| Grissom Joint Air Reserve Base
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| 24 March 1998 | |||
| IATA: GUS – ICAO: KGUS – FAA: GUS | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military | ||
| Owner | United States Air Force | ||
| Operator | Air Force Reserve Command | ||
| Location | Peru, Indiana | ||
| Occupants | 434th Air Refueling Wing | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 812 ft / 247 m | ||
| Coordinates | 40°38′53″N 086°09′08″W / 40.64806°N 86.15222°W | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 5/23 | 12,501 | 3,810 | Asphalt |
| Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||
Grissom Air Reserve Base (ARB) (IATA: GUS, ICAO: KGUS, FAA LID: GUS) is a United States Air Force base located approximately 12 miles (19 km) north of Kokomo, Indiana. The facility is a joint use civil airport/military base with the Grissom Aeroplex which provides general aviation and charter service.
The host unit at Grissom is the 434th Air Refueling Wing (434 ARW) assigned to the Air Force Reserve Command Fourth Air Force. The 434 ARW develops and maintains the operational capability of its units and train reservists for worldwide duty. Training consists of flight operations, deployments and weekend training.
Grissom AFB was established by the United States Navy in 1942, and was placed under USAF control in 1954 as Bunker Hill Air Force Base. It was named in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Virgil Ivan ("Gus") Grissom (1926-1967), one of the original United States astronauts. Col. Grissom died in the Apollo 1 accident at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida on 27 January 1967.
The 434th Air Refueling Wing is commanded by Brigadier General Dean J. Despinoy. Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Larry Brady.
Contents |
Overview
Grissom ARB is located in North Central Indiana and is home to the largest KC-135R Stratotanker wing in the Air Force Reserve Command. Additionally, the base is home to units from the Army Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve. The former Grissom AFB, named after Astronaut Virgil "Gus" Grissom, was an active Air Force installation from 1954 to 1994, hosting a variety of aircraft including the KC-135 Stratotanker.
The 1991 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended the closure of the base and in 1994, the installation closed with nearly half of the former base, including the runway, transferring to the Air Force Reserve to become Grissom Air Reserve Base. Today, Grissom ARB is home to the Air Force Reserve Command's 434th Air Refueling Wing.
Units
434th Air Refueling Wing Units:
- 434th Operations Group
- 434th Maintenance Group
- 434th Mission Support Group
Tenant units:
- 316th Tactical PSYOP Company
- U.S. Army Reserve
- Det 1, 855th Quartermaster Company
- U.S. Army Reserve
- 1/330th Infantry Regiment
- U.S. Army Reserve
- Detachment 1, Communications Company
- U.S. Marine Corps Reserve
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- Civil Air Patrol Liaison Office
History
USAF obtained from United States Navy right of entry to 25 buildings, Nov 1951; transferred from USN to USAF in inactive status, 31 Mar 1954; activated, 18 Aug 1955.
Previous names
- Established as USAF Storage Branch, 16 Nov 1951
- Bunker Hill Air Force Base, 22 Jun 1954
- Grissom Air Force Base, 12 May 1968
- Grissom Air Reserve Base, 1 Oct 1994
- Grissom Joint Air Reserve Base, 1 Oct 2003-Present
Major Commands to Which Assigned
- Tactical Air Command, 22 Jun 1954
- Strategic Air Command, 1 Sep 1957
- Air Combat Command, 1 Jun 1992
- Air Force Reserve Command, 1 Oct 1994
Base operating units
- 4433d Air Base Sq, 1 Apr 1955
- 323d Air Base Gp, 8 Aug 1955
- 4041st Air Base Gp, 1 Sep 1957
- 305th Combat Support Gp, 1 Jun 1959
- 434th Mission Support Group, 1 Oct 1994-Present
Major units assigned
- 319th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1 Nov 1955-1 Mar 1963
- 323d Fighter-Bomber Wing, 8 Aug 1955-1 Sep 1957
- 305th Bomb (later Air Refueling) Wing, 1 Jun 1959-30 Sep 1994
- 434th Special Operations (later Tactical Fighter, later Air Refueling) Wing, 15 Jan 1971-Present
- 931st Air Refueling Group, 15 Jan 1970-1 Jul 1975; 1 Jul 1978-1 Jul 1987.
Operational history
Formerly called Bunker Hill Air Force Base, it was renamed after the astronaut, Indiana native, and Purdue University graduate, Lieutenant Colonel Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, USAF, who was killed in a spacecraft fire on Launch Complex 34 at Cape Canaveral AFS, Florida in January 1967 during a pre-launch prep for the Apollo I mission he was slated to command. The base was officially renamed on May 12, 1968. The Air Force Reserve began being a part of the Grissom personnel complement in the early 1970s with the relocation of the 434th Special Operations Wing (434 SOW) and their A-37 Dragonfly aircraft to the base.
The 931st Air Refueling Group (931 ARG) arrived on the base in 1978 and were the second group of Air Force Reservists that would be stationed on the base. The base also served as the home of one active duty wing and two reserve wings, utilizing 60 KC-135 Stratotankers and 18 A-10 Thunderbolt II fighter aircraft.
Grissom Joint Air Reserve Base accounts for one-fourth of the Air Force Reserve Command-controlled bases in the United States of America. The base started up on July 1, 1942, as Naval Air Station Bunker Hill for the United States Navy and it was used to train Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard pilots for four years. Ted Williams of professional baseball fame received training as a Marine Corps Naval Aviator at NAS Bunker Hill.
NAS Bunker Hill was closed and the area used for farming after World War II. The Korean War saw the reopening of the base by the Air Force on June 22, 1954, as Bunker Hill Air Force Base. The base served as the home to the 4433d Air Base Squadron, the 323d Fighter-Bomber Wing, and saw the addition of the 319th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron in 1955 while under the orders of the Tactical Air Command. Between 1955 and 1960, the 319th FIS operated the F-89 Scorpion and F-94 Starfire. Starting in 1960, the 319th was equipped with the F-106 Delta Dart.
Strategic Air Command (SAC) assumed operational control of Bunker Hill AFB on September 1, 1957, which led to the 305th Bombardment Wing (305 BMW) being stationed on the base, flying the B-47 Stratojet. KC-135 Stratotankers began to be stationed on the base the same year, and two years later saw the arrival of the B-58 Hustler as they began replacing the B-47s.
With the retirement of the B-58 in 1970, the 305 BMW was redesignated as the 305th Air Refueling Wing (305 ARW) on 1 Jan 1970.
From the early 1970s, the wing supported worldwide tanker task forces by deploying KC-135 aircraft to Europe, Alaska, Greenland, and the Pacific. In 1975, the 3d ACCS was inactivated and its specialized EC-135s were transferred to the 70th Air Refueling Squadron.
The wing provided tanker refueling support to units involved in the Invasion of Grenada in October 1983 and the restoration of democracy in Panama December 1989. From August 1990 to June 1991, deployed 305 ARW personnel and aircraft provided refueling support for air operations in Southwest Asia as part of Operation Desert Storm. The 305th also delivered food to the Kurds in Northern Iraq from April to May 1991. The wing was redesignated the 305th Air Refueling Wing, Heavy on 1 Sep 1991.
In 1992, Strategic Air Command (SAC) was inactivated and the 305th realigned to the newly established Air Mobility Command (AMC), merging former SAC air refueling aircraft with strategic and tactical theater airlift aircraft operated by the former Military Airlift Command (MAC), the latter also having been inactivated on the same date.
The 1993 BRAC directed realignment of Grissom AFB to the Air Force Reserve (AFRES) and the 305th ARW phased out operations in 1994. The KC-135R equipped 70th and 305th ARS were inactivated and the EC-135G/L radio relay aircraft as part of the PACCS system were also retired.
Subsequently, the 70th ARS was reactivated at the renamed Grissom Air Reserve Base on 1 Sep 1994 as an Air Force Reserve (AFRES) KC-135 Stratotanker squadron as part of the Air Force Reserve's 434th Air Refueling Wing (434 ARW), with both units operationally-gained by Air Mobility Command (AMC).
Changes in the U.S. Air Force led to the deactivation of one reserve unit and one active unit in 1994. Because of this, the base was reassigned in 1997 to the newly-established Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) as an AFRC facility. The principal AFRC unit that is still based at Grissom is the 434th Air Refueling Wing (434 ARW). Units from other branches of the U.S. armed forces are also based at Grissom. Since the 1970s, the Army Reserve has had a presence on Grissom and the Marines and Navy both added Marine Corps Reserve and Navy Reserve units to the base in 2001 and 2002, respectively.
The base also serves its duty to the local community, not only its military duty. It has a combined workforce consisting of both military personnel and civilians and is currently the largest employer in Miami County and third largest employer in north central Indiana. It has an economic impact of 75 million dollars per year and is also involved heavily in community activities. One such program is the Marine Corps Reserve's "Toys for Tots" conducted annually in November and December. The base has also been designated as a "Tree City" by the National Arbor Day Foundation.
In 2003, the Air Force Reserve Command changed the name of Grissom Air Reserve Base to that of Grissom Joint Air Reserve Base.
In 2005, in another effort to downsize the base, Navy Reserve units stationed there were transferred to the Navy Operational Support Center/Heslar Naval Armory in Indianapolis.
In 1975, the main active duty USAF wing stationed at Grissom AFB was the 305th Air Refueling Wing operating the KC-135 Stratotanker. This unit was later deactivated and then reactivated in 1994 as the 305th Air Mobility Wing at McGuire AFB, New Jersey, where it currently operates the KC-10A Extender and the C-17A Globemaster III.
In 2008, Grissom Air Reserve Base opened to civil operations. Montgomery Aviation of Zionsville, IN, manages the day-to-day civil operations at Grissom JARB. Under a five year contract with the Miami County Economic Development Authority, Montgomery Aviation provides maintenance, fuel, and other services. Currently Montgomery Aviation is promoting the airport to business jets as a refueling stop for long cross-country flights. Grissom JARB is well suited for this role due to its extremely long runway and instrument navigation facilities. Additionally, the airport has a radar approach control staffed by military air traffic controllers. This is the first step in making Grissom JARB a joint civil-military regional airport.
Geography
Grissom JARB is located at 40°40′15″N 86°09′17″W / 40.670699°N 86.154670°WCoordinates: 40°40′15″N 86°09′17″W / 40.670699°N 86.154670°W (40.670699, -86.154670).[2]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 10.9 km2 (4.2 mi2), all land.
Demographics
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 1,652 people, 581 households, and 431 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 151.9/km2 (393.6/mi2). There were 1,091 housing units at an average density of 100.3/km2 (259.9/mi2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 86.68% White, 7.63% African American, 0.48% Native American, 0.67% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.45% from other races, and 3.03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.15% of the population.
There were 581 households out of which 51.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.7% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.8% were non-families. 19.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 1.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.27.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 36.4% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 39.6% from 25 to 44, 12.8% from 45 to 64, and 2.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there were 100.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.8 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $45,000, and the median income for a family was $44,939. Males had a median income of $34,286 versus $21,447 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $15,869. About 8.6% of families and 8.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.5% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.
See also
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
- This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "Grissom Joint Air Reserve Base".
- ^ FAA Airport Master Record for GUS (Form 5010 PDF)
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ Grissom Air Museum Home Site
- Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office 1961 (republished 1983, Office of Air Force History, ISBN 0-912799-02-1 [Amazon-US | Amazon-UK]).
- Ravenstein, Charles A. Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History 1984. ISBN 0-912799-12-9 [Amazon-US | Amazon-UK].
- Mueller, Robert, Air Force Bases Volume I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982, Office of Air Force History, 1989
External links
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective 11 Mar 2010
- Resources for this U.S. military airport:
- AirNav airport information for KGUS
- ASN accident history for GUS
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KGUS
Open source encyclopedia content modification information:
This page was last modified on 2 March 2010 at 10:23.
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