Why no Bong AFB?
Stephen Harding
Pacific ace and MOH winner. But AFAIK, there is no Bong AFB,
or field, or anything.
Bong was America's top ranking ace and MOH winner, but doesn't
seem to have anything named after him. Is this true?
Granted, the name "Bong" is unusual and a bit awkward in
pronunciation in a geographical name, but surely there must
be some USAF facility or location named in his honor?
SMH
Andrew Chaplin
Sounds like a great place for a lab for drugs tests.
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)
N329DF
finished. The runways were graded out and that is about all.
Tex Houston
Richard Bong AFB, Kenosha County, Wisc., about 35 miles southwest of
Milwaukee (designated 1955, abandoned while under construction. 1959; excess
1960) Like many new northern tier Air Force bases in the 1950s, Richard Bong
AFB was going to be an ADC fighter-interceptor base but was taken over by
SAC as it sought to disperse the bomber force. SAC assumed "jurisdiction,
control and accountability" of Bong from ADC on June 5, 1957, assigning it
to the Eighth Air Force, and perhaps intending to base B-58s there. SAC's
4040th Air Base Squadron was assigned as the base housekeeping unit on
August 1, 1958. The base and the squadron were transferred to Second Air
Force on January 1, 1959. Construction was suddenly ordered stopped on
October 2, 1959, because, as Secretary of the Air Force James H. Douglas
told the people of Racine, "Finally we realized that by 1961-62 when Bong
would be ready, we would have several other medium bomber bases empty of
squadrons and we really don't need Bong." (New York Times, November 5, 1959,
"House Unit Visits Abandoned Base".) See Note 2 in Section 6.
http://www.airforcebase.net/usaf/joeslist.html
Regards,
Tex Houston
"Stephen Harding" <har...@cs.umass.edu> wrote in message
news:3D5B95CA...@cs.umass.edu...
Steven P. McNicoll
>Date: 8/15/02 6:51 AM Central Daylight Time
>Message-id: <3D5B95CA...@cs.umass.edu>
McGuire was a New Jersey native, so it's easy to understand why a major base in
his home state was named for him.
There was a Bong AFB in southeast Wisconsin, but it was closed while still
under construction.
Bong took his initial flight training at Bryn Ostby airport in Superior,
Wisconsin, not far from his hometown of Poplar. Shortly after his death the
field was renamed in his honor, Richard I. Bong Airport.
Steven P. McNicoll
>Date: 8/15/02 7:56 AM Central Daylight Time
>Message-id: <uln9jj...@corp.supernews.com>
>
>This quote from Joe McCusker's list of Air Force bases.
>
>Richard Bong AFB, Kenosha County, Wisc., about 35 miles southwest of
>Milwaukee (designated 1955, abandoned while under construction. 1959; excess
>1960) Like many new northern tier Air Force bases in the 1950s, Richard Bong
>AFB was going to be an ADC fighter-interceptor base but was taken over by
>SAC as it sought to disperse the bomber force. SAC assumed "jurisdiction,
>control and accountability" of Bong from ADC on June 5, 1957, assigning it
>to the Eighth Air Force, and perhaps intending to base B-58s there. SAC's
>4040th Air Base Squadron was assigned as the base housekeeping unit on
>August 1, 1958. The base and the squadron were transferred to Second Air
>Force on January 1, 1959. Construction was suddenly ordered stopped on
>October 2, 1959, because, as Secretary of the Air Force James H. Douglas
>told the people of Racine, "Finally we realized that by 1961-62 when Bong
>would be ready, we would have several other medium bomber bases empty of
>squadrons and we really don't need Bong." (New York Times, November 5, 1959,
>"House Unit Visits Abandoned Base".) See Note 2 in Section 6.
>
A major SAC base between ORD and MKE, what a delight that would have been for
ATC.
Steven P. McNicoll
>Date: 8/15/02 7:18 AM Central Daylight Time
>Message-id: <20020815081811...@mb-ci.aol.com>
>
>There was to be a Bong AFB, was being built west of Kenosha Wi but was never
>finished. The runways were graded out and that is about all.
>
I think they did a bit more than just grade the runways. Remember that this
base was being built when the B-36 and B-52 were both in service and the B-70
was on the boards. Nobody knew how big bombers would eventually get, so SAC
built a helluva runway. I've heard, and I don't recall where, that the runway
was to be nine feet of reinforced concrete over twenty feet of crushed rock.
It's my understanding that the runway was nearly finished when construction
ceased. I've heard that kids used to drag race on it and the runway was
cratered to deter that behavior. The runway is easily visible today, but it
looks like it's covered in mud. The base is now the Bong State Recreation
Area.
Ron
Ron Chambless
Pilot - Cessna 414
Gallup Flying Service
CeeJay
> cratered to deter that behavior.
Yeah - *much* better to have them on the streets.
Cub Driver
Good question. He was USAAF, and he was dead by the time the USAF was
created and the bases were mostly named. My guess is that he came from
a state that had no bases to be named. By & large, the USAF named
bases for dead heroes from the state in which the base was located.
For example, the fatal crash of the YB-49 at Muroc led the base to be
named for Glen Edwards, the co-pilot and a Calif native; while a base
in Kansas was named for Danny Forbes, the co-pilot.
Though it was built a few years later, Pease in NH across the bay from
me was named for Harlan Pease, a New Hampshire native who died at
Rabaul as a PW of the Japanese.
all the best -- Dan Ford (email: in...@danford.net)
see the Warbird's Forum at http://www.danford.net
Vietnam | Flying Tigers | Pacific War | Brewster Buffalo | Piper Cub
Steven P. McNicoll
>Date: 8/16/02 6:06 AM Central Daylight Time
>Message-id: <3mmplu47dhjuoop9l...@4ax.com>
>
>Good question. He was USAAF, and he was dead by the time the USAF was
>created and the bases were mostly named.
>
There wasn't any wholesale effort to rename bases once the USAF became a
separate service, other than the typical and understandable change from "Army
Airfield" to "Air Force Base". Many bases were renamed for fallen USAAF
personnel by the Army. For example, General Frederick Castle was killed when
his B-17 exploded over Belgium in December 1944. In January 1946 Merced Army
Airfield was renamed Castle Field in his honor. Two years later, after the
USAF was created, it was renamed Castle Air Force Base.
>
>My guess is that he came from
>a state that had no bases to be named.
>
That's pretty much the case. The USAAF operated from three airfields in
Wisconsin during the war: Mitchell Field in Milwaukee, already named for
General Billy Mitchell; Truax Field in Madison, already named for Lieutenant
Tom Truax; and Camp Williams Army Airfield, part of the military reservation
named for Lieutenant Colonel Charles R. Williams.
Billy Mitchell's place in history is well-known so I don't need to explain why
the field in his hometown is named for him. Thomas Truax was a Madison native
and Army pilot killed in the crash of his P-40 in California shortly before the
war. Charles Williams was in the Wisconsin National Guard from 1888 until his
death in 1926. He led the development of the Wisconsin Military Reservation,
when he died the reservation was renamed Camp Williams.
An airfield was begun at Camp Williams in 1935 and completed shortly before the
US entered the war. During the war it was known as Camp Williams Army
Airfield. In 1957 it was renamed Volk Field in honor of Lieutenant Jerome
Volk, a Milwaukee native and USAAF veteran who joined the Wisconsin ANG after
the war. He was killed in action in Korea while flying an F-80.
I've sometimes wondered why the airfield portion of Camp Williams wasn't
renamed Bong Field sometime before 1957.
>
>By & large, the USAF named
>bases for dead heroes from the state in which the base was located.
>For example, the fatal crash of the YB-49 at Muroc led the base to be
>named for Glen Edwards, the co-pilot and a Calif native; while a base
>in Kansas was named for Danny Forbes, the co-pilot.
>
>Though it was built a few years later, Pease in NH across the bay from
>me was named for Harlan Pease, a New Hampshire native who died at
>Rabaul as a PW of the Japanese.
>
The USAAF operated Portsmouth Airdrome during the war as a subbase of Grenier
Field. After the military left it became Portsmouthf Municipal Airport. The
military returned in 1955 and the field became Portsmouth AFB, it was renamed
Pease AFB in 1957.