Wurtsmith Air Force Base

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For the civil use of this facility and airport information, see Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport.

Wurtsmith Air Force Base
Shield Strategic Air Command.png
Part of Air/Aersopace Defense Command (ADC)
and Strategic Air Command (SAC)
Oscoda Township, Iosco County, Michigan
Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport-2006-USGS.jpg
2006 USGS Airphoto. Note the christmas tree alert staging area at top center.
Wurtsmith Air Force Base is located in Michigan
Wurtsmith Air Force Base
Wurtsmith Air Force Base
Location of Wurtsmith Air Force Base
Coordinates44°27′09″N 083°22′49″W / 44.45250°N 83.38028°W / 44.45250; -83.38028
TypeAir Force Base
Site information
Controlled byUnited States Air Force
Site history
Built1923
In use1923–1993
Garrison information
Garrison379th Bombardment Wing
Oscoda Army Airfield, 1943

Wurtsmith Air Force Base is a decommissioned United States Air Force base in Iosco County, Michigan. It operated from 1923 until decommissioned in 1993.

During the Cold War, it was one of three Strategic Air Command (SAC) bases in Michigan with the B-52 bomber, the others (Kincheloe, Sawyer) were in the Upper Peninsula. The base was named in honor of Major General Paul Wurtsmith, commander of SAC's Eighth Air Force, who was killed when his North American B-25 Mitchell bomber crashed on Cold Mountain near Asheville, North Carolina, on September 13, 1946.[1][2]

Previous names[]

  • Camp Skeel, November 1931
  • Oscoda Army Air Field, August 1942
  • Oscoda Air Force Base, 24 June 1948
  • Wurtsmith Air Force Base, 15 February 1953 – 30 June 1993

Major commands to which assigned[]

  • General Headquarters Air Force, 26 June 1936
  • Third Air Force, 2 September 1942
  • Air Service Command, 12 December 1942
  • Third Air Force, 5 March 1943
  • First Air Force, 14 August 1943
  • Continental Air Forces, 16 April 1945
Re-designated Strategic Air Command, 21 March 1946
  • Continental Air Command,1 January 1949
  • Air Defense Command, 1 January 1951
  • Strategic Air Command, 1 April 1960
  • Air Combat Command, 1 June 1992 – 30 June 1993

Major units assigned[]

  • First Pursuit Group, 15 October 1927
  • 100th Base HQ and Air Base Squadron, 31 October 1942
  • 524th Base HQ and Air Base Squadron, 21 June 1943
  • 134th AAF Base Unit, 14 April 1944 – 12 April 1945
  • 4301st Base Services Squadron, 1 August 1948
Re-designated 2476th Base Service Squadron, 1 January 1949
Re-designated 4655th Base Service Squadron, 1 December 1950
  • 332d Fighter Group, 2 April 1943 – 9 July 1943
  • 100th Fighter Squadron, 29 October 1943 – 8 November 1943
  • 301st Fighter Squadron, 21 May 1943 – 10 July 1943
  • 302d Fighter Squadron, 19 November 1943 – December 1943
  • 403d Fighter Squadron, May 1943 – 15 December 1943
  • 754th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, 27 November 1950 – 20 July 1951
  • 63d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 5 January 1951 – 17 August 1955
  • 527th Air Service Group
Re-designated 527th Air Defense Group, 16 February 1953 – 15 October 1955
  • 75th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1 October 1968 - 30 November 1969
  • 445th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 15 August 1955 – 30 September 1968
  • 31st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 8 June 1956 – 20 August 1957
  • 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 20 August 1957 – 27 April 1960
  • 4026th Strategic Wing, 1 August 1958 – 9 January 1961
  • 40th Air Division, 1 July 1959 – 8 June 1988
  • 920th Air Refueling Squadron, 15 July 1960 – 15 June 1993
  • 379th Bombardment Wing, 9 January 1961 – 30 June 1993
  • 94th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1 December 1969 - 30 June 1971

PFAS Contamination[]

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) became aware of PFAS concentrations in groundwater in March 2010 when EGLE staff performed sampling at a former fire training area on the base. Air Force has completed the PFAS Preliminary Assessment, Site Inspection, and is currently planning the Remedial Investigation under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. Air Force has performed three removal actions and is currently planning two interim remedial actions to address PFAS.[3]

See also[]

References[]

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

  1. ^ "Dedication Program of Wurtsmith Air Force Base, July 4th, 1953". wafb.net.
  2. ^ "Major General Paul B. Wurtsmith 1906 - 1946". wafb.net.
  3. ^ "PFAS Response - Former Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Iosco County". www.michigan.gov.
  • 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, ISBN 0-912799-02-1).
  • Ravenstein, Charles A. Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History 1984. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
  • Mueller, Robert (1989). Volume 1: Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982. USAF Reference Series, Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force, Washington, D.C. ISBN 0-912799-53-6, ISBN 0-16-002261-4
  • USAF Aerospace Defense Command publication, The Interceptor, January 1979 (Volume 21, Number 1).

External links[]

Coordinates: 44°27′09″N 83°22′49″W / 44.4525°N 83.380278°W / 44.4525; -83.380278

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