The original airport was constructed in 1930 by the Civilian Conservation Corps as a commercial airport located 1.5 miles (2.4km) west of the "business center". In 1941, the federal government appropriated the local airport, establishing Presque Isle Army Airfield for planes bound to and from Great Britain. It was activated as an Army Air Corps field on 15 September 1941. The main Army Air Force unit at Presque Isle was the 23d AAF Ferrying Wing, assigned to the Air Transport Command. It was closed after the war ended
The 23rd Fighter Group was redesignated as the 23rd Fighter-Interceptor Group, and activated on 12 January 1951.[1] It was assigned to the 23rd Fighter-Interceptor Wing at Presque Isle AFB as part of ADC, with the 74th and 75th Fighter-Interceptor Squadrons, flying North American F-86E Sabre aircraft.[2] Before the year was over, both squadrons had converted to older F-86As.[2] In February 1952, the wing and group were inactivated, in a major ADC reorganization.[1]
"Operational Snark Launching Site I"[5] was selected by the SAC Strategic Missile Site Selection Panel[6] on 21 March 1957, land for the "new base [with] 740 men" was acquired in January 1958,[7][8] and construction of the $12,000,000 base began in May 1958[9][10] by the J.R. Cianchete Construction Company.[6]
The 702d Strategic Missile Wing was activated on 1 January 1959, and the first Douglas C-124 Globemaster II with a Snark arrived on 27 May 1959.[11] The complex had 6 corrugated hangars ("missile assembly and maintenance buildings") each of 420ft ×80ft (128m ×24m) with 2 fixed outdoor launch pads. For each launch pad with diameter 160ft (49m),[6] a missile was stored within the building on a launcher trailer attached to a tow vehicle, 1 at ready storage to launch from the outdoor pad within 15 minutes and behind it, 1 capable of launch in 30 minutes. Each building had 3 additional missiles in line behind the first wave (readiness of 4hr, 3 days, and 5 days), and the missile launch control center was a hangar balcony.[12] In addition to the hangars and pads, the complex included "a jet engine run-up building, the warhead maintenance and inspection building, missile maintenance and guidance lab", a dormitory for night alert personnel,[12] and a compressor house for each hangar.[13]
First alert status was 18 March 1960, and 30 missiles were available in December[14] with 4 on alert.[15] After the 702d SMW was declared operational on 28 February 1961, 20 Snarks were on alert in the summer of 1961,[16]:28 and on 25 June 1961 the wing was inactivated[17] following President Kennedy's earlier announcement for "73 military establishments" to be closed[18] (Congress was informed on 30 March.)[19]
Civilian use after base closure
The Snark Missile Launch Complex was purchased by the city of Presque Isle, Maine, in early 1962 for $56,000 (the city also bought "other parts of the former Presque Isle Air Force Base, ...known as the Skyway Industrial Park" in 1962)[20] and some of the remaining AFB area was redesignated "Presque Isle Air National Guard Facility".[15] Four of the hangars were used for woodworking in 1962[21] and in 1995, one was used as a flax mill.[22]
The former launch complex now has the designation Environmental site ME500.[23]
Parts of the former base were redeveloped as Presque Isle International Airport, making Presque Isle a civilian airfield again. As of 2020 it offers scheduled jet passenger service to Newark and Washington-Dulles, in addition to serving as a cargo airport.
Northern Maine Community College was founded in 1961 on the former air base grounds. The Skyway Industrial Park was created in the vicinity of the airport.
1 2 3 Lonnquest, John C.; Winkler, David F. (November 1996). To Defend and Deter: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Missile Program(PDF) (Report). Vol.Project 94-1264: USACERL Special Report 97/01. Champaign, IL: U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories. LCCNn96-88039. OCLC035600289. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2013. power and water pumping plant measuring 160 by 102 feet; an engine run-up facility that was 99 by 61 feet; a two-story launch and surveillance building measuring 44 by 39 feet, and a 15,000-gallon fuel tank farm with a pump house and truck filling stand. (cites the "Installation Plan, SM-62 (Snark) for Presque Isle, Maine," in the archives at the U.S. Strategic Command, History Office, Offutt AFB, Omaha, NE.)
1 2 "SNARK". oocities.org. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
↑ "Plans for Construction Bidding on Presque Isle Snark Base Within a Week"(Google news archive). Lewiston Evening Journal. 4 April 1958. Retrieved 13 August 2013. one contract. It calls for six assembly and checkout buildings, each about 420 by 86 feet, a power and water pumpting plant, an engine run-up building, six compressor houses, a fuel oil tank, a fuel pump house, water distribution and sanitary sewer systems, and rehabilitiation of the existing administration[sic] and control building.
Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office 1961 (republished 1983, Office of Air Force History, ISBN0-912799-02-1).
Loring Air Force Base was a United States Air Force installation in northeastern Maine, near Limestone and Caribou in Aroostook County. It was one of the largest bases of the U.S. Air Force's Strategic Air Command during its existence, and was transferred to the newly created Air Combat Command in 1992.
Malmstrom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Cascade County, Montana, United States, adjacent to the city of Great Falls. It was named in honor of World War II POW Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom. It is the home of the 341st Missile Wing of the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Malmstrom Air Force Base as a census-designated place (CDP). It had a population of 3,472 at the 2010 census.
Grand Forks Air Force Base (AFB) (IATA: RDR, ICAO: KRDR, FAA LID: RDR) is a United States Air Force installation in northeastern North Dakota, located north of Emerado and 16 miles (26 km) west of Grand Forks.
The Northrop SM-62 Snark is an early-model intercontinental range ground-launched cruise missile that could carry a W39 thermonuclear warhead. The Snark was deployed by the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command from 1958 through 1961. It represented an important step in weapons technology during the Cold War. The Snark was named by Jack Northrop and took its name from the author Lewis Carroll's character the "snark". The Snark was the only surface-to-surface cruise missile with such a long range that was ever deployed by the U.S. Air Force. Following the deployment of ICBMs, the Snark was rendered obsolete, and it was removed from deployment in 1961.
Kincheloe Air Force Base was a United States Air Force (USAF) base during the Cold War. Built in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 1943 during World War II, the base was in service until 1977.
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Francis S. Gabreski Airport is a county-owned, joint civil-military airport located 3 nautical miles (6 km) north of the central business district of Westhampton Beach, in Suffolk County, Long Island, United States. It is approximately 80 miles (130 km) east of New York City.
Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base is an air defense military installation located at civilian public-use Francis S. Gabreski Airport, located just north of Westhampton Beach, New York. It is currently the home base of the New York Air National Guard's 106th Rescue Wing.
The 352nd Special Operations Wing is an operational unit of the United States Air Force Special Operations Command currently stationed at RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom. The unit's heritage dates back to 1944 as an air commando unit.
The 23rd Fighter Group is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 23rd Wing and stationed at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia.
The Maine Air National Guard (ME ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Maine, United States of America. It is, along with the Maine Army National Guard, an element of the Maine National Guard.
The 134th Fighter Squadron, nicknamed the Green Mountain Boys, is a unit of the Vermont Air National Guard 158th Fighter Wing located at Burlington Air National Guard Base, Burlington, Vermont. From 1986 to 2019, the 134th FS were equipped with the General Dynamics F-16C/D Fighting Falcon Block 30. The last F-16s departed Burlington on 6 April 2019 in preparation for the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II which arrived on 19 September 2019. Since becoming an F-35A unit, the Green Mountain Boys are tasked with carrying out the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD).
The 57th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, also known as "The Black Knights of Keflavik", is an inactive United States Air Force unit. The 57 FIS was last stationed at Naval Air Station Keflavik, Iceland. It was inactivated on 1 March 1995.
The 4711th Air Defense Wing is a discontinued United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 30th Air Division of Air Defense Command (ADC) at Selfridge Air Force Base, Michigan, where it was discontinued in 1956. It was established in 1952 at Presque Isle Air Force Base, Maine as the 4711th Defense Wing in a general reorganization of Air Defense Command (ADC), which replaced wings responsible for a base with wings responsible for a geographical area.
The Bangor Air Defense Sector (BaADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 26th Air Division, being stationed at Topsham Air Force Station, Maine. It was inactivated on 1 April 1966.
The 528th Air Defense Group is a disbanded United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 4711th Air Defense Wing at Presque Isle Air Force Base, Maine, where it was inactivated on 18 August 1955. The group was originally activated as the 528th Air Service Group, a support unit for the 97th Bombardment Group at the end of World War II in Italy.
The 556th Strategic Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 820th Strategic Aerospace Division at Plattsburgh Air Force Base, New York, where it was inactivated in 1965 with the withdrawal of the Atlas missile from operations.
Bangor Air National Guard Base is a United States Air National Guard base. Created in 1927 as the commercial Godfrey Field, the airfield was taken over by the U.S. Army just before World War II and renamed Godfrey Army Airfield and later Dow Army Airfield. It became Dow Air Force Base in 1947, when the newly formed U.S. Air Force took over many Army air assets.
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