Hill AFB, Utah - Ogden Air Logistics Center (OOALC)
In August 1935 Congress passed the WilcoxWilson Bill (Public Law 26), which provided for the addition of new permanent Air Corps stations and depots. A supplemental Military Appropriation Act of 1 July 1939 authorized $8M for the Ogden Air Depot. The Ogden Air Depot was renamed Hill Field on 1 December 1939, in recognition of Major Ployer P. Hill, who lost his life on 30 October 1935 while testing the prototype of the famed B17 "Flying Fortress."
Construction was well under way when Colonel Morris Berman arrived on 7 November 1940, thus activating the base and becoming the Ogden Air Depot's first commanding officer. Four 7,500-foot runways were completed by 1 September 1941, and maintenance began on several A20s and Lockheed Hudsons at the same time. The B24, the first major workload for the base, entered a production line on 14 February 1943, and by 6 July 1943, maintenance had reached its goal of completing one bomber per day.
During World War II the name of the Ogden Air Depot changed three times: It became Ogden Air Service Command, then Ogden Air Technical Service Command. During this period, Ogden repaired and overhauled B17, B24, B29, P40, P61, and A20 aircraft. On 22 July 1946, Ogden was renamed Ogden Air Material Area (OOAMA).
The US Air Force came into being on 18 September 1947 with passage of the Armed Services Unification Act of 1947, and on 5 February 1948 Hill Field was renamed Hill Air Force Base. In the 10 years that followed, Hill's facility size and workload increased significantly because of the onset of the Korean conflict and the changes in its mission to accommodate several squadron activities, and with the transfer of the Ogden Arsenal on 1 April 1955 from the Army to the Air Force. Additionally, in the 1950s, jet aircraft began to replace the aging B29 and B26. OOAMA began modifications on the F89 as well as inspection and repair of the F84 in 1953. With the completion of a new runway in 1957 OOAMA received the F102 Delta Dagger interceptor and the RF101. In 1957 Ogden also entered into the missile business with the assignment as prime maintenance source on the BOMARC supersonic interceptor missile.
In January 1959, OOAMA was assigned prime managerial responsibility for the MINUTEMAN intercontinental ballistic missile. In 1965, Ogden was also assigned responsibility for the LGM25 TITAN II Missile. In 1975, HQ AFLC designated OOALC as system program manager for the MX PEACEKEEPER missile. OOALC is the START inspection site for ICBMs.
On 9 January 1962, AFLC designated OOAMA as the system support manager for the F4C tactical fighter. On 1 April 1974, OOAMA was renamed the Ogden Air Logistics Center. Today, OOALC has responsibility for the following major Air Force missions: system management, repair, and storage of strategic missiles (MINUTEMAN, and PEACEKEEPER); rocket motor and solid propellent dissection and laboratory analysis (unique to DOD); instrumented rocket motor static firing and analysis, management and storage of nonnuclear air munitions; program/system management, repair and test of full up MAVERICK missiles; system management of the F16, F4, and RF4C; and system management of photographic and reconnaissance equipment, flight simulators and trainers, and landing gear, wheels, brakes, and struts.
OOALC is located in the population center of Utah, about 30 miles north
of Salt Lake City, Utah, via Interstate Highway 15, 15 miles south of Ogden and
is 4,800 feet above sea level. OOALC has a total of 961,325 acres, 1,488
buildings, 12,247,731 SF of space. Facility value $1,518.M. Plant equipment
value is $471.8M.
Area A: Hill AFB has 6,698 acres, 1,326 buildings of which 239 are industrial with 4.0M SF.
Area B: Utah Training Test Range has 953,887 acres, 117 buildings of which 56 are industrial with 181,876 SF.
Area C: Survivability & Vulnerability Test Center has 740 acres, 17 buildings of which four are industrial with 2,075 SF.
For FY94 the workforce totaled 10,299 of which 8,280 were civilian employees and 2,019 were military. Payroll totaled $385.35M. The total industrial complex work force is drawn from seven surrounding counties: Davis County, 34 percent; Salt Lake County, 28 percent; Weber County, 30 percent; and the remaining 8 percent from Cache, Box Elder, Utah, and Morgan Counties. The Salt LakeOgden, Utah, metropolitan area is a diverse manufacturing, technology, and industrial environment forming a labor pool with a wide variety of skilled employees. This available labor force is further complemented by prior military Service personnel, who leave the military and remain in the local area. These prior military personnel provide a readily available source of trained labor directly related to Ogden ALC's mission. The Ogden ALC labor force mix is 70.6 percent high skilled, 25.6 percent moderately skilled and 3.8 percent initially unskilled. The majority of Ogden ALC employees has attended institutions of higher education. College graduates make up more than 18 percent of the work force.