| Creech Air Force Base Indian Springs Auxiliary Army Airfield |
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|---|---|
| Part of Air Combat Command (ACC) | |
| Located near: Indian Springs, Nevada | |
A MQ-9 Reaper flies above Creech AFB during a local training mission |
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| Built | 1942 |
| In use | 1942-Present |
| Controlled by | United States Air Force |
| Garrison | 432d Wing |
| Airfield information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: INS – ICAO: KINS – FAA LID: INS | |||
| Summary | |||
| Elevation AMSL | 3,133 ft / 955 m | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 8/26 | 9,002 | 2,744 | Asphalt |
| 13/31 | 5,468 | 1,667 | Asphalt |
Creech Air Force Base (IATA: INS, ICAO: KINS, FAA LID: INS), formerly known as Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field, is a United States Air Force base located one mile (2 km) north of the central business district of Indian Springs, in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is about 35 miles (56 km) northwest of Las Vegas and 45 miles (72 km) northwest of Nellis Air Force Base. It is named in honor of General Wilbur L. “Bill” Creech, known as the "Father of the Thunderbirds".
The host unit is the 432d Wing, which has six operational squadrons, one maintenance squadron, and MQ-9 Reapers and MQ-1 Predators.
Along with being the aerial demonstration training site for the Thunderbirds, the base plays a major role in the ongoing War on Terror. The base is home to the MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle which is used regularly in Afghanistan and Iraq. The base is also home to the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Battlelab.
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The airfield that now bears General Creech’s name was originally built by the Army in the early 1940s to support the war effort during World War II. A month after the 7 December 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, the Army began building the training camp. Known as Indian Springs Auxiliary Army Airfield , by the end of 1942, the service had contracted for regular facilities and by the end of February 1943 the base was being used as a divert field and a base for air-to-air gunnery training to support the Western Flying Training Command Gunnery School at Las Vegas Army Airfield. Personnel assigned to the airfield maintained five small airstrips.
The little post was in service supporting B-17s and T-6s until March 1945 when the Army put the base in stand-by status maintained by a small housekeeping staff. When Las Vegas AAF inactivated in January 1947, Indian Springs also closed down.
The base re-opened in January 1948 and two years later received its first permanently assigned Air Force unit. In August 1951 the base became an auxiliary field and in July 1952 transferred from Air Training Command (ATC) to the Air Research and Development Command (ARDC), reporting to the Air Force Special Weapons Center at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The 4935th Air Base Squadron was activated to operate the base in accordance with ARDC General Order No. 39 on 16 July 1952. The mission of Indian Springs Air Force Base was to support nuclear testing at the AEC Nevada Proving Grounds, 30 miles southwest. This included providing logistic and support functions for nuclear test operations. Indian Springs AFB also gave support for operations and maintenance of a fighter, gunnery, rocketry, and bombing range used by Nellis AFB through the provision of housing facilities and services for Nellis AFB personnel who were operating and maintaining the range. The range was also used chiefly by F-86 Sabre pilots for training prior to overseas duty.[2]
At first fewer than 300 officers and enlisted men were stationed at Indian Springs AFB, but when testing began, the population grew to more than 1,500 personnel. The base also hosted more than 100 of the most modern aircraft in the world at the time. This was designated Detachment 1, AFSWC (Air Force Special Weapons Center). Det 1's mission was to support the Atomic test site by transporting personnel to and from Mercury Nevada and Yucca Flats and to hover over selected underground tests while monitoring for radiation leaks. Ancillary missions were carried out including target marking at the nearby bombing range for the aircraft from Nellis AFB as well as searching for and retrieving weather balloons. During one bombing range support mission in 1967 (1968?) the unit Commander Lt. Colonel Conner(s)and his co-pilot, Captain Peterson(?)were killed when their Beaver aircraft crashed into one of the mountains that ringed the range; it was suspected that a smoke bomb may have been inadvertently dropped inside the plane during the flight.
This detachment consisted of an administrative unit, an electronics repair unit, a small supply unit, and as well as a dozen+ or so pilots and maintenance personnel. The unit flew 4 fixed-wing aircraft and two helicopers. Two fixed wing planes were single-engine Beavers and two other twin-engine planes; In 1966 the unit flew a pair of HH-43 helicopters which were replaced by a pair of UH-IF utility aircraft that same year.
Indian Springs AFB served as a support base for projects from Operation Ranger in 1951 to Operation Storax in 1962. The 4935th Air Base Squadron came under the jurisdiction of the 4950th Test Group (Nuclear) in 1956. However as talks of suspending atmospheric testing continued, the USAF transferred Indian Springs AFB missions to Nellis AFB under the control of Tactical Air Command on 1 April 1961[2]
With the transfer to TAC, Indian Springs AFB was re-designated Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field at least prior to 1977 and remained that until 2005. Following the inactivation of Tactical Air Command. In 1992, the base became a component of Air Combat Command (ACC). During the 1970s and 1980s, the only assigned aircraft unit on the base was a detachment of UH-1N Twin Huey helicopters which was designated as "Det 1". The primary mission during this time was range maintenance for the vast Nellis weapons range. The 57th Combat Support Squadron was the primary squadron on the base during this time which was composed of Air Force Civil Engineers.
The base has also been the remote training site for the USAF Thunderbirds. On 18 January 1982, while practicing for an air show at Davis-Monthan AFB, the entire 4-ship diamond formation of the Thunderbirds crashed at Indian Springs. The four pilots, including the squadron commander, were flying T-38 Talon aircraft that equipped the team at the time and were performing a line abreast loop when all aircraft had a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) impact along the runway in front of the base Fire Station.
On 20 June 2005, Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field officially changed its name to Creech Air Force Base in honor of the late General Wilbur L. “Bill” Creech. Gen Creech was a former commander of the Tactical Air Command and was also known as the “father of the Thunderbirds,” the Air Force’s premiere air demonstration squadron.[3]
In October 2005, the 3d Special Operations Squadron was activated at Creech joining the 11th, 15th and 17th Reconnaissance Squadrons, becoming the first MQ-1 squadron in the Air Force Special Operations Command. The Joint Unmanned Aerial Systems Center of Excellence was also established at the same time.
The 42d Attack Squadron was formed at Creech on 8 November 2006 as the first Reaper squadron.
On 1 May 2007 operational control of the base was moved from Nellis to the 432d Wing which was reactivated and assumed control of the base.[4]
Many organizations have criticized the use of the Predator and Reaper drones, and the perceived extremely high danger of harming civilians [5][6][7] In protest to UAV attacks in Pakistan, in an event sponsored by Nevada Desert Experience, Father Louie Vitale, Kathy Kelly, Stephen Kelly, SJ, John Dear, and others were arrested outside the Air Force Base on Wednesday April 9, 2009.[8]. They were convicted of trespassing, and sentenced to time served on January 27, 2011. [9] Additional protests have been held, conducted by a number of organizations including Code Pink.[10]
In 2011, the ground stations used to control drones were found to be infected with keylogger software. It is suspected the malware was introduced through the use of removable disk drives to load map updates and transport mission videos from one computer to another. [11][12] The Twenty-Fourth Air Force was alerted to the problem by reading an article in Wired Magazine.[13] The Air Force issued a statement that the virus had "posed no threat to our operational mission".[14]
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