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KINCHELOE AFB. Local lore has it that what eventually became Kincheloe Air Force Base with a
12,000-foot runway, all its support elements and a small city for its personnel,
was merely such a berry patch at the outset.
When the U.S. entered World War II, the Sault Ste. Marie Locks were considered
vital to the war effort. Barrage balloons were part of the Locks defenses, as
well as infantry in total numbers that some estimated as high as 15,000.
Records of the Air Force show that the airport at Kinross was first formally
designated in June, 1941. Construction began in 1943, and the base was first
known as Kinross Auxiliary Air Field. Its purpose was to serve as a refueling
stop for aircraft headed for Alaska and as a base for defense of the Locks.
However, no tactical units were assigned there during the war.
The base was under the jurisdiction of the 4250th Army Air Force Base Unit,
which was the operator of Alpena, Michigan, Army Air Force Field. This
designation was from the middle of 1941 to April 24, 1945. The base was inactive
in this last year of World War II.
Thereafter, the City of Sault Ste. Marie, along with Capital Airlines and
Trans-Canada Airlines, leased the property. A Quonset hut was erected to serve
as a terminal, and lighting was installed. Thus, the field served private and
commercial aviation from 1945 to 1952.
Events in far-off places resulted in the first military field at Kinross; the
process was repeated by what became known as the Cold War, and the outbreak of
hostilities in the Korean Peninsula in June, 1950. Army troops returned to the
Sault and in October, 1952, the 4685th Air Base Squadron was assigned to the
reactivated Kinross Auxiliary Airfield. A month later the unit was redesignated
as the 91st Air Base Squadron. Lt. Col. Nathan B. Hays was assigned as the first
base commander on November 14, 1952.
On February 16, 1953, the 534th Air Defense Group was activated with the 438th
Fighter Squadron following on April 27, 1953. That same month, the base was
closed to private noncommercial aviation because F-94B’s were being flown off
the field by the pilots of the 438th.
Both the 534th and 438th were assigned in February, 1953, to the 4706 Air
Defense Wing; the base became operational as an Air Force facility in July of
that year.
CONSTRUCTION is BIG NEWS
The yellowing clipping files in the Sault Evening News produce a trail that
illustrates the continuous process of construction that led to the ultimate
development of what became Kincheloe Air Force Base.
One such story, in April, 1953, described contract awards for a Parachute
Building and ammunition storage igloos.
A month later base officials were expressing concern about an area shortage of
housing for personnel assigned to the base.
A similar story involved the updating and replacement of aircraft assigned to
the base, as in the February, 1954, announcement that all-weather F-89 Scorpions
would be assigned to the 438th FIS.
A story dated October 28, 1954, foresaw a tripling of the personnel assigned to
the base.
April 22, 1955: Contracts for construction of an airmen’s club and theater, and
a railroad spur to the base, were announced.
May 1958: The 438th Fighter Squadron was temporarily transferred to Sawyer AFB
near Marquette, while the massive runway
construction project was under way at Kincheloe.
August 1958: The heating-plant contract was let, and another for dorms to house
200 airmen.
The squadron returns, October, 1958.
June 1959: Additional fuel-storage tanks were scheduled for construction at St.
Ignace.
July 1959: The hospital bid process was under way; it was dedicated in October,
1961.
January 11, 1957: 38 Units (of 190) of family housing were accepted. These were
followed in the early 1960s by Capehart Housing, which now constitutes most of
the housing in Kincheloe.
December 1960: The cornerstone was laid for the Ivan C. Kincheloe Elementary
School.
A 1955 story had noted that the Air Force had spent "well over half a million
dollars in the Upper Peninsula;" another, two years later, claimed that the Air
Force will have spent almost $10 million in area installations.
CAPTAIN KINCHELOE, base re-named
In September, 1959, Kinross AFB was officially renamed Kincheloe AFB. This was
in honor of the late Capt. Ivan C. Kincheloe Jr., a native of Cassopoplis, MI.
He was the 10th USAF jet ace of the Korean War and later was a test pilot for
the F-100 and F-104 fighters.
He flew the Bell X-2 rocket-powered research craft at over 1,500 mph and
attained a world’s altitude record of 126,000 feet on September 7, 1956. He died
July 26, 1958, while bailing out in a low-altitude ejection from a F-104 over
the Mojave Desert; his parachute did not open.
In February, 1961, the 507th Fighter Group was expanded into a Fighter Wing
organization. The 438th FIS was then flying all-weather, supersonic F-106 Delta
Darts; the squadron was the combat component of the 507th Wing, the mission of
which was to provide air defense within the Duluth Air Defense Sector of the Air
Defense Command’s 30th Air Division, all under the Air Defense Command at
Colorado Spring, Colo. All this was part of a joint U.S. Canadian partnership
known as NORAD, or North American Air Defense.
In the 1950s the Air Force adopted a policy of dispersing Strategic Air Command
bombers and tankers. At Kincheloe the runway was extended to 12,000 feet to
accommodate 15 B-52H bombers and ten KC-135 tankers. The original cost of the
undertaking was estimated at $30 million. The planes started to arrive in
November, 1961. On May 1, 1962 the SAC Wing at Kincheloe was declared
operationally ready. The 449th Bomb Wing shared the base with the 507th Fighter
Wing.
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DESCRIPTION 1965
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1965 the book "Air Force Bases" gave a brief summary of the base,
including the location and descriptions such as the following:
Climate:
Cold winters:
heavy snowfall
Comfortable summers:
Day time highs of 75 degrees and nightimes lows of 53 degrees;
negligible pollen count during summer months.
Schools:
Two elementary schools on base, kindergarten through fifth grade,
sixth grade through senior high attend modern high school in Rudyard, MI.
Michigan Technological University branch, liberal and engineering curriculum.
Northern Michigan University of Marquette, MI., also offers on-base curriculum.
Housing:
1,385 units on base,
1,185 are MCP or Capehart units in single, duplex and apartment units
while the remaining 200 are relocatable units;
132 trailer spaces;
off-base housing available but of mediocre quality usually $65.00 and up.
Base Facilities:
Commissary, exchange, cafeteria, theater, clubs, hobby shops,
bowling, nine hole golf course, active intramural
sporting program, youth center, NCO and Officers’ Open Mess.
Environment:
Semi-isolated Northern Michigan tourist area;
shopping facilities limited; excellent hunting, boating and skiing facilities;
nine hole golf course
WITHIN 50 mile radius:
Sault Ste. Marie, MI.; Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.; St. Ignace, MI.; Mackinac Island
and Newberry, MI.
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In brief, the base was fully developed; the berry patch had been converted to
the newest municipality in the Upper Peninsula.
In the words of a subsequent study:
"The final proof of any airfield pavement conditions is undoubtedly in the
reactions of the pilots who must use these facilities in their mission. In
discussing the Kincheloe runway with many B-52 and KC-135 pilots, there was not
one who did not rate this 12,000 by 300 foot runway as one of the finest in the
U.S. Air Force inventory."
THE DECISION to CLOSE
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Despite the newness of all the facilities and the pilots’ assessment of the
runway, something of a bomb was dropped in December, 1965. The Department of
Defense announced its decision to close Kincheloe by October, 1971. The 507th
Fighter Group was deactivated in October, 1968, and the 438th Fighter
Interceptor Squadron was relocated to Griffiss AFB, New York.
In May, 1971, the decision to close the base was reversed. In an Air Force-wide
realignment program, Kincheloe would be kept open and come under the control of
the Strategic Air Command. On July 1, 1971, the 449th Bombardment Wing (SAC)
assumed command of the base.
That 1971 reversal proved to be only a six-year reprieve. The base was
inactivated on September 30, 1977, and declared excess on November 15, 1977. The
lights were being turned out in the Upper Peninsula’s newest municipality.
As part of the closing process, the Air Force prepared a thick impact-study. (A
copy is in the Bayliss Library in Sault Ste. Marie.) Between 1960 and 1970, and
Kinross Township's population, the study found that the population of the rest
of Chippewa County had declined 20.1 per cent in those ten years. "No other
county in Michigan approaches this percentage decrease," the study noted.
It found that determining the base population was difficult because the figure
was constantly changing. It was placed at about 10,000, of whom 9,500 lived in
Chippewa County and comprised about 27 per cent of the County’s population. The
breakdown was 7,655 military and dependents, 2,162 civilian and dependents, for
a total of 3,679 employed personnel and 6,138 dependents.
The study cited a number of factors that would make up the economic impact of
the closure of the base.
"Contracts awarded through the procurement office at Kincheloe AFB totaled
$6,321,619 and the base operations and maintenance expense (not including
civilian pay ) were $8,156,999. All of the figures indicate that Kincheloe is an
almost $55,000,000 a year operation. A significant portion of this money is
spent in the local area."
Those who prepared the study interviewed many of the area business persons about
the impact of the base closure. Auto dealers estimated that 35 per cent of all
vehicles sold in the area went to Kincheloe personnel; 60 per cent of all mobile
homes were sold to base personnel.
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LIST of BASE COMMANDERS
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Air Force historical records show that in World War II, Kinross Field was under
the jurisdiction of Alpena Army Airfield.
The records do not give a name of the Commanding Officer, and the list starts
with the reactivation of the Kinross base during the Korean War. The names of
the base Commanders, and the dates of the start of their tenures, are as
follows:
Nov 14, 1952: Lt.Col. Nathan B. Hays
(Lt. Col. Vic Milner should be here in the list of Kinross
commanders. He was in command in January 1954.)
Aug 18, 1955: Col. John L. Locke
June 1956: Col. Robert W. Holmes
June 20, 1959: Lt.Col. Claud E. Ford
July 27, 1959: Col. Dean W. Dutrack
Feb. 12, 1960: Col. Thomas W. Hornsby
Sept.21, 1964: Col. Gene C. Willims
July 21, 1965: Col. Donald L. Kessler
June 23, 1966: Col. Ward W. Martindale
Aug 10, 1966: Col. Robert L. Hinchee
Jan. 19, 1970: Col. Frederick H. LeFebre
July 1, 1971: Col. Donald F. Kasselman
Nov 29. 1971: Col. Frank W. Durkee
Feb. 1, 1972: Col. Gregg F. Glick
Dec 29, 1972: Col. Michael J. Healy
Aug. 15, 1974: Col. Rolland S. Ash
Apr. 18, 1975: Col. John D. McAneny
May 17, 1975: Col. Billy D. Thornton
July 1, 1977: Col. Donald L. Jolly
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