After
World War I, Nevada and other western inland states were surveyed by Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Sgt. William B. Whitefield for landing sites, and by "mid-1925 the Air Service possessed information on nearly thirty-five hundred landing places, including more than twenty-eight hundred emergency landing areas, in the United States." The 1929 airfield (dirt runway, water well, and small operations shack) north of
Las Vegas—operated by the 1925
Western Air Express for Contract
Air Mail (CAM) Route #4,
LA-to-
SLC—was used by the
Army Air Corps in the 1930s for training flights. After the
Invasion of Poland in 1939, the "western site board" had located a southern Nevada area "near
Tonopah, Nev" by April 1940 for a military range, and in October 1940, Air Corps Major David Schlatter surveyed the southwest United States for a military airfield. "The 60 × 90 mile area at Tonopah was transferred to the War Department on 29 October 1940" by Executive Order 8578.
Western Air Express Field / McCarran Field Following "difficulties in securing the use" of the airfield north of Las Vegas for a
Nevada World War II Army Airfield., the City of Las Vegas purchased Western Air Express Field, unofficially “Las Vegas Airport,” on 2 January 1941, splitting it for Army and civilian use. Part of the field was renamed McCarran Field, becoming the city's municipal airport, and the other portion of the field was leased to the Army on 5 January. It was “signed over" to the
Quartermaster Corps on 25 January, and Army construction began in March 1941. The
city's Federal Building became the May 1941 location of the 79th Air Base Group detachment (5 staff officers commanded by Lt. Col.
Martinus Stenseth), and a month later 5 administrative NCOs plus other support personnel arrived.
WPA barracks in Las Vegas were used for enlisted men, and the motor pool with 6 vintage trucks and a semi-trailer was next to the WPA barracks. Vehicle parts were from local service stations and gasoline and oil from the
Civilian Conservation Corps (the
Block 16 brothels in Las Vegas were closed). Permanent construction for barracks to house 3,000 people began in mid-1941, and by
7 December, 10
AT-6 Texan advanced flight trainers and 17
Martin B-10 bombers were at the airfield.
Las Vegas Army Airfield opened in August (the
Tonopah Bombing Range had been divided in 1941 into the Tonopah and
Las Vegas General Ranges).
Las Vegas Army Airfield was both activated and began flying training on 20 December 1941. Gunnery training began in January 1942, with guntruck platforms being used in January and February. Many pieces of the destroyed aerial drone targets litter the hillside north of the gunnery range, and can be seen in town when the sun reflects off them. The first
B-17 Flying Fortresses arrived in 1942 and allowed training of 600 gunnery students and 215 co-pilots from the field every five weeks at the height of the war. More than 45,000 B-17 gunners were trained; the USAAF training movie
The Rear Gunner was filmed at the airfield in 1943. The 82d Flying Training Wing (Flexible Gunnery) was activated at the base as one of ten
Army Air Forces Flying Training Command wings on 23 August 1943. By 1944, gunnery students utilized B-17,
B-24 Liberator and
B-40 Flying Fortress gunship aircraft (for example by firing at aircraft-towed targets). In March 1945, the base switched to
B-29 gunnery training which included the manipulation trainer on the ground with camera guns. The subsequent population peaked with nearly 11,000 officers and enlisted personnel including more than 4,700 students. Flexible gunnery training ended in September 1945, and the base became a demobilization center for soldiers' separation physicals and final pay. A course of navigator, bombardier, and radar operator training planned for LVAAF was instead begun at
Mather Army Airfield in June 1946.
AAF Training Command closed LVAAF which went on caretaker status 28 August 1946 ("officially deactivated in January 1947"). During the planning for a separate air force, the Las Vegas AAF was reactivated "30 Aug 47 as a subinstallation of Mather", and it transferred to the USAF after the branch was created in September.
Las Vegas Air Force Base Renamed
Las Vegas Air Force Base on 13 January 1948 and assigned as a subinstallation of
Williams AFB on 1 April, the 3595th Pilot Training Wing (Advanced Single-Engine) was established on 22 December 1948. Training began at Las Vegas AFB on 1 March 1949 with 5 squadrons using
P-51 Mustangs for a 6-month course, with 3,000 USAF pilots trained by 1950. The 3525th Aircraft Gunnery Squadron activated on 11 February 1949, the base hosted the 1st USAF Gunnery Meet on 2 May, and ATC (air traffic control) opened its LVAFB Aircraft Gunnery School on 15 May 1949.
Nellis AFB , which is east of the valley
Nellis Air Force Base was named on 30 April 1950, and the 20 May 1950 dedication was attended by
Lieutenant Nellis' family. By 1 July the Air Force had directed ATC to accelerate
Korean War training for a new 95-wing Air Force. The first school opened at Nellis, and ATC redesignated the 3595th Pilot Training Wing (Advanced Single-Engine) as the
3595th Training Wing (Combat Crew). On 17 July 1950, Nellis began a replacement pilot training program to provide 115
FEAF F-51 Mustang pilots and 92 combat-ready
F-80 Shooting Star pilots. Nellis' advanced single-engine pilot training
transferred to Alabama on 1 September 1950. Nellis assumed fighter-bomber training, and ATC established its
USAF Air Crew School (Fighter) on 14 November 1950, equipped with F-80s and early-model
F-84C Thunderjets. On 1 October, Nellis AFB base management functions transferred from Williams AFB. In early 1951, ATC assigned recently graduated airplane and engine mechanics to Nellis to learn jet aircraft maintenance. The airfield was expanded 1951–1954 with longer jet-capable runways, reconfigured taxiways and a larger aircraft parking ramp; and World War II wooden structures were replaced with concrete and steel structures (e.g., barracks and base housing for married personnel). The first
Wherry houses were completed in 1954, with updated
Capehart houses being completed in February 1960.
USAF Fighter Weapons School The
USAF Fighter Weapons School was designated on 1 January 1954 from the squadron when the Air Crew School graduated its last Combat Crew Training Class (the primary Weapons School mission was gunnery instructor training). In the mid-1950s for
Operation Teapot nuclear testing, 1 of the 12 Zone Commanders was based at Nellis AFB for community liaison/public relations (weapons for other atomic tests were stored at Nellis).
Air Training Command suspended training at the Nellis fighter weapons school in late 1956 because of the almost total failure of the F-86 Sabre aircraft used at Nellis, and during 1958 ATC discontinued its Flying Training and Technical Training.
Tactical Air Command fighter jet (s/n 56-2910) taking off from Nellis, circa 1959|alt=Rear quarter view of a jet fighter taking off with mountainous terrain visible in the distance Nellis AFB transferred to Tactical Air Command on 1 February 1958, and the Nellis mission transitioned from initial aircraft qualification and gunnery training to advanced, graduate-level weapons training. Soon after the transfer to TAC, the F-100C, F-100D, and
tandem cockpit F-100F entered the school inventory. On 21 April 1958 an F-100F on a training flight out of Nellis was involved in a mid-air collision with
United Airlines Flight 736. All 47 aboard the airliner and both Air Force pilots in the fighter jet were killed. The 3595th wing assets were redesignated as the 4520th Combat Crew Training Group by TAC on 1 July 1958.
4520th Combat Crew Training Wing ), "WD" (4538th
F-4C), & "WF" (4539th F-111). |alt=|left The 4520th Combat Crew Training Wing was designated from the 4520th CCTG on 1 May 1961, and the Combat Crew training squadrons were renumbered. The 4537th Fighter Weapons Squadron had been assigned
F-105D Thunderchiefs in March 1961, and the wing taught veteran pilots in all phases of fighter weapon employment: air-to-air gunnery, rocketry, conventional and nuclear bombing, aerial refueling, and combat navigation. The
F-4 Phantom II Instructor Course began in mid-1965 and during the
Vietnam War, experienced combat pilots were used as Fighter Weapons instructors at Nellis. On 1 January 1966 the
USAF Fighter Weapons School was activated at Nellis with F-100, F-4, and F-105 divisions and on 1 September 1966, Fighter Weapons School elements and the 4520th CCTW merged to activate the 4525th Fighter Weapons Wing.
USAF Tactical Fighter Weapons Center The
USAF Tactical Fighter Weapons Center activated at Nellis AFB on 1 January 1966 (USAF Warfare Center after 15 November 2005) is the USAF authority for employment of tactical fighter weapons.—6 of the F-111As departed Nellis
for Vietnam on 15 March 1968 (
Combat Lancer). Nellis provided replacements for 2 lost F-111s, and the F-111s returned to the USA in November 1968. Named
Constant Peg in 1980, the operation assessed the Soviet technology and developed adversary tactics for dissimilar air combat training. After completion of training, the Aggressor pilots were assigned to the
DACT squadrons, one of which was assigned to Nellis. During the 1970s,
a site northwest of Nellis evaluated a Soviet "Barlock" search radar to develop techniques for countering Soviet air defense systems. The
USAF Fighter Weapons School reactivated 30 December 1981 in the 57th wing and the 66th, 414th and 433d Fighter Weapons Squadrons became its "A-10", "F-4E" and "F-15A" divisions (the 414th was the "Red Flag Training Squadron" in 1996). The 422d FWS aircraft and personnel became the "F-16 Division" and the squadron heraldry transferred to the
422d Test and Evaluation Squadron. The FWS mission expanded on 15 June 1993 to include all
Air Combat Command weapons (
B-52 &
B-1 Divisions) and in 1995, rescue helicopters (
HH-60 Division). RC-135 Rivet Joint and EC-130 Compass Call courses were also added to the CCO Division in 1995, as well as a Space Division in 1996 (UAVs in 2008). In 1981, the
Gunsmoke gunnery meet was first held and the 57th Fighter Weapons Wing was reorganized as part of the establishment of the Fighter Weapons School, e.g., the
422d Test and Evaluation Squadron for aircraft modifications was established on 30 December 1981 from the 422d Fighter Weapons Squadron. In 1990, the
64th and
65th Tactical Fighter Training Aggressor Squadrons and the 4440th TFTG were inactivated in 1990 at the end of the Cold War. In November 1991, the 57th implemented the USAF Objective Wing organization which was the most comprehensive USAF reorganization plan since 1947, activating the
57th Operations Group for Nellis airfield operations and establishing the
57th Test Group. the Warfare Center transferred
Nellis Air Force Range control to the
98th Range Wing in 2001, The
57th Adversary Tactics Group merged into the
57th Operations Group on 31 March 2020. On 1 June 2020 the 800th Rapid Engineer Deployable, Heavy Operational Repair Squadron, Engineer (RED HORSE) Group activated at Nellis, with the 820th Red Horse Squadron as a subordinate unit.
Major commands to which assigned •
West Coast Air Corps Training Center, April 1941 •
Air Corps Flying Training Command, 23 January 1942 and various subsequent designations through
Air Training Command, 1 July – 31 December 1946, 30 August 1947 •
Tactical Air Command, 1 July 1958 •
Air Combat Command, 1 June 1992 – present
Major units assigned • 79th Air Base Group, 7 July 1941 : 70th Base HQ and Air Base Squadron, c. 14 August 1942 : 82d Flying Training Wing (Flexible Gunnery) 8 January 1943 – 16 June 1946 • 3595th Pilot Training Wing, 1 April 1948 – 1 July 1958 • 4520th Combat Crew Training Wing, 1 July 1958 – 1 September 1966 • 4525th Fighter Weapons Wing, 1 September 1966 – 15 October 1969 •
474th Tactical Fighter Wing, 20 January 1968 – 15 October 1989 • 57th Wing (Various Designations), 22 August 1969 – present •
554th Operations Support Wing, 1 March 1980 – 1 November 1995 • USAF Fighter Weapons School, 1 January1 September 1966; 30 December 1981 (USAF Weapons School on 15 June 1993) • 4477th Tactical Evaluation Flight ("Red Eagles"), 1 April 1975 – 1990 • USAF Tactical Fighter Weapons Center, 1 September 1966 (USAF Warfare Center on 15 November 2005) == Role and operations ==