Peterson Space Force Base | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Colorado Springs, Colorado in United States | |||||||||||
Coordinates | 38°49′25″N104°41′42″W / 38.82361°N 104.69500°W | ||||||||||
Type | U.S. Space Force base | ||||||||||
Site information | |||||||||||
Owner | Department of Defense | ||||||||||
Operator | United States Space Force | ||||||||||
Controlled by | Space Base Delta 1 | ||||||||||
Condition | Operational | ||||||||||
Website | www | ||||||||||
Site history | |||||||||||
Built | 1942 | ||||||||||
In use | 1942 – present | ||||||||||
Garrison information | |||||||||||
Current commander | Col Zachary S. Warakomski | ||||||||||
Past commanders | Col James E. Smith | ||||||||||
Garrison | Space Base Delta 1 (Host) | ||||||||||
Airfield information | |||||||||||
Identifiers | IATA: COS, ICAO: KCOS, FAA LID: COS, WMO: 724660 | ||||||||||
Elevation | 1,885.7 m (6,187 ft) AMSL | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Airfield shared with Colorado Springs Airport Source: Federal Aviation Administration [1] |
Peterson Space Force Base, previously Peterson Air Force Base, Peterson Field, and Army Air Base, Colorado Springs, is a United States Space Force base that shares an airfield with the adjacent Colorado Springs Municipal Airport and is home to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the Space Force's 21st Space Wing, elements of the Space Force's Space Systems Command, and United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) headquarters. Developed as a World War II air support base for Camp Carson, the facility conducted Army Air Forces training and supported Cold War air defense centers at the nearby Ent Air Force Base, Chidlaw Building, and Cheyenne Mountain Complex. The base was the location of the Air Force Space Command headquarters from 1987 to 20 December 2019 and has had NORAD/NORTHCOM command center operations since the 2006 Cheyenne Mountain Realignment placed the nearby Cheyenne Mountain Complex on standby. On 26 July 2021, the installation was renamed Peterson Space Force Base to reflect its prominent role in the new space service. [2]
Colorado military construction during the buildup of US training installations prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor included the 1940 Lowry bombardier school at Denver and Camp Carson south of Colorado Springs (HQ completed on 31 January 1942). Sites "in the vicinity of Colorado Springs" were assessed in the summer of 1941 for a USAAF airfield, [3] and during April 1942 the Photographic Reconnaissance Operational Training Unit (PROTU) was activated in a leased facility[ where? ] at Colorado Springs. [4] On 6 May 1942, the site adjacent to the airfield of the 1926 Colorado Springs Municipal Airport was selected, [5] and the airport's airfield was subsequently leased as an "air support field"* for Camp Carson under the "air support base development program". In May 1942, units such as the 5th Mapping Squadron (from Bradley Field) arrived and used city facilities. The "Second Photographic Group Reconnaissance" (activated 7 May 1942 at Will Rogers Field ) [6] transferred to Colorado Springs, and the "2nd Group ... headquarters was situated in a former garage across the street from the Post Office, barracks were in the city auditorium ... and the mess hall was located at the busy horseshoe counter of the Santa Fe railway station." [7] Land at the Broadmoor was used for maneuvers, and the 2nd Group initially operated without aircraft. [7] Personnel[ specify ] were also "housed temporarily at Colorado College" and a youth camp near the Woodmen sanitorium. [8] (the 14th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron was located at the Kaufman Building on Tejon St.) [9]
"Army Air Base, Colorado Springs",* construction began after 10 May 1942, on "nothing more than a large patch of Colorado plain", [10] and the installation was placed under the Headquarters, United States "AAF [on] 11 June 1942". [5] The 373d Base HQ and Air Base Sq was activated[ where? ] as the base operating unit on 20 June 1942 (replaced by the 214th AAF Base Unit in 1944), and the base was assigned to the 2nd Air Force on 22 June 1942. On 7 July 1942, "HQ PROTU" was on the "Army Air Base, Colorado Springs" and was ordered to provide "four to five months of training to each individual". [10] During air base construction, the 20th Combat Mapping Squadron was activated on 23 July 1942, and used the Alamo Garage [11] on Tejon Street. [12] Runways were completed in August 1942, [8] and eponym 1st Lt Edward J. Peterson crashed 8 August 1942 on take off (1st Coloradoan killed at the airfield.)
Peterson Field was the airfield named on 13 December 1942, [16] and included the runway used by both the municipal airport and the military installation: [17] "Army Air Base, Peterson Field", which had begun publishing the Wingspread base newspaper by 11 July 1942. [18] The "18 Dep Rpr Sq" was assigned to the military installation from 19 January – 29 April 1943, and the installation was assigned to the Third Air Force (5 March – 1 October 1943) and by the end of the 1943 summer had tar paper barracks, an officer's club, and a theater in a Quonset. [19] After the base transferred to Second Air Force on 1 October 1943, [5] in June 1944 Peterson Field began fighter pilot training[ specify ] with P-40N Warhawks. [16] "In March 1943 the Third Air Force took over the photographic reconnaissance Operational Training Unit which had been operating at Peterson Field ... under the direct control of the Director of Photography since April 1942". [20]
The 4th Heavy Bombardment Processing Headquarters ("4 H Bomb Processing HQ") was activated on 10 June 1943 (the 1st B-29 landed at Peterson Field in the summer of 1943), [19] and bomber training by the 214th AAF Base Unit (Combat Crew Training School, Heavy) B-24 Liberator)[ failed verification ] began after the 383rd Bombardment Group relocated from Geiger Field, Washington [16] on 26 October 1943. In 1944 (11 June – 20 October), the XXI Bomber Command was assigned to Peterson; and the "HQ and HQ Sq" of XXII Bomber Command was assigned 14 October 1944 – 13 February 1945, and by 17 August 1944, 4 bomb wings (313th through 316th) were assigned to the base — the last left on 7 June 1945. [5] The 263rd AAF Base Unit became the Peterson "base operating unit" on 8 March 1945 (transferred to Andrews Field on 17 March 1946). [5] : 8, 471 The Army Air Forces Instructor School [ specify ] opened at Peterson Field in April 1945, [16] and the base was one of several that transferred to Continental Air Forces on 16 April 1945. (VIII Bomber Command arrived 17 August 1945).
The base was inactivated 31 December 1945 after the 13th Bombardment Wing (17 October) and VIII Bomber Command (c. 15 December) departed, and site management by the base operating unit ended on 17 December 1945. [21] In 1946, Peterson's last AAF Base Units were discontinued: 260th AAF Base Unit (Fighter Wing) in January, the 202nd AAF Base Unit (Special) in February, and the 268th AAF Base Unit (Instrument Instructor Unit) in March and the 201st (Headquarters Base Unit) in April (the 72nd Fighter Wing was at the base from "4 January 1946 - 9 April 1946"). The 703rd AAF Base Unit (Hq, 53d AACS Group) moved to Kelly Field in February. Designated surplus on 29 July 1946, [5] "the U.S. Government returned control[ specify ] of the [air]field to the City of Colorado Springs". [22] Many of the base buildings were torn down. [22] In 1946, Tonopah AAF (Nevada, on 1 October), Clovis AAF (New Mexico, 16 October), and Casper AAF (Wyoming, on 15 December) became detached installations of the inactive base for a short period.
During planning for the new United States Air Force, Colorado's Arlington Auxiliary Army Airfield became a detached installation of the surplus base (1 January – c. 10 October 1947), and the "468th Construction Co (15th AF)" became the inactive base's operating unit in February 1947. The base with new construction was activated 29 September 1947 – 15 January 1948, then was "surplus" [5] until after the notice in November 1950 to reactivate Air Defense Command. The "23 Photo Sq 19 May 1943-9 August 1948" remained throughout both inactive/surplus periods, and the "4600 Maint & Sup Sq" was established at the surplus base on 1 December 1950). [5]
The military base at the municipal field reactivated as an off-base installation of Ent Air Force Base on 1 January 1951 and was operated by Ent's 4600 Air Base Group. [5] After being assigned to Peterson on 1 March 1952, [5] the 4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron had subordinate organizations at the "Defense Force Headquarters [on] Hamilton Air Force Base, California, at Kansas City, Missouri,[ specify ] and at Stewart Air Force Base" New York. [23] The 4600th Group became the 4600th Air Base Wing on 8 April 1958 (moved to Peterson on 18 October 1972). [24] : 40 The 4600th was replaced by the 46th Aerospace Defense Wing on 1 April 1975. [24] In January 1968, Air Training Command's 3253d Pilot Training Squadron at Peterson Field began light aircraft indoctrination for cadets. These operations moved to the United States Air Force Academy on 21 March 1974. [25] The military base at Peterson Field gained its own base commander[ specify ] on 28 February 1975.
External image | |
---|---|
Peterson.AF.mil gallery | |
JFK's Air Force One at Peterson during 1963 Chidlaw Building/Cheyenne Mountain visit | |
MAFFS aircraft at PAFB |
Designated Peterson Air Force Base on 1 March 1975, when Ent AFB was being closed, Peterson was the last of the April 1945 Continental Air Forces airbases to be named an air force base. Also on 1 March, Peterson assumed several functions from Ent AFB, which became the "Ent Annex" of Peterson, 18 July 1975 – 7 February 1978 [5] (Peterson's off-base "Temporary Military Facility" was opened for space training by 1986). During the first part of the reorganization that broke up ADCOM, [24] : 46 the base "transferred to the Strategic Air Command" on 1 October 1979 [22] (units transferred included the 47th Comm Sq to AFCS and the 46th Wing and 4602nd Computer Services Sq to SAC). [24] : 47 ADCOM HQ offices at the Chidlaw Building became the Aerospace Defense Center at Peterson on 1 December 1979.
Peterson's NORAD COC Backup Facility achieved Full Operational Capability on 16 November 1982 [26] from the Cheyenne Mountain Complex which was placed on warm standby.
The 1st Space Wing replaced the 46th Aerospace Defense Wing on 1 April 1983. Thereafter the 1st Space Wing transferred host unit responsibility to the 3d Space Support Wing activated on 15 October 1986. Army and other units transferred from the former Ent AFB Federal Building to Peterson Building 2[ citation needed ] (renamed the Eberhart-Findley Building in October 2012). [26] On 15 May 1992, the personnel and equipment of both the 1st SW and 3d SSW merged to become the 21st Space Wing. Peterson's Space Analysis Center was at the corner of Academy & Fountain Blvds by 2004 before moving on base to bldg 1470, and in 2004 the Space Operations School used a building along I-25 at Woodmen Drive.
The Cheyenne Mountain Realignment moved NORAD/USNORTHCOM operations to Peterson AFB in 2006. In 2006, the 76th Space Control Facility was constructed at Peterson [27] (the squadron activated 22 January 2008). The MAFFS aircraft that fought the 2012 Waldo Canyon fire and 2013 Black Forest fire at Colorado Springs flew from Peterson AFB.
Some buildings from the Second World War have survived. Buildings remaining in 1996 were "the terminal, now the Peterson Air and Space Museum, the Broadmoor hangar, and the Spanish House" next to the museum, [28] along with Building 391, Building 365, supply warehouses and office buildings, and aircraft hangars and maintenance shops. [8]
The base's Retiree Activities Office has the representative for the Air Force Retiree Council Area IV (Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming). [29]
On 20 December 2019, Air Force Space Command was redesignated as the U.S. Space Force and elevated to become an independent military branch. [30] With the new military branch, the Fourteenth Air Force and its units became Space Force Space Operations Command and Air Force Space Command's headquarters was redesignated as the Pentagon.
Flying and notable non-flying units based at Peterson Space Force Base. [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36]
Units marked GSU are Geographically Separate Units, which although based at Peterson, are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location.
United States Space Force (USSF)
Space Operations Command (SpOC)
Space Systems Command (SSC)
United States ArmyUS Army Space & Missile Defense Command / Army Forces Strategic Command (USASMDC / ARSTRAT)
Department of DefenseNorth American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)
United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM)
| United States Air Force (USAF)Air Combat Command (ACC)
Air Mobility Command (AMC) Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC)
|
Andrews Air Force Base is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force (USAF). In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint Base Andrews. Andrews, located near Morningside, Maryland in suburban Washington, D.C., is the home base of two Boeing VC-25A aircraft with the call sign Air Force One when the president is on board, that serve the President of the United States, and the President is typically flown in and out of Andrews when travelling from Washington, D.C. by plane.
Marine Corps Air Station Yuma or MCAS Yuma is a United States Marine Corps air station in Arizona. It is the home of multiple squadrons of F-35B Lightning IIs of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1 (MAWTS-1), Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 (VMX-1) and Marine Fighter Training Squadron 401 (VMFT-401), an air combat adversary squadron of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing of the Marine Corps Reserve. It is a designated Superfund site due to a number of soil and groundwater contaminants, including asbestos.
Twenty-Second Air Force is a Numbered Air Force component of Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). It was activated on 1 July 1993 and is headquartered at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia.
Hill Air Force Base is a major U.S. Air Force (USAF) base located in Davis County, Utah, just south of the city of Ogden, and bordering the Cities of Layton, Clearfield, Riverdale, Roy, and Sunset with its largest border immediately adjacent to Clearfield and Layton. It is about 30 miles (48 km) north of Salt Lake City. The base was named in honor of Major Ployer Peter Hill of the U.S. Army Air Corps, who died in 1935 test-flying NX13372, the original Model 299 prototype of the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. As of 2018, Hill AFB is the sixth-largest employer in the state of Utah. Hill AFB is the home of the Air Force Materiel Command's (AFMC) Ogden Air Logistics Complex (OO-ALC) which is the worldwide manager for a wide range of aircraft, engines, missiles, software, avionics, and accessories components. The OO-ALC is part of the Air Force Sustainment Center.
Ent Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located in the Knob Hill neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado. A tent city, established in 1943 during construction of the base, was initially commanded by Major General Uzal Girard Ent (1900–1948), for whom the base is named. The base was opened in 1951.
Lowry Air Force Base is a former United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) training base during World War II and a United States Air Force (USAF) training base during the Cold War. From 1955-1958, it served as the initial site of the U.S. Air Force Academy. It is a U.S. Formerly Used Defense Site (B08CO0505).
Sheppard Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located five miles (8.0 km) north of the central business district of Wichita Falls, in Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the largest training base and most diversified in Air Education and Training Command. The base is named in honor of Texas Senator John Morris Sheppard, a supporter of military preparations before World War II.
Schriever Space Force Base, previously Schriever Air Force Base, Falcon Air Force Base, and Falcon Air Force Station, is a base of the United States Space Force located approximately 10 mi (16 km) east of Peterson Space Force Base near Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States.
Vance Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in southern Enid, Oklahoma, about 65 mi (105 km) north northwest of Oklahoma City. The base is named after local World War II hero and Medal of Honor recipient, Lieutenant Colonel Leon Robert Vance Jr.
The 46th Test Wing is an inactive wing of the United States Air Force last based at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The wing's 46th Test Group was a tenant unit at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.
The United States Air Force's 7th Space Operations Squadron is an Air Force reserve space operations unit located at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado.
The 540th Combat Crew Replacement Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last active in 1946 at Colorado Springs, assigned to Continental Air Forces.
Truax Field Air National Guard Base, also known as Truax Field, is a military facility located at Dane County Regional Airport. It is located five miles (8 km) northeast of the center of Madison, a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States.
The Sixth Photographic Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 311th Photographic Wing. It was inactivated at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri on 1 January 1945.
The Chidlaw Building is a former United States Air Force facility located in the Knob Hill neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The building was close to, but not within, the Ent Air Force Base complex, and was leased by the military for several decades, housing headquarters for several military commands, starting with the Air Defense Command (ADC) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). When Chidlaw was completed, personnel from multiple locations, including the Ent Air Force Base, were consolidated into the new building.
Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station (CMSFS) is located in Cheyenne Mountain on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in unincorporated El Paso County, Colorado, next to Colorado Springs, The Cheyenne Mountain Complex, an underground facility within Cheyenne Mountain SFS, was first built for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Combat Operations Center, though NORAD moved day-to-day operations to its headquarters on Peterson AFB in 2006. However, day-to-day operations were moved back in 2011 after a major overhaul and renovation.
The Federal Building, originally the Burroughs Building, was a Cold War military computer systems building on the Ent Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. It was built in 1962 to be used by Burroughs Corporation for its project to build an automated facility to take input, like satellite and radar information, and instantaneously assess its degree of combat importance. The program was designed in conjunction with Air Force 425L System Project engineers and was an important component in North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)'s command and control system. It was an Ent Air Force Base building until 1975 when the base was inactivated. It then became an off-base installation to the Peterson Air Force Base. Over the next several decades there were varying uses for the building by the federal government. After 2007, the building was vacated and in 2009 it was sold.
Webb Air Force Base, previously named Big Spring Air Force Base, was a United States Air Force facility of the Air Training Command that operated from 1951 to 1977 in West Texas within the current city limits of Big Spring. Webb AFB was a major undergraduate pilot training (UPT) facility for the Air Force, and by 1969, almost 9,000 pilots had been trained at Webb. The last operational wing at Webb AFB was the 78th Flying Training Wing.
Sam Johnson is a retired colonel in the United States Air Force who last served as the commander of the 21st Space Wing of the Space Operations Command. He was vice commander of the 21st Space Wing before assuming the command on May 12, 2020 after the previous commander, Colonel Thomas Falzarano unexpectedly died.
Space Delta 12 is a United States Space Force unit responsible for space test and evaluation. It tests space systems and capabilities in support of weapon system acquisition, operational acceptance, and readiness. It was established on 23 August 2021 following the establishment of the Space Training and Readiness Command, the field command to which it reports. It is temporarily headquartered at Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado, but its final location requires a base selection process.
Despite the number of vintage records with "Army Air Base, Colorado Springs", Mueller in 1989 (p. 471) claims the military installation next to the municipal airfield was initially named "Air Support Command Base" in May 1942, but does not identify an Air Support Command headquarters ever being at the air base, nor that base was even assigned to one of the support commands.
{{cite report}}
: CS1 maint: location (link)Between 1 January 1951 and 28 February 1975 the base commander of Ent AFB also commanded Peterson Fld.
From Activation 7 May 1942 to 31 December 1942
{{cite report}}
: CS1 maint: location (link){{citation}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) (quoted by First Installment)October 1943. The 383rd Bomb Group relocated here from Geiger Field, Washington, and formed a combat crew training school utilizing the B-24 "Liberator" heavy bomber.
In the summer of 1943 ... at Peterson Field [there were] tar-paper barracks and the temporary [air]strip and ... they brought in the first B-29. ... There was an Officer's Club, but no swimming pool; all the club had of interest was artificial blue rain behind the bar ... sat on folding chairs in the darkened Quonset Hut which served as a theater
At the end of the war in 1945, the U.S. Government returned control of the [Peterson] field to the City of Colorado Springs and many of the military buildings were torn down. In 1948 ... the 15th Air Force, then headquartered at Ent AFB ... One year later, the 15th Air Force relocated to March AFB California, and ... the Air Force portion of Peterson Field were placed on inactive status. ... Operational control at this time was provided by the 4600 Air Base Group ... On 1 October 1979, control of [Peterson AFB] was transferred to the Strategic Air Command. ... During December 1987, 2500 USSPACECOM and AFSPACECOM personnel relocated to their new Headquarters on Peterson AFB from the Chidlaw Building in Colorado Springs ...(p. 3)
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Medal of Honor grove, an anchor point for the base's historic district