| SAC Bases:
Oscodo / Kincheloe
AFB |
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The former
Kincheloe Air Force Base consisted of 7,265 acres located 20 miles southwest
of Sault Ste. Marie and 37 miles north of Ste. Ignace at Kinross, Michigan,
Chippewa County, Michigan. The base is directly east of Interstate 75. Other
names for the base were Kinross Municipal Airport, Kinross Army Air Field,
Kinross Air Field, Kinross Air Force Auxiliary Field, and Kinross Air Force
Base.
The Beginning.
The airport at Kinross was first formally designated in
June 1941. The former Kincheloe Air Force Base was acquired by the US
Government through lease, license, easements and by fee of different tracts
and was built and established in 1941 as a refueling base for Alaska-bound
aircraft throughout World War II. 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 at Sault Ste. Marie. 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 the last year of World War II.
In 1945 the airfield was leased to the City of Sault Ste. Marie for a
civilian airport and was maintained in that status until 1952.
With the outbreak of hostilities in the Korean
Peninsula in June, 1950. Army troops returned to the Sault and in 1951 the
63rd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, operating the F-86 Sabrejet, was based at
Oscodo Air Force Base, as Kincheloe was then known. 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. 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. The base
was renamed Kinross AFB in 1954 or 1955. The 507th Fighter Group (FG)
was activated on Aug. 18, 1955 at Kinross AFB (later Kincheloe AFB, named
after Capt. Ivan C. Kincheloe), Michigan, as the 507th Fighter Group under
Air Defense Command. Its single subordinate operational flying squadron,
activated on the same date, was the 438th Fighter Interceptor Squadron,
which initially employed Northrop F-89H “Scorpion” aircraft.
The 507th Fighter Group was subsequently
re-equipped with Convair F-102A “Delta Dagger” aircraft in 1957, followed by
Convair F-106 “Delta Dart” aircraft in 1960. The 507th Fighter Group was
superseded by the 507th Fighter Wing on Feb. 1, 1961. The 507th Fighter Wing
continued to employ F-106 aircraft at Kincheloe AFB until its inactivation
on Sep. 30, 1968.
Strategic Air Command
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. In May 1958 the 438th Fighter Squadron was temporarily transferred
to Sawyer AFB near Marquette, while the massive runway construction project
was under way at Kincheloe. The squadron returned in October, 1958.
In September, 1959, Kinross AFB was officially renamed
Kincheloe AFB in honor of the late Capt. Ivan C. Kincheloe Jr., a native of
Cassopoplis, MI. On 07 September 1956, Capt. Iven C. Kincheloe became the
first pilot to climb above 100,000 ft as he rocketed to a peak altitude of
126,200 ft in the Bell X-2 rocket-powered research airplane. . For this
spectacular flight, he was awarded the Mackay Trophy and nicknamed
"America's No. 1 Spaceman". Kincheloe was killed in the crash of an F-104 on
July 26, 1958.
In November, 1961, following two years of
construction, the 4239th Strategic Wing of the Strategic Air Command arrived
with B-52 bombers. On May 1, 1962 the SAC Wing at Kincheloe was declared
operationally ready, and was designated the 449th Bomb Wing on 1 February
1963. The 449th Bomb Wing shared the base with the 507th Fighter Wing. By
fall of 1963, the 908th Air Refueling Squadron was present with KC-135
tankers.
Kncheloe Air Force Base turned into a 12,000-foot
runway, all its support elements and a small city for its personnel, was
merely a a blueberry patch at the outset. By 1970 the base population 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. 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 was an almost
$55,000,000 a year operation. A significant portion of this money was spent
in the local area.
Closure
In December 1965 the Department of Defense
announced its decision to close Kincheloe by October, 1971. The 507th
Fighter Group was deactivated in October 1968, the 438th Fighter Interceptor
Squadron was relocated to Griffiss AFB, New York, and the 4609th Air Base
Group was activated to support the 449th Bomb Wing. 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 01 July 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.
With the closing of the base in 1977, 887 acres
fee, 2,817 acres lease, 3.65 acres license, and 1,951 acres easement, for a
total of 5,658 acres, was excessed to GSA by SF-118 dated 2 September 1977.
Prior to the closing, 1.05 acres lease, 1.10 acres license and 1,639 acres
easement had been terminated at various dates, of which 28.75 acres lease
and 5 acres easement had been reacquired for a net of 1,607 acres. Of the
5,658 acres excessed to GSA, 3.65 acres were retained by GSA, 2,817 acres
were conveyed to the State Base Closure Authority, and the remaining 2,834
acres were conveyed directly to Chippewa County (1,014 acres), the State
Department of Corrections (13.8 acres), Pickford Township (127 acres),
American Kinross, Inc. (424 acres - previously owned by Nevis - Pauly -
Hauss until bankruptcy and foreclosure proceedings occurred in March 1986),
and the State of Michigan (1,259 acres).
The deed conveying the airport property to Chippewa
County reserved the Government right to have exclusive or non-exclusive use
of the airport facilities during a declared emergency. The Government was
released from liability for restoration or other damage under any lease or
agreement involving the airport. Restoration clauses contained in leases
between the Government and the State of Michigan were waived.
Success stories abound at vacated base sites, like in
Kinross Township on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The closing of
Kincheloe AFB removed 10,000 military personnel and dependents, 700 civilian
jobs and a total payroll of $28 million. Within 12 years after the closing,
however, four prisons and one work camp were installed at the base, along
with 12 industrial companies and 15 retail businesses. In all, the local tax
base had doubled, and the civilian payroll created by the new ventures had
reached $110 million.
Chippewa County International Airport, Kinross
Correctional Facility, Kinross Manufacturing, American Kinross, Inc. and
Pickford Township Schools are now located on the property. Additional
portions of the site are owned by the State of Michigan and Kinross
Township. Usage of the land is for public housing, businesses and the
airport. During the winter months, General Motors leases a portion of the
airport to test automobiles.
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