Otis Air National Guard Base
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Otis Air National Guard Base
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
| IATA: FMH – ICAO: KFMH – FAA: FMH | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military | ||
| Owner | United States Air Force | ||
| Operator | Chief Airfield Management | ||
| Location | Falmouth, Massachusetts | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 131 ft / 40 m | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 05/23 | 8,000 | 2,438 | Asphalt/Concrete |
| 14/32 | 9,500 | 2,896 | Asphalt/Concrete |
| Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||
Otis Air National Guard Base (IATA: FMH, ICAO: KFMH, FAA LID: FMH) is an Air National Guard installation located within the Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR), a military training facility, located on the upper western portion of Cape Cod, in Falmouth, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It was previously known as Otis Air Force Base prior to its closure by the Air Force. In the community, it is also known as Otis Air Base or more commonly by it's old name, Otis Air Force Base.
Contents |
[edit] Units
The host unit on Otis ANGB is the 102nd Intelligence Wing, and (Air Combat Command) (ACC)-gained unit of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. Part of the facility is also called Cape Cod Air Force Station (Cape Cod AFS). Otis is also home to the 253rd Combat Communications Group, the 267th Combat Communications Squadron and the 202nd Weather Flight of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, as well Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod (CGAS Cape Cod}, operating the HU-25 Guardian and HH-60J Jayhawk.
[edit] History
[edit] World War II
According to the 102nd Intelligence Wing Public Affairs office, Otis Air National Guard Base is named for pilot, flight surgeon, and eminent Boston City Hospital surgeon, Lt. Frank "Jesse" Otis, a member of the 101st Observation Squadron who was killed on Jan. 11, 1937 when his Douglas O-46A crashed while on a cross-country training mission.
In 1938, the landing field area at Camp Edwards was named Otis Field in memory of the Boston flying physician. Ten years later the base was renamed Otis Air Force Base in his honor. Until 1973, it was the largest Aerospace Defense Command base in the world and is the only base named for a doctor.
During World War II, the field was known as Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Otis and was a subordinate field for Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island.
[edit] Cold War
[edit] Air Force Usage
During the Cold War, the base was a very important place for Aerospace Defense Command. The base was abuzz with activity ranging from the Air Force's 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing to the 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing. The 551st flew the EC-121 Warning Star before moving to Hanscom Air Force Base in 1969. The 33rd flew various fighter jets in conjunction with the 101st Fighter Interceptor Squadron. The base was also home to the 26th Air Defense Missile Squadron, which maintained the BOMARC surface-to-air missiles on the base. The Regular Air Force began leaving Otis in the late 1960s as improvements in radar made the 551st more costly when compared to newer technologies. The 31st left when the Air Force began to move the continental air defense mission over to the Air National Guard.
[edit] Air National Guard Usage
The 101st Tactical Fighter Squadron used Otis when the Air Force was present. It shared missions with the 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing.
[edit] UFO Sightings
During the 1950s, Otis had quite a few instances of UFOs being associated with it.[2] One of these instances allegedly involved a F-94C Starfire which was said to have vanished along with its radar operator over the base. The pilot reportedly escaped.[3] The incident was mentioned on the History Channel. This alleged incident is controversial, and may never have actually occurred. A recent book though states that there was an incident but the Air Force is denying the specifics of the event for fear of tarnishing the pilot involved.
[edit] John F. Kennedy
President John F. Kennedy used Otis on many occasions for the landing of Air Force One when he traveled to the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis. He would then board a helicopter which would then take him to the compound. It was at the base hospital that his wife, Jacqueline, gave birth to their son Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, who died two days later.
[edit] Closure
In 1973 Governor of Massachusetts Frank Sargent appointed the Otis Task Force to oversee a phase-down of military activities at MMR. The major concern of Cape residents was the fate of base property and impacts on the local economy as military activities decreased.
[edit] Reopening of the Base
In 1977, Otis AFB was officially redistributed with the establishment of boundary lines which divided the complex into several installations, all within the confines of the original base. Established was Otis Air National Guard Base, Camp Edwards (an Army National Guard small arms training facility that served as a POW camp during WWII), and the Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod (which shares the base's runways with the 102nd Intelligence Wing). Together they form the Massachusetts Military Reservation, where 17 other state, federal and private entities operate within its boundaries.
In 1978, the Air Force returned with the construction of the Precision Acquisition Vehicle Entry Phased Array Warning System (PAVE PAWS) near the Cape Cod Canal. PAVE PAWS is designed to detect airborne ballistic missiles and monitor orbiting satellites.
It is an alternative landing site for the Space Shuttle orbiter if it ever had to abort its mission during liftoff. However, this is only possible if the orbiter is in a high inclination launch. The comparatively short main runway at Otis also makes its use for this purpose unlikely when compared to other nearby installations such as Westover Air Reserve Base or Pease International Tradeport/Pease Air National Guard Base, both former Strategic Air Command installations with runways over 2,000 feet longer than Otis.
[edit] September 11, 2001
On September 11, 2001 FAA Boston center contacted the base at 8:34 notifying them of the hijacking of American Airlines Flight 11. Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Duffy and Major Daniel Nash flew F-15 fighters out of the base heading toward New York City to intercept the plane. Conflicting reports say they departed somewhere between 8:46 and 8:52. They flew at subsonic speeds. There was no way that they could have operated supersonic because of rules regulating the use of supersonic speeds over the continental United States.
[edit] Environmental issues
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (June 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
Military operations in the early years at Otis included the use of petroleum products and other hazardous materials such as fuels, motor oils, and cleaning solvents and the generation of associated wastes. Consistent with practices of other industries at the time, it was common practice for many years to dispose of such wastes in landfills, dry wells, sumps, and the sewage treatment plant. Spills and leaks also occurred. These activities have resulted in serious impacts to the Upper Cape’s groundwater resources. As a direct result of the threats from waste plumes in the groundwater, much of the water supply in the surrounding area was converted from wells to municipal water sources.
In towns near the PAVE PAWS radar on Otis Air Force Base there was significant concern about possible adverse effects on health of humans resulting from PAVE PAWS radiation. In 1978 the EPA and the US Air Force School of Medicine decided that no such threat to human health was plausible. At the request of local residents, in 1979, two panels formed by the National Research Council reviewed existing data on the radar and on comparable systems: an engineering panel and a biomedical panel. Neither panel found any cause for concern, but the panels did recommend additional studies. The local communities' concerns peaked again in the late 1990s, and another National Research Council panel studied not only previously available data, but also engineering measurements newly gathered by the Air Force, epidemiological data gathered by local public health authorities, and the results of studies on various other systems. The report of this latest NRC panel, issued in 2005, available from the National Academies Press both online and in hard copy, finds no evidence for adverse health effects from PAVE PAWS. There are nearby clusters of certain types of cancer, but as is often true in cluster studies, there are so many confounding effects that any possible effect due to PAVE PAWS is indiscernible. Further, no plausible causal link to PAVE PAWS on health of nearby residents has been discovered. Of scientific interest is the possibility that growth rates of vegetation close to the radar and exposed to the direct radar beam may possibly be retarded, but no plausible connection of that possibility to effects on human health is known.
[edit] Units of Otis
[edit] Current Units
- 102nd Intelligence Wing
- 253rd Combat Communications Group
- 267th Combat Communications Squadron
- 202nd Weather Flight
- Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod
- 3rd Battalion, 126th Aviation
[edit] Previous Units
- 26th Air Defense Missile Squadron (1961-1972)
- 564th Air Defense Group, later the 33rd Air Defense Group
- 58th Fighter Squadron
- 437th Fighter Squadron
- 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing (1948-1957)
- 58th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron 1948-1959 (F-84B, F-86A, F-94B, F-89D/H/J)
- 59th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron 1948-1952 (F-84B, F-86A, F-94A/B)
- 60th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron 1948-1950 (F-84B), 1955-1971 (F-94C, F-101B)
- 64th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (Questionable)
- 437th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron 1952-1956 (First operational unit with the F-94C)
- 4707th Defense Wing
- 554th Reconnaissance Squadron (1963-1969)
- 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing (1954-1969)
- 19th Air Refueling Squadron
- 551st Supply Squadron/EMS/AMS
- 551st Air Police Squadron
- 551st Security Police Squadron
- 551st Transportation Squadron
- 551st Field Maintenance Squadron
- 961st Airborne Early Warning and Control Squadron
- 962nd Airborne Early Warning and Control Squadron (1955-1969)
- 963rd Airborne Early Warning and Control Squadron
- 966th Airborne Early Warning and Control Squadron (???-1962)
- 553rd Reconnaissance Wing Batcats (1967-1970)
- Note: The Lockheed YF-12 was supposed to be stationed at Otis. This would've either meant the creation or three new squadrons of the reuse of the squadrons above.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Otis Air National Guard Base (official site)
- Otis Air National Guard Base at WikiMapia
- FAA Airport Diagram for Otis ANGB(PDF), effective 5 June 2008
- Resources for this U.S. military airport:
- AirNav airport information for KFMH
- ASN accident history for FMH
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KFMH
- Google Book article on Otis
[edit] See also
- Otis AFB F-94C Disappearance
- Air Combat Command1992-present
- Tactical Air Command 1962-1992
- Air Defense Command 1950-1950
|
||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
