Wendover Air Fields Research

Design
Brittany Keefe
April 2015

Wendover Air Fields

The Army Air Corps during the late 1930s were testing experiments trying
to combine private and commercial airport activities. The Salt Lake City municipal
airport was one of the two selected airports for this testing. This airfield was
already chosen originally for its strategic and topographical advantages and
because required enlargements could be easily accommodated by the vacant
land surrounding it. (HAB)
They chose Fort Douglas, which had been established in 1862 as an
infantry post for housing and administrative facilities for Army Air Corps.
Construction started August 1940 and by September that same year a site of
1,560,00 acres was acquired by the Army Air Corps 100 miles west of Salt Lake
City in a town by the name of Wendover.
The town of Wendover just reaching a population of 100 people was
chosen for a secluded bombing and gunnery range. Even against the judgment
of citizens of Utah due to the fact that this new range would cost the state $1.5
million annually due to the fact of all the livestock being lost. Few isolated tracts
remained once construction started in November.
The Wendover Airfields become more important when the United States
entered WWII. Most Heavy bombing and artillery crews were assigned to
Wendover Airfields before they were shipped off to fight in the war. During the
following years the Wendover AFB continued to grow and by May of 1945 the

base consisted of 668 Buildings, 2,000 civilian employees and 17,500 military
personal. This being a far cry from the less then 100 people five years prior.
Following the jurisdiction began to change for the Wendover Air Fields,
first in the summer of 1946 it was taken of by Ogden Air Technical Service
command and was passed back and forth between several commands of the Air
Force. In the early 1950s Hill AFB started actively using the airfields for aerial
gunnery practice, with several different groups.
Operation Sandstorm began at Wendover AFB in July of 1954 conducted
several mission practices over the next several months until jurisdiction was
transferred over to Tactical Air Command in October. In the years that followed
the uses of the ranges and the air space of Wendover AFB were being
reassigned between the Department of the Army and the Air Force.

Wendover Air Force Base was inactivated in late August of 1961, leaving
Hill AFB to take care of the remaining facilities. This lasted 16 years until they
turned most of the land back over the town of Wendover, Utah which was now a
flourishing town. Leaving the base only a total of 164 acres.

As of the sight for now, there are several restoration projects in the making
to preserve the Wendover AFB. The Enola Gay Hanger is in the process of
stabilizing interior walls and residing to prevent a collapse. Senior Master
Sergeant John T. Brinkman Service Club is the current 16,000 square foot
structure that is the main museum for the base. The Navigation Aids Building to
represent how much of the base was actually built during and for WWII.
Bombsite storage where one of the most guarded secrets of World War II; the
Norden Bombsight. The Control Tower, which was originally built in1942 and
used by many generations of war and peace. Finally the restoration of a proud
Cold War era aircraft, the F-86L.

The important of this site is beyond measure. The Wendover AFB is one of
the most original operating and remaining WWII training airfield in the country.
This achievement cannot be bypassed by any other airfield and deserves the up
most respect and dedication to not only preserve the structures and land but also
to expand beyond what we know in historical documents to what we can learn
from an archaeological dig at this site.
The Wendover AFB meets many of the criteria for the National Register
Evaluation. The criteria for the evolution is; (a) that are associated with events
that may have made a significant contribution to the patterns of our history; or (b)
that are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or (c) that
embody distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or
that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may
lack individual distinction; or (d) that have yielded, or my likely to yield,
information important to prehistory or history(ACHP).
The Wendover AFB is associated strongly with WWII as their main
bombing and gunnery range. This site also has characteristics of military
construction during the 1940s. Most definitely this site yields information
regarding our countries history of military, exercises, studies.
The criteria for consideration is as follows; (a) A religious property deriving
primary significance from architectural or artistic distinction or historical
importance; or (b) A building or structure removed from its original location but
which is significant primarily for architectural value, or which is the serving
structure most importantly associated with a historic person or event; or (c) a

birthplace or grave of a historical figure of outstanding importance if there is no

appropriate site or building directly associated with his productive life. (d) A
cemetery which derives its primary significance from graves of persons
transcendent importance, from age, from distinctive design features, or from
association with historic events; or (e) A reconstructed building when accurately
executed in a suitable environment and presented in a dignified manner as part
of the restoration master plan, and when no other building or structure with the
same association was survived; or (f) a property primarily commemorative in
intent if design, age, tradition, or symbolic value has invested it with its own
exceptional significance; or (g) a property achieving significance within the past
50 years if it is of exceptional importance.

This site has already started several restoration protects as stated above
to meet criteria. The history of World War II is so important to this nation and the

world. Because of this fact, learning everything we can to grow now exhibiting
this site is insectary.
This site interested me for so many different reasons. When you look at
the history of the Wendover AFB and all of the different groups that moved throw
for several different reasons. You cant help but wonder how they were different
from each other, how they used the same buildings and structures for those
needs. How were the civilian people living on the base different then the military
personal? I want to look and study the living arrangements that were given to
those different statures. I want to learn about the testing town the built to testing
all of the military equipment. Did they structure the town exactly like it would have
been inside of the structures or did they just have the buildings there?
Now my questions above are going to be answered in several different
ways. I plan to be working at this site for at least two months due to all of the
different ways I want to survey this site. I want to locate family members of
military personal that living on the base when it was first created to in the end
when it was closed. Hear their stories and recreations of life during their time at
the base. Not only the military personnel but also the civilians, because they
might have a completely different view on life and the situations they faced.
Surveying and questioning the people who lived on the base but those few
hundred people who were living in Wendover before the base was built and how
that changed their lives and feelings.
I want to survey the land and structures remaining on the site, and define
all of the possibly uses for those throughout the life of Wendover AFB. Using

metal detectors and pollen analysis to compare what were around the different
structures to different the different uses of those structures. This analysis will also
inform us where the main groups were, how they separated utilizing the acres of
land they had and how it changed with the different groups coming in. This
project can go above and beyond what I could even imagine with the potential for
knowledge.
In conclusion the Wendover Air Fields is the most original remaining and
operating World War II training airfield in the country. Any other airfield in the
country does not surpass the importance of this site to our national history. It was
used for many different uses over the years it was active and those are where
the questions arise. How did the different groups utilize the space they were
given? How did the military personal live compared to the civilians? Did the town
of Wendover adjust to this huge range affectively? How bad did it truly affect their
livestock over the years? The questions go on and on but ultimately where this
site is loaded with such rich history from one of the most horrific and changing
wars the world has seen to date, we need to learn as much as possible.

Bibliography

Historic Wendover Air Fields

www.wendoverairbase.com

Wendover Field www.utah.com/wendover

Wendover Field www.hill.af.mil
National Register Evaluation www.achp.gov
Images www.Google.com