Command (FEAF's 19th Bomb Wing and SAC's 98th and 307th Bomb Wings) was inactivated in 1954 and its three B-29 wings returned stateside and replaced with B-47s.
The 3rd Air Division was activated on June 18 in its place, its object being control of all SAC units in the Far East. The division operated as a tenant unit from June 1954 until April 1955, and received host-base support services from the 6319th until that unit was inactivated on April 1, 1955. The 6319th was replaced with the SAC-aligned 3960th Air Base Wing.
The Strategic Air Command continued its 90-day unit rotational training program, and began to take over control over the base from the FEAF. After the 1 April 1955 base transfer and activation of the 3960th Air Base Wing, B-47s replaced the B-36s in the rotations, and the 43rd Bomb Wing from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, operated from July to October 1957 (it eventually became the host unit at Andersen). The 3960th Air Base Wing was redesignated on 1 July 1956 as the 3960th Air Base Group.
Additionally, the 41st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron of the Pacific Air Forces, along with its F-86s, was stationed at Andersen from August 1956 until it was inactivated in March 1960. After that, the air defense mission was provided by deployments of 5th and 13th Air Force units flying the F-102 aircraft.[1]
[edit] Vietnam
Andersen saw an end to its role in rotational duties when the B-47 was phased out and replaced by the B-52 Stratofortress. The first B-52, the "City of El Paso", arrived from the 95th Bomb Wing at Biggs Air Force Base, Texas, in March 1964, followed by KC-135 Stratotankers.
With the start of Operation Arc Light in June 1965, B-52s and KC-135s began regular bombing missions over Vietnam, and continued in that capacity until 1973, with a break between August 1970 and early 1972.
In support of Operation Arc Light, SAC activated the 4133rd Bombardment Wing (Provisional) on February 1, 1966, though the 3960th Strategic Wing, originally activated in 1955 as the 3960th Air Base Wing, continued as the base's host wing until it was inactivated and replaced by the 43rd Strategic Wing on April 1, 1970. The 43rd assumed the mission of the 4133rd on July 1, 1970, and continued in this capacity until the 57th Air Division (Provisional) and 72nd Strategic Wing (Provisional) were activated in June of 1972 in support of Operation Bullet Shot. The 303rd Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Wing (Provisional) was activated a month later in July. All of the provisional units remained at Andersen until bombing missions ceased on November 15, 1973.
Operation Linebacker II continued the mission of Operation Arc Light, and was most notable for its 11-day bombing campaign between December 18 and 29, in which more than 150 B-52 bombers flew 729 sorties in 11 days. The B-52s at Andersen, combined with other bombers stationed at U-Tapao Field in Thailand, constituted about 50 percent of SAC's total bomber force and 75 percent of all combat crews. Essentially, two bases contained the equivalent of 13 stateside bomber wings.
The frequent bombings resulted in a cease-fire in Vietnam, but the B-52s continued to fly missions over Cambodia and Laos until those were halted on August 15. With the end of these runs, more than 100 B-52s, both D and G models, were redeployed elsewhere in the world by October 1973. The Eighth Air Force moved to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, and the 3rd Air Division was reactivated on January 1, 1975.
When the Communist forces overran South Vietnam later in 1975, the base provided emergency relief and shelter for thousands of Vietnamese evacuees as a part of Operation New Life. After the fall of Saigon, Andersen received almost 40,000 refugees and processed another 109,000 for onward transportation to the United States.[2]
The base returned to routine operations by the late 1970s, but continued to serve as one of SAC's strategic locations. Crews and aircraft were regularly sent to sites between Australia, Alaska, and Korea, and supported sea surveillance operations support for the U.S. Navy.
Andersen was also home to the 54th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron "Typhoon Chasers" during the 1960s through the 1980s. Aircrews flying WC-130s tracked and penetrated typhoons giving advanced warnings to military and civilian populations throughout the western Pacific. The 54th WRS was deactivated in 1986.
[edit] Post-Vietnam
In 1983, the 43rd completed its transition from the B-52D to the B-52G, and thus became one of only two SAC bomber wings equipped with the Harpoon anti-ship missile.
The base saw a major change in 1989, when control transferred from the Strategic Air Command to Pacific Air Forces. The 633rd Air Base Wing activated on October 1, 1989, which led to the deactivations of the 43rd Bomb Wing on March 26, 1990, and the 60th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on April 30, 1990.
In August 1990, Andersen personnel began shipping over 37,000 tons of munitions to forces in the Persian Gulf in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
With the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991, Andersen was instrumental in caring for American evacuees and their pets as a part of Operation Fiery Vigil. In December, Andersen became home to the Thirteenth Air Force, which had evacuated from Clark Air Base in the Philippines after the eruption.
The host unit changed again on October 1, 1994, when the 633rd Air Base Wing was inactivated. The 36th Air Base Wing took over host operations, and was redesignated as the 36th Wing on April 12, 2006.
The base was visited by the Amazing Race 11 in the 12th leg of the race. At the base teams had to clean a lower wing of the plane or fly supplies to another part of the island.
The base is one of the few places in the world where the Space Shuttle is permitted to land, serving as an Augmented Emergency Landing Site for the Shuttle orbiter.[3]
On 23 February 2008, a US B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, one of the most expensive military aircraft in the world, crashed on the base. The United States Air Force (USAF) said both pilots had ejected safely before the plane came down at Andersen Air Force Base, shortly after take-off. A spokeswoman said it was the first time a B-2 had crashed. [4]
[edit] Education
Andersen Air Force Base is home to Andersen Elementary School and Andersen Middle School. High school students attend Guam High School in Asan, Guam.
Higher educational opportunities for those in the military and working for the Department of Defense, as well as for family members at Andersen are available through contracted academic institutions such as The Asian Division of University of Maryland University College (UMUC).
[edit] References
- ^ FAA Airport Master Record for UAM (Form 5010 PDF), retrieved 2007-03-15
- ^ This article incorporates text from Andersen Air Force Base, a public domain work of the United States Government.
- ^ Space Shuttle Emergency Landing Sites
- ^ US stealth bomber crashes on Guam, BBC News, Retrieved on 23 February 2008.
[edit] External links
- Andersen Air Force Base (official site)
- Andersen Air Force Base at GlobalSecurity.org
- Resources for this airport:
- Andersen Air Force Base at WikiMapia
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