Origins In 1934, the
Army Air Corps saw the need for another airfield in Hawaii when
Luke Field on Ford Island became too congested for both air operations and operation of the Hawaiian Air Depot. of land and fishponds adjacent to
John Rodgers Airport and
Fort Kamehameha were purchased by the
War Department from the
Bishop,
Damon and
Queen Emma estates for a new air depot and air base at a cost of $1,095,543.78. It was the largest peacetime military construction project in the United States to that date and continued through 1941. overfly the main gate at Hickam Field, Hawaii Territory during the summer of 1941. 21 B-17C/Ds had flown to Hawaii in May to reinforce the islands' defense. The
Quartermaster Corps was assigned the job of constructing a modern
airdrome from tangled
algaroba brush and sugar cane fields adjacent to Pearl Harbor. Planning, design, and supervision of construction were all conducted by Capt. Howard B. Nurse of the QMC. The site consisted of ancient, emerged
coral reef covered by a thin layer of soil, with the Pearl Harbor entrance channel and naval reservation marking its western and northern boundaries, John Rodgers Airport (
HNL today) to the east, and Fort Kamehameha on the south. The new airfield was dedicated on 31 May 1935 and named in honor of Lt Col
Horace Meek Hickam, a distinguished aviation pioneer who was killed in an aircraft accident the previous November 5 when his
Curtiss A-12 Shrike,
33-250, hit an obstruction during night landing practice on the unlighted field at
Fort Crockett in
Galveston, Texas and overturned. Construction was still in progress when the first contingent of 12 men and four aircraft under the command of 1st Lt Robert Warren arrived from Luke Field on September 1, 1937. Hickam was the principal army airfield in Hawaii and the only one large enough to accommodate the
B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. In connection with defense plans for the Pacific, aircraft were brought to Hawaii throughout 1941 to prepare for potential hostilities. The first mass flight of bombers (21 B-17Ds) from
Hamilton Field, California arrived at Hickam on 14 May 1941. By December, the
Hawaiian Air Force had been an integrated command for slightly more than one year and consisted of 754 officers and 6,706 enlisted men, with 233 aircraft assigned at its three primary bases: Hickam,
Wheeler Field (now
Wheeler Army Airfield), and
Bellows Field (now
Bellows Air Force Station).
World War II When the
Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Oahu on 7 December 1941, its planes bombed and strafed Hickam to eliminate air opposition and prevent American aircraft from following them back to their aircraft carriers. Hickam suffered extensive damage and aircraft losses, with 189 people killed and 303 wounded. A flight of B-17s flying from California, unarmed and out of fuel, fell under attack as they attempted to land at Hickam, causing some American bombers to land at other airfields. Notable casualties included nine
Honolulu Fire Department (HFD) firefighters (three killed, six injured) who fought fires at Hickam during the attack; they later received
Purple Hearts for their heroic actions that day in peacetime history, the only civilian firefighters awarded as such to date. During
World War II, the base became a major center for training pilots and assembling aircraft. It also served as the hub of the Pacific aerial network, supporting transient aircraft ferrying troops and supplies to—and evacuating wounded from—the forward areas—a role it would reprise during the
Korean and
Vietnam wars and earning it the official nickname "America's Bridge Across the Pacific".
Cold War After World War II, the Air Force in Hawaii consisted primarily of the
Air Transport Command and its successor, the
Military Air Transport Service (MATS), until 1 July 1957 when Headquarters
Far East Air Forces completed its move from
Japan to Hawai‘i and was redesignated the
Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). The 15th Air Base Wing, host unit at Hickam AFB, supported the
Apollo astronauts in the 1960s and 1970s;
Operation Homecoming (return of prisoners of war from Vietnam) in 1973;
Operation Babylift /
New Life (movement of nearly 94,000 orphans, refugees, and evacuees from Southeast Asia) in 1975; and
NASA's
Space Shuttle flights in the 1980s and 1990s. Hickam is home to the 65th Airlift Squadron which transports theater senior military leaders throughout the world in the
C-37B and
C-40 Clipper aircraft. In mid-2003, the 15th Air Base Wing (15 ABW) was converted to the 15th Airlift Wing (15 AW) as it prepared to bed down and fly the USAF's newest transport aircraft, the
C-17 Globemaster III. The first Hickam-based C-17 arrived in February 2006, with seven more to follow during the year. The C-17s will be flown by the
535th Airlift Squadron. On September 16, 1985, the
Secretary of the Interior designated Hickam AFB a
National Historic Landmark, recognizing its key role in the World War II Pacific campaign. A bronze plaque reflecting Hickam's "national significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America" took its place among other memorials surrounding the base flagpole. Dominating the area is a large bronze tablet engraved with the names of those who died as a result of the 1941 attack. Other reminders of the attack can still be seen. Bullet holes mark many buildings in use, including World War II era hangars and the base hospital., including the tattered American flag that flew over the base that morning. It is on display in the lobby of the Pacific Air Forces Headquarters building, whose bullet-scarred walls (the structure was a
barracks and
mess hall known as "the Big Barracks" in 1941) have been carefully preserved as a reminder to never again be caught unprepared.
Accidents and incidents On 22 March 1955, a
United States Navy Douglas R6D-1 Liftmaster on descent to a landing in darkness and heavy rain strayed off course and
crashed into Pali Kea Peak in the southern part of
Oahus
Waianae Range, killing all 66 people on board. It remains the worst air disaster in Hawaiis history and the deadliest
heavier-than-air accident in the history of U.S.
naval aviation.
Previous names • Flying Field, Tracts A and B, near Ft Kamehameha, United States Army (Origins) • Hickam Field, 21 May 1935 • Army Air Base, APO #953 (official designation, 16 May 1942 – 31 May 1946) • Hickam Field, 1 Jun 1946 • Hickam Air Force Base, 26 March 1948 – 1 October 2010
Major commands to which assigned • 1935–1940: Hawaiian Dept, United States Army • 1940–1942: Hawaiian Air Force • 1942–1944:
Seventh Air Force • 1944–1945: Army Air Forces Pacific Ocean Areas (Provisional) • 1945:
Seventh Air Force • 1945–1946: Air Transport Command • 1946–1949: Pacific Air Command • 1949–1955:
Military Air Transport Service • 1955–1957:
Far East Air Forces • 1957–present:
Pacific Air Forces ==Geography==