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A BRIEF
HISTORY OF Origins
When the U.S. entered World War II, the Sault Ste. Marie Locks were considered vital to the war effort. Barrage balloons were part of the Locks defenses, as well as infantry in total numbers that some estimated as high as 15,000. Records of the Air Force show that the airport at Kinross was first formally designated in June, 1941. Construction began in 1943, and the base was first known as Kinross Auxiliary Air Field. Its purpose was to serve as a refueling stop for aircraft headed for Alaska and as a base for defense of the Locks. However, no tactical units were assigned there during the war. The base was under the jurisdiction of the 4250th Army Air Force Base Unit, which was the operator of Alpena, Michigan, Army Air Force Field. This designation was from the middle of 1941 to April 24, 1945. The base was inactive in this last year of World War II. Thereafter, the City of Sault Ste. Marie, along with Capital Airlines and Trans-Canada Airlines, leased the property. A Quonset hut was erected to serve as a terminal, and lighting was installed. Thus, the field served private and commercial aviation from 1945 to 1952. Events in far-off places resulted in the first military field at Kinross; the process was repeated by what became known as the Cold War, and the outbreak of hostilities in the Korean Peninsula in June, 1950. Army troops returned to the Sault and in October, 1952, the 4685th Air Base Squadron was assigned to the reactivated Kinross Auxiliary Airfield. A month later the unit was redesignated as the 91st Air Base Squadron. Lt. Col. Nathan B. Hays was assigned as the first base commander on November 14, 1952. On February 16, 1953, the 534th Air Defense Group was activated with the 438th Fighter Squadron following on April 27, 1953. That same month, the base was closed to private noncommercial aviation because F-94B’s were being flown off the field by the pilots of the 438th. Both the 534th and 438th were assigned in February, 1953, to the 4706 Air Defense Wing; the base became operational as an Air Force facility in July of that year. CONSTRUCTION is BIG NEWS
* The yellowing clipping
files in the Sault Evening News produce a trail that illustrates the
continuous process of construction that led to the ultimate development
of what became Kincheloe Air Force Base.
He flew the Bell X-2 rocket-powered research craft at over 1,500 mph and attained a world’s altitude record of 126,000 feet on September 7, 1956. He died July 26, 1958, while bailing out in a low-altitude ejection from a F-104 over the Mojave Desert; his parachute did not open. In February, 1961, the 507th Fighter Group was expanded into a Fighter Wing organization. The 438th FIS was then flying all-weather, supersonic F-106 Delta Darts; the squadron was the combat component of the 507th Wing, the mission of which was to provide air defense within the Duluth Air Defense Sector of the Air Defense Command’s 30th Air Division, all under the Air Defense Command at Colorado Spring, Colo. All this was part of a joint U.S. Canadian partnership known as NORAD, or North American Air Defense. In the 1950s the Air Force adopted a policy of dispersing Strategic Air Command bombers and tankers. At Kincheloe the runway was extended to 12,000 feet to accommodate 15 B-52H bombers and ten KC-135 tankers. The original cost of the undertaking was estimated at $30 million. The planes started to arrive in November, 1961. On May 1, 1962 the SAC Wing at Kincheloe was declared operationally ready. The 449th Bomb Wing shared the base with the 507th Fighter Wing. DESCRIPTION 1965 Climate: Schools: Housing: Base Facilities: Environment: WITHIN 50 mile radius: In brief, the base was fully developed; the berry patch had been converted to the newest municipality in the Upper Peninsula. In the words of a subsequent study: "The final proof of any airfield pavement conditions is undoubtedly in the reactions of the pilots who must use these facilities in their mission. In discussing the Kincheloe runway with many B-52 and KC-135 pilots, there was not one who did not rate this 12,000 by 300 foot runway as one of the finest in the U.S. Air Force inventory." THE DECISION to CLOSE In May, 1971, the decision to close the base was reversed. In an Air Force-wide realignment program, Kincheloe would be kept open and come under the control of the Strategic Air Command. On July 1, 1971, the 449th Bombardment Wing (SAC) assumed command of the base. That 1971 reversal proved to be only a six-year reprieve. The base was inactivated on September 30, 1977, and declared excess on November 15, 1977. The lights were being turned out in the Upper Peninsula’s newest municipality. As part of the closing process, the Air Force prepared a thick impact-study. (A copy is in the Bayliss Library in Sault Ste. Marie.) Between 1960 and 1970, and Kinross Township's population, the study found that the population of the rest of Chippewa County had declined 20.1 per cent in those ten years. "No other county in Michigan approaches this percentage decrease," the study noted. It found that determining the base population was difficult because the figure was constantly changing. It was placed at about 10,000, of whom 9,500 lived in Chippewa County and comprised about 27 per cent of the County’s population. The breakdown was 7,655 military and dependents, 2,162 civilian and dependents, for a total of 3,679 employed personnel and 6,138 dependents. The study cited a number of factors that would make up the economic impact of the closure of the base. "Contracts awarded through the procurement office at Kincheloe AFB totaled $6,321,619 and the base operations and maintenance expense (not including civilian pay ) were $8,156,999. All of the figures indicate that Kincheloe is an almost $55,000,000 a year operation. A significant portion of this money is spent in the local area." Those who prepared the study interviewed many of the area business persons about the impact of the base closure. Auto dealers estimated that 35 per cent of all vehicles sold in the area went to Kincheloe personnel; 60 per cent of all mobile homes were sold to base personnel.
Air Force historical records show that in World War II, Kinross Field was under the jurisdiction of Alpena Army Airfield. The records do not give a name of the Commanding Officer, and the list starts with the reactivation of the Kinross base during the Korean War. The names of the base Commanders, and the dates of the start of their tenures, are as follows: Nov 14, 1952: Lt.Col. Nathan
B. Hays |
