Grissom Air Reserve Base

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Grissom Air Reserve Base

IATA: GUS - ICAO: KGUS
Summary
Airport type		Private
Operator		United States Air Force
Elevation AMSL		812 ft (247.5 m)
Coordinates		40°38′53.14″N, 86°09′07.63″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
05/23	12,501	3,810	Asphalt

Grissom Air Reserve Base (IATA: GUS, ICAO: KGUS), formerly known as Grissom Air Force Base, is located in North-Central Indiana, about sixty miles north of Indianapolis. Other cities that are nearby are Kokomo (15 miles south), Peru (5 miles north) and Logansport (13 miles west). [1]

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 History
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Geography

Grissom AFB is located at 40°40′15″N, 86°9′17″W (40.670699, -86.154670)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the location has a total area of 10.9 km² (4.2 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,652 people, 581 households, and 431 families residing in the town. 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 town 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 town 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 town 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 town 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.

[edit] History

Formally called Bunker Hill Air Force Base, it was renamed after the famous astronaut,Indiana native, and Purdue University graduate Lieutenant Colonel Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, who was killed in a fire during the prep for an Apollo mission. The base was officially renamed on May 12, 1968. The Air Force Reserve began being a part of the Grissom personnel in the early 1970s with the relocation of the 434th Special Operations Wing and the A-37 aircraft to the base.

The 931st Air Refueling Group arrived on the base in 1978. They were the second group of Air Force Reservist that would be stationed on the base. The base 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 planes.

Grissom Air Reserve Base counts for one-fourth of the Air Force Reserve Command bases in the United States of America. The base started up on July 1, 1942 as Bunker Hill Naval Air Station for the United States Navy. It was used to train Navy, Marine and Coast Guard pilots for four years. Few people actually know that Ted Williams of baseball fame was an alumnus of the institution.

The base was closed and allowed the area to be used for farming again 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.

Strategic Air Command seized control on September 1, 1957. This led to the 305th Bomb Group to be stationed on the base, flying the B-47 Stratojet. KC-135 Stratotankers began to be stationed on the base in the same year, and two years later saw the arrival of the B-58 Hustler as they began replacing the B-47s.

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 to the Air Force Reserve Command facility. The unit that is still based on Grissom is the 434th Air Refueling Wing. Units from other branches are also based on Grissom, since the 1970s the Army Reserve has had a presence on Grissom. The Marines and Navy both added reserve units to the base in 2001 and 2002, respectively.

The base also serves it's duty to the local community, not only it's military duty to our nation. 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 economical impact of 75 million dollars per year and is also involved heavily in community activities. One such program they are involved in is "Toys for Tots", and the base was designated a "Tree City" by the National Arbor Day Foundation.