Jwt708 Well-Known Member. I hope they can save this base so that it doesnt get destroyed. This does not include 149 civil aircraft impresses before delivery. Dave Howell, RN Bob Gilbert, Gunner Rick Watson, EW Chuck Kinkhead, N Can't remember, CP Kevin Rice. As the Cold War ended, "Valkyrie" was assigned to her last duty station with the 2nd BW at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, but she would have one last mission. Certain buildings are worth saving. Did you serve with BLYTHEVILLE AIR FORCE BASE? The Air Force packed up and left. Lots of good memories. Gym - Center of Wing's Athletic Activities. But it is well-worth the visit. JetPhotos.com is the biggest database of aviation photographs with over 4 million screened photos online! Blytheville air force base photos. It is a peculiarly shaped building, like the rest of the buildings on the base. Blytheville AFB: See Eaker AFB: Bolling AFB ACTIVE: Location: Washington, DC . After a brief hiatus of less than a decade, the facility reopened as the Blytheville Air Force Base. [1] It was located 3 miles (4.8km) northwest of Blytheville, Arkansas. 2, no. Louisiana was the aircraft's next stop when in May 1974 it was transferred to the 2nd Bombardment Group (H) at Barksdale AFB. While with the 97th Bomb Wing at Blytheville AFB, Arkansas, it received the name "Valkyrie" with appropriate nose art of a mail-clad female warrior on horseback; nose art made a renaissance in the USAF in the late 1980s, though not quite as risqu as that seen during World War II. If you wish to support our current and future work, please consider making a donation or purchasing one of our many books. For those wishing to explore BAFB history and its impact, the Blytheville Air Force Base Exhibition is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to tell "the story of the war that saved the world.". This Abandoned Air Force base is located three miles Northwest of Blytheville, Arkansas. Americans did not have to fear every day of an imminent Soviet missile strike. If the alert force had not received that second "stand down" code, they would have taken off; and (as we saw it, back then) if that happened, very soon, we would have been in the midst of a nuclear war. Originally Blytheville Air Force Base, the base's official name was changed in 1988 to honor air pioneer and commander of the Mighty Eighth Air Force during World War II, Lieutenant General Ira C. Eaker. The local economy tankedand unemployment skyrocketed. 1-2 hours. When I arrived in July 1972, Blytheville Air Force Base's B-52s, KC-135s, pilots, navigators, electronic warfare officers, tail gunners and many . Transferred from the 97th Bomb Wing at Blytheville Air Force Base, Arkansas, this aircraft was flown to the Museum in November 1978. I have been to the former base and tarmac many times in the 2010s for Sports Car Club of America events. 326th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron; 21 July 1942-30 April 1944 2111th Army Air Forces Base Unit; 1 May 1944-16 June 1945 Became Blytheville Air Force Base / Eaker Air Force Base (1951-1992) Now: Arkansas International Airport (IATA: BYH, ICAO: KBYH, FAA LID: BYH) (1992-Present) Newport Army Air Field, 6 miles northeast of Newport Washington -- Today, Representatives Crawford, Hill, Westerman, and Womack, along with Senators Boozman and Cotton, introduced legislation to name the Blytheville/Eaker Air Force Base located in Blytheville, Arkansas, the "National Cold War Center." The Eaker base opened in 1942 as a World War II advanced pilot training school, and later became an alert center during the Cold War. During World War II, the site served as a training airfield as part of the 70,000 Pilot Training Program. Best years of my life. These three 97th BW aircraft were stationed and flown out of Anderson AFB, Guam, as part of the 72nd Strategic Wing (Provisional). It has the exact same problems as the hospital, though both buildings trade off on extremities. Since then, there have been only 744 aircraft built by Boeing. In December 1972, after being repaired, it flew four additional missions over North Vietnam. When the klaxon sounded, the aircrews scrambled to their aircraft, and got a radio code to start their engines; after the engines were running, they got another code that instructed them either to shut down, and go back to the alert facility (in which case it would be called a Coco alert), or to taxi (that would be a Bravo alert). Blytheville, Walnut Ridge, Grider, Newport, Stuttgart, and Adams Field. Airmen from the 97th Bombardment Wing lost their lives and their photos appear on the lonely memorial at their abandoned base in Blytheville; Lt Col Keith R Heggen was in "Olive1", (now buried at Arlington Nat'l Cemetery) Lt Col Donald L Rissi, 1st LT Robert J Thomas and Msgt Walter L Ferguson were in "Charcoal 1" Major Bobby A Kirby, Capt Randall J Craddock, Capt George B Lockhart, Capt Ronald D Perry and 1st Lt Charles E Darr were in "Tan 3". Blytheville Eaker Air Force Base - KBYH, USA - Arkansas; By: Brady Brooks Photos | Profile | Contact; Airwomen were tasked with testing electronics of aircraft, testing aircraft by means of flights, and ferrying aircraft. After it became operational in 1955, the B-52 remained the main long-range heavy bomber of the US Air Force during the Cold War, and it continues to be an important part of the USAF bomber force today. On January 31st, 2022, the Arkansas Aeroplex officially announced that work had been started on restoring Building 1225. To differentiate ALCM-equpped B-52Gs from unmodified aircraft, a wing fairing was added solely for the benefit of Soviet reconnaissance satellites, in accordance with arms control treaties. The small gold Hap Arnold Wings that appear just below my name tag was a gift from the widow of a deceased WWII USAAF pilot. The Blytheville Air Force Base Capehart Housing Historic District encompasses a large residential area built between 1957 and 1962 as part of a military housing program for service members stationed at the now-closed Blytheville Air Force Base in Blytheville, Arkansas. Alas LRAFB was where we flew C119s to summer camp, but always hoped foe a fly in there. I was stationed at 3 bases that closed during this BRAC (Eaker, George and Chanute) and took an early out at the same time (volunteer compensated RIF in 1992). This one is at the old (now closed) SAC base near Blytheville, Arkansas. Base Theater. Most of the Gs ended their days sliced into pieces in the Arizona desert. Fill out the form and sign up to help us protect: By signing up, you are not committing to anything, you are simply subscribing to be notified of upcoming volunteer dates. for another radio code that would tell him to turn around. Enter your email address to subscribe to Abandoned Arkansas and receive notifications of new posts by email. I was an army brat and a military wife along with an army civilian off and on over the years. The Library. This increased the B-52Gs range over earlier B-52s, though it also added considerable weightone reason why the tail was shortened; to help the heavy bomber get off the ground, the water-injection system already present was increased. The first of 12 model aircrafts that were once housed at the Blytheville Air Force Base (later Eaker Air Force Base) was delivered on Wednesday to the exhibition building. It is very possible the paint that is peeling on the walls is lead-based. The nine surviving jets are scattered from coast to coast most of them restored and on display. The KC135 Stratotanker, as most other notary aircraft, was born out of necessity. Building 1225, will be added to the collection of buildings as part of the future National Cold War Center. I really hope some other people can find this service and get in touch with people like I did. At 14 I was hopping buses and trains and hanging out with friends in surrounding towns. Blytheville, Arkansas was selected as a training location due to its proximity to the Mississippi River, where supplies could easily be shipped to and from the site. Currently, the main tarmac is used as Blythevilles airport. From an extreme case of having to be boarded up like a top secret quarantine, to simply being an old tool shed that never got used. - A Blytheville museum shining a light on Cold War history received funding supporting a planned primary exhibit. There were VIP transports (designated VC-47A/B) and there were SC-47s used as search and rescue aircraft. Finally, again to save weight, the tail gunner position was eliminated in favor of a remote-controlled barbette, with the gunner moved forward to the crew compartment. On June 10, 1942, the U.S. Army opened an advanced pilot training school at Blytheville, Arkansas. By August 1973, they had flown 126,615 combat sorties with seventeen B-52s lost to enemy action. No photo description available. PIGGOTT, Ark., July 30 (UPI) An Air Force C130 transport plane crashed, and burned at dusk today in a pasture in this town in northeastern Arkansas, killing all six persons aboard. Improve this listing. Love Photoshop, a little bit of work and #3 does a flyby just for me 41 years later. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe . Photo Credit: The National Cold War Center. Today it is 14,011. Assigned to Blytheville Air Force Base until deactivated in 1992. In the Monett City Park is displayed the USAF Thunderbird F-4E Phantom II #3 Jet. Owners of said buildings had big ambitions to renovate and repurpose the old buildings, but either plans never took off or money was tight. Jul 1999. The KC135, along with the B52 is one of the only fixed wing aircraft with over fifty years of service. Pictures, photos and images from Blytheville, AR. Deactivated at the close of the conflict, the base was reactivated in the 1950s as Blytheville Air Force Base and was renamed Eaker Air Force Base in 1988 . As a CAP cadet 1966-1969 the lore of this base was discussed often. I was stationed at Eaker from 89-91 in the comm building pictured. During the second World War, the United States needed more areas to train pilots, and launch aircraft to respond to the threat on the Eastern front. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Eaker Air Force Base (1942-1992) was a front-line United States Air Force base for over 40 years. For nearly 50 years, residents of Blytheville, Ark., proudly supported the Air Force base in their town. Eaker Air Force Base was home to a group of Strategic Air Command B-52 bombers and more than 3,000 military personnel before closing in 1992. After it became operational in 1955, the B-52 remained the main long-range heavy bomber of the U.S. Air Force during the Cold War, and it continues to be an important part of the USAF bomber force today. Under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 the United States government is obligated to consider utilization, procurement and disposal of government property. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . The exhibits are impactful and tell the story of Base history. I was stationed at Blytheville AFB in the late 1950s when it was a new SAC base and the first B-52s arrived. BX and Cafeteria. He told me many stories about the German . A B52 with a full nuclear payload, is the seventh most powerful country in the world.. Of the 3,778 acres the base is comprised of, two thirds of the land is abandoned. The deactivation of the Eakers (Blytheville) Air Force Base in 1992 hit the community hard as in 2019 the population is about 15,000 while the population of Fayetteville exploded to near 90,000. I only ask that you send older photos (probably sometime before 1970).and they can be of People, Places in Blytheville, and Things. Housing for members of the military and their families was developed between 1957 and 1962 north and south . (Some joked that the ladies might just paint hunky guys on their aircraft!). Evans was from Osceola AR. The majority of the bases housing is still in use, a few buildings are in use, and the tarmac is now the Arkansas Aeroplex. Available for both RF and RM licensing. Because it was an Air Force base, the airport has room and facilities that are not available in many other complexes. The G models most noticeable feature was its 8-foot shorter tail, done to ease maintenance and to save weight. My 1966 Ford Mustang was setting in the parking lot the day we watched this jet fly. The aircraft was set on course to Boeings headquarters in Wichita, Kansas. In order to give the property on which the base was located back to the local authorities, the USAF hired a cultural resource management firm to conduct a survey of the archeological sites on the base property (Cande and Lafferty 1991). 6 'Cat And Mouse' UFO Chase Over Cannon AFB January 1976. Airplane Photos & Aviation Photos - View, Search, or Upload Photos! A total of 820 KC135s have been produced since 1956. [1], During the Vietnam War the 97th Bomber Wing at Blytheville supported strike operations throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was closed as a military base in 1992 at the end of the Cold War pursuant to BRAC action and now operates as Arkansas International Airport . When Vietnam ended and the USAF got back to peacetime, nose art once more disappeared. Only ten B-52Gs survive today as museum pieces. Rick O'Kelley was drafted in Oct 1971 and enlisted in the USAF November 10 1971 on delayed enlistment. In 2020, both Arkansas senators proposed a bill to designate the museum in Blytheville. Today, "Valkyrie" still wears her 1991-era SIOP camouflage and a SAC badge on the nose; the nose art is on the port side. Posted on Facebook by Michael Meagher, Photographer unknown. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. Find the perfect adversary concept stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. 18 (Feb. 26, 1904). Charles Fisher would forever be known as Mr. This is like the B-52Gs with the North American AGM-28 Nuclear Hound Dog Missiles assigned to my base. Access the best of Getty Images with our simple subscription plan. A photo of my Mustang in the snow at Barker's Trailerpark in Blytheville Arkansas. As a result, the B-52Gs took heavy casualties in the first days of Operation Linebacker II in December 1972, losing 15 aircraft; it was decided to pull the Gs out of operations after the first week. Usaf Academy, CO 80840-1307 Colorado Springs, CO 80919-3732 Warrensburg, MO 64093-9357 VetFriends.com helps reunite veterans from the Air Force daily. In the years leading up to the reunification of Germany, the U.S. government sought out to begin a process that would eventually end in many bases like Eaker, to be closed. I also lived in the dorms that are pictured. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Sara Robertson (Sara.Robertson2@mail.house.gov) Arkansas Delegation Introduces Legislation to Designate Blytheville Air Force Base as National Cold War Center 2/7/2023 Washington - Today, Representatives Crawford, Hill, Westerman, and Womack, along with Senators Boozman and Cotton, introduced legislation to name the Blytheville/Eaker Air Force Base located in . I completed USAF Technical School in Denver Co the end of June 1972 and received two weeks leave before reporting to my base and when I arrived home my old farm boss, USAAF Veteran Bill Morriss had a brand new Suzuki motorcycle in his garage. Extensive efforts to offset the negative economic effects on the community of Blytheville were undertaken by local and federal officials, who cleaned up the site and then distributed the land to various organizations, including the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Upon his return to the United States in November 1970, General Brown was assigned as vice commander of the 97th Bombardment Wing at Blytheville Air Force Base, Ark., and took command of the wing in July 1971. There is a SAC Lapel Pin and two United States Air Force Lapel Pins that I have included in my display. But it is well-worth the visit. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); http://www.fi-aeroweb.com/Defense/KC-46-Tanker.html#:~:text=Compared%20to%20the%20KC%2D135,cargo%20and%20aeromedical%20evacuation%20capabilities.&text=The%20KC%2DX%20Program%2C%20the,current%20KC%2D135%20tanker%20fleet. At one point, sharkmouths were banned by 7th Air Force in Saigon as being "too warlike"--despite, of course, the "non-warlike" aircraft carrying tons of bombs and missiles. Altus AFB ACTIVE Need photos: Location: Altus, Oklahoma. Sign up and get notified about upcoming volunteer events! B.R.A.C. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. if I remember correctly it was one of the rooms pictured (162). Our B-52s had the Vietnam War Camo paint while this appears to have the Pre-Vietnam War SAC paint which our bombers had before their Vietnam days. The last model 61-0040, was produced in 1962. We share a body likeness and dress and I had an orange helmet but most of the time I wore my Easy Rider Flag helmet. MEMORIES. Though, the program and its members were not considered truly military nor pilots until the 1970s. Flickr photos, groups, and tags related to the "blythevilleairforcebase" Flickr tag. As I recall, crew members were typically on alert for 10 days of every month. These jets were flown from 1969 to Feb 1974 when they were retired due to the oil crisis. This is not my photograph so it may not be used for commercial purposes. During its test flight, Boeing was performing tests to show the aircrafts resilience against low-altitude turbulence. Though it is referred to these names, the airport officially goes by Arkansas Aeroplex. or the notorious F-105 "Cherry Girl," which positioned a full-frontal nude girl strategically over the refueling port on the nose. Who knew that 41 years later I would have a new Mustang or even still be alive. Arkansas had six Army airfields. Eaker. Published: Jan. 11, 2022 at 6:25 PM PST. My Heritage. Blytheville had their own team. In the post-Cold War era, the U.S. Air Force decided to shut down the Eaker Air Force Base in Blytheville, AR. Known as Operation Secret Squirrel, this 34-hour mission was at the time the longest aerial mission ever flown, and was not surpassed until the strikes on Afghanistan in 2001. Abandoned Arkansas had noticed while touring the base, the former base bank had been torn down the week prior to January 1st, 2022. In the early 1950s, the Strategic Air Command (SAC) approved a plan to convert the former airfield into an airbase, which officially opened in 1955 as Blytheville Air Force Base. The base closed in 1992, and unfortunately most of the residential units north of Daisy Drive are vacant and have since . It worked very well and it was how I towed my new 1972 Suzuki GT750J from my parent's home in Alma the 300 miles to Blytheville Air Force Base. The group was awarded two Distinguish Unit Citations during WWII and the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crises. Many times I stopped what I was doing and watched the full power, roaring and smoke trailing takeoffs.
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