Mountain Home Air Force Base
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| Mountain Home Air Force Base
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| IATA: MUO – ICAO: KMUO – FAA: MUO | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military: Air Force Base | ||
| Operator | United States Air Force | ||
| Location | Mountain Home, Idaho | ||
| In use | 1943 - present | ||
| Commander | Col. James S. Browne | ||
| Occupants | 366th Fighter Wing | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 2,996 ft / 913 m | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 12/30 | 13,500 | 4,115 | PEM |
| Sources: official site[1] and FAA[2] | |||
Mountain Home Air Force Base (IATA: MUO, ICAO: KMUO, FAA LID: MUO) is a U.S. Air Force base located west of the city of Mountain Home in Elmore County, Idaho, United States, fifty miles (80 km) southeast of Boise.
The host unit at Mountain Home since 1972 is the 366th Fighter Wing, the "Gunfighters." The base's primary mission is to provide combat airpower and combat support capabilities to respond to and sustain worldwide contingency operations.
The commander of the 366th FW is Colonel James S. Browne.
Part of the base is a census-designated place (CDP); the population was 8,894 at the 2000 census.
Contents |
[edit] Units
Mountain Home AFB is the home of the 366th Fighter Wing, which reports to Air Combat Command. The mission of the 366th FW is to prepare Airmen and their families, professionally and personally, for expeditionary operations and foster an environment that promotes integration of all facets of wing operations.
The wing is comprised of four groups and three operational figher squadrons:
- 366th Operations Group (Tail code: "MO")
- 389th Fighter Squadron (F-15E Strike Eagle)
- 390th Fighter Squadron (F-15C)
- 391st Fighter Squadron (F-15E Strike Eagle)
- 366th Maintenance Group
- 366th Mission Support Group
- 366th Medical Group.
In addition, the 726th Air Control Squadron gives an air picture to the aircraft as they train. An active Air National Guard unit, the 266th Range Squadron, controls and maintains emitter sites within the 7,412-square mile operational training range located in southern Idaho.
[edit] History
Construction of the field began in October 1942, and it officially opened 7 August 1943.
[edit] Base Operating Units
- Activated as Army Air Base, Mountain Home, 7 Aug 42
- 396th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 16 Feb-10 Apr 43
- 470th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 1 May 43-1 Jan 44
- 467th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8 Sep 43-17 Oct 43
- 20th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron , 28 Nov 43-25 Mar 44
- Redesignated Mountain Home Army Air Field, 2 Dec 43
- 490th Bombardment Group, Heavy, 4 Dec 43-20 Apr 44
- 213th Army Air Forces Base Unit, 25 Mar 44-Feb 45
- 494th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 15 Apr-1 Jun 44
- 426th Army Air Forces Base Unit, Feb 45-1 Oct 46
- Airfield Inactivated, 5 Oct 46
- Airfield redesignated Mountain Home Air Force Base, 13 Jan 48
- Base Reactivated, 1 Dec 48
- 5th Reconnaissance Group, Very Long Range, Photo, 29 May-16 Jul 49
- 5th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, 16 Jul-11 Nov 49
- Base Inactivated, 15 Apr 1950
- Base Reactivated, 1 Feb 1951
- 1701st Air Transport Wing, 1 Feb 51-circa Apr 51
- 580th Air Resupply and Communications Wing, 16 Apr 51-17 Sep 52
- 581st Air Resupply and Communications Wing, 23 Jul 51-26 Jun 52
- 582nd Air Resupply and Communications Wing, 24 Sep 52-1 May 53
- 9th Bombardment Wing, Medium (later 9th Strategic Aerospace Wing), 1 May 53-25 Jun 66
- 813th Air Division, 1 Jul 59-1 Jul 64
- 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, 1 Jan 66-15 Jul 71
- 347th Tactical Fighter Wing, 15 May 71-31 Oct 72
- 366th Fighter Wing, 31 Oct 72-1 Oct 1991
- Redesignated 366th Wing, 1 Oct 1991-27 Sep 02
- Redesignated 366th Fighter Wing, 27 Sep 02-present
[edit] Major Commands To Which Assigned
- 2d AF, 29 Aug 1942 (rdsgd Second AF, 18 Sep 1942)
- Fourth AF, 15 Feb 1945
- Continental Air Forces, 16 Apr 1945 (rdsgd Strategic Air Comd, 21 Mar 1946)
- Military Air Transport Service, 24 Jan 1951
- Strategic Air Command, 1 May 1953
- Tactical Air Command, 1 Jan 1966 - 1 Jun 1992
- Air Combat Command, 1 June 1992 - Present
[edit] Operational History
[edit] World War II
Crews started building the base in November 1942 and the new field officially opened on 7 August 1943. Shortly thereafter, airman at the field began training United States Army Air Force crews for World War II. The 396th Bombardment Group (Heavy) was the first unit assigned and its planned mission was to train crews for the B-17. However, before the first B-17s arrived, plans for the field changed and the 396th was transferred to Moses Lake AAF, Washington.
Instead of training B-17 crews, Mountain Home airmen began training crews for the B-24 Liberator. The first group to do so was the 470th Bombardment Group (Heavy), which trained at Mountain Home from May 1943 until January 1944, when the unit moved to Tonopah AAF Nevada. The 490th Bombardment Group (Heavy) replaced the 470th and trained B-24 crews until it deployed to RAF Eye England in April 1944. The 494th Bombardment Group then replaced the 490th, once more training Liberator crews.
The base also received fighter aircraft to add realism to its training. A few P-38 and P-63 pursuit planes arrived in January 1945 to simulate attacks on B-24s. In June 1945, Mountain Home also briefly served as a training base for the new B-29 Superfortress with the 301st Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) training for combat, but the Japanese surrender in August brought a swift end to the new mission and, for a time, to the base at Mountain Home.
The base was placed in inactive status in October 1945.
[edit] Postwar Years
The base remained inactive until December 1948 when the newly independent United States Air Force Strategic Air Command assigned first the 5th Reconnaissance Group and then the 5th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing and their camera-equipped RB-17 Flying Fortresses to Idaho and the newly renamed Mountain Home Air Force Base. This new lease on life was short-lived, however, lasting only until April 1950, when the base once again closed.
Less than a year later, the base was reactivated by the Military Air Transport Service, hosting the 580th, 581st, and 582nd Air Resupply and Communications Wings over the next three years. They flew C-119, B-29 and SA-16 aircraft and trained to support covert special operations.
[edit] Strategic Air Command
When the last of these wings departed for overseas duty in 1953, the base was transferred to Strategic Air Command which assigned its 9th Bombardment Wing to Mountain Home. The 9th relocated to Mountain Home AFB in May 1953, and began flying B-29 bombers and KB-29H refueling aircraft. The 9th began converting to the new B-47 Stratojet bomber and the KC-97 tanker in September 1954, keeping alert bombers ready for war at a moments notice and continuing its mission as a deterrent force throughout the Cold War years of the 1950s and early 1960s.
In 1959, construction of three Titan missile sites began in the local area. The 569th Strategic Missile Squadron controlled these sites and was assigned to the 9th Bombardment Wing in August 1962. To prepare for the addition of missiles to its bomber forces, Air Force re-designated the wing as the 9th Strategic Aerospace Wing in April 1962.
A few years later, the Strategic Air Command mission at Mountain Home began to wind down, and in November 1964, the Air Force announced that the missile sites would be closed. In late 1965, the Air Force also began phasing out the aging B-47 bomber and announced plans to bring the 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing to Mountain Home.
[edit] Tactical Air Command
In January 1966, with the closure of the missile sites and the move of the 67th to Mountain Home, control of the base passed from Strategic Air Command to Tactical Air Command.
The wing conducted photographic, visual, radar, and thermal reconnaissance operations. While having these operational commitments, it also conducted replacement training for RF-4C Phantom II crew members being deployed to Southeast Asia.
In September 1966, the wing's 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron transferred to the 460th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam. As required, the 67 TRW also supported operations when crew members ferried RF-4Cs to the war theater.
Beginning in 1968, the 67th also conducted tactical fighter operations with the addition of a squadron of F-4D Phantoms. This fighter mission lasted until late 1970 when the F-4Ds were reassigned.
When U.S. forces began the drawdown from South Vietnam, the 67 TRW designation moved in July 1971 to Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas. It was replaced by the 347th Tactical Fighter Wing, equipped with F-111F Aardvarks. The 347th had a short stay at Mountain Home, conducting F-111F training until October 1972, when the 366th TFW moved from Vietnam to Mountain Home. Upon its arrival, the 366th absorbed all the people and equipment of the 347th.
[edit] 366th Fighter Wing
The 366th Fighter Wing (in various designations) has been the host unit at Mountain Home for over 35 years, following its return from the Vietnam War.
Before the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing's arrival at Mountain Home, the 389th, 390th, and 391st Tactical Fighter Squadrons had returned from South Vietnam, joined the 347th, and began converting to F-111F aircraft. For the first time since it left for Vietnam, the wing once again had its three original flying units.
Operations continued unchanged for several years. The wing tested its readiness in August 1976 when a border incident in Korea prompted the United States to augment its military contingent in South Korea as a show of force. The 366th deployed a squadron of 20 F-111 fighters. They reached Korea only 31 hours after receiving launch notification. Tensions eased shortly afterward and the detachment returned home.
In early 1991, the Air Force announced that the 366th would become the Air Force's premier "air intervention" composite wing. The wing would grow from a single-squadron of EF-111As to a dynamic, five squadron wing with the ability to deploy rapidly and deliver integrated combat airpower.
The air intervention composite wing's rapid transition from concept to reality began in October of 1991 when Air Force redesignated the wing as the 366th Wing. The wing's newly reactivated "fighter squadrons" became part of the composite wing in March 1992. The 389th Fighter Squadron began flying the dual-role F-16C Fighting Falcon, while the 391st Fighter Squadron was equipped with the new F-15E Strike Eagle. These two squadrons provide Gunfighters round-the-clock precision strike capability.
Following the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, the resultant initiation of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF), the 366th Wing once again got the call. While the 34th Bomb Squadron deployed to Diego Garcia as the B-1 component of the 28th Air Expeditionary Wing, the wing sent a Base Operations Support package to Al Udeid AB, Qatar, to transform the bare base into a fully functional airfield for large-scale combat operations. In October 2001, the 391st Fighter Squadron deployed to Al Jaber AB, Kuwait, while the 389th Fighter Squadron went to Al Udeid in November.
Following the wing's return from Southwest Asia, the Air Force began consolidating its B-1B and KC-135 forces. This led to the reallocation of the wing's bombers and tankers. The 22 ARS' aircraft began transferring to McConnell AFB, Kansas, in May 2002 and the squadron inactivated the following August. The 34 BS' B-1Bs began moving to Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, in June and the squadron officially moved in September. Following the departure of these assets the Air Force redesignated the 366th as a Fighter Wing. With these changes, the wing's 10-year mission as the Air Force's only standing air expeditionary wing came to an end.
As of 2007, the wing remains on high alert ready to support the combatant commanders' need.
[edit] Space Shuttle
Mountain Home is an alternative landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle.
[edit] Awards and Recognition
-2004-2006 Best Air Base for new 2nd Lts. As ranked by the AFROTCDNTF.
-2005 National Order of Daedalians
-2006 National Order of Daedalians
-ACC's Best Maintenance Group - 366 Maintenance Group -2006-2007 Commander in Chief's Installation Excellence Award
[edit] Geography
Mountain Home AFB is located at (43.049511, -115.866452)[3].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 25.7 km² (9.9 mi²). 25.7 km² (9.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.10% is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 8,894 people, 1,476 households, and 1,452 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 346.2/km² (896.1/mi²). There were 1,590 housing units at an average density of 61.9/km² (160.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 83.21% White, 6.90% Black or African American, 0.76% Native American, 2.52% Asian, 0.20% Pacific Islander, 2.70% from other races, and 3.70% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.47% of the population.
There were 1,476 households out of which 76.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 91.9% were married couples living together, 4.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 1.6% were non-families. 1.4% of all households were made up of individuals and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.40 and the average family size was 3.43.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 24.0% under the age of 18, 24.4% from 18 to 24, 49.7% from 25 to 44, 1.8% from 45 to 64, and 0.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females there were 180.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 219.5 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $31,634, and the median income for a family was $31,377. Males had a median income of $24,865 versus $20,664 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $17,671. About 6.5% of families and 7.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.1% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.
[edit] References
- ^ Mountain Home Air Force Base, official website
- ^ FAA Airport Master Record for MUO (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-10-25
- ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
[edit] Further reading
This article includes content from Mountain Home Air Force Base Website's history page.
- Endicott, Judy G. (1999) Active Air Force wings as of 1 October 1995; USAF active flying, space, and missile squadrons as of 1 October 1995. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. CD-ROM.
- Mueller, Robert (1989). Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982. USAF Reference Series, Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-53-6
- USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to present
[edit] External links
- Mountain Home AFB, official site
- Mountain Home AFB history from Strategic-Air-Command.com
- Mountain Home AFB at GlobalSecurity.com
- Mountain Home AFB at WikiMapia
- Resources for this U.S. military airport:
- AirNav airport information for KMUO
- ASN accident history for MUO
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KMUO
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