Cheli Air Force Station

Cheli Air Force Station
Coordinates 33°59′56″N 118°10′14″W / 33.99889°N 118.170556°WCoordinates: 33°59′56″N 118°10′14″W / 33.99889°N 118.170556°W
Site history
Built 1943-1947
Garrison information
Occupants 1943-7: United States Army
1947-61: USAF
1961-1967: GSA
1967-: USPS

Cheli Air Force Station at Maywood, California, was a United States Air Force installation that started as a World War II aircraft parts depot, a Cold War Radar Bomb Scoring site, and various subsequent uses by the federal government of the United States.

History

Initially created as the Maywood Army Air Forces Specialized Storage Depot for World War II aircraft parts, Cheli Air Force Station was named when the military installation transferred to the USAF in 1947 (the depot was part of Air Material Command.)[1]

Cheli AFS had 31 military and 1,139 civilians on June 30, 1958; and the General Services Administration received control of the station on November 3, 1961 when the station's Los Angeles Bomb Plot closed. Part of Cheli AFS, 27 acres (11 ha), was transferred for the 1974 Patton United States Army Reserve Center (5340 Bandini Boulevard, Bell CA), and the USPS received the remaining 64.68 acres on January 23, 1976.[2] Additional Cheli AFS parcels were transferred in 2004.

Los Angeles Bomb Plot

The Los Angeles Bomb Plot (LA Bomb Plot #7, Los Angeles RBS)[3] was a Radar Bomb Scoring site established at Cheli AFS c. 1952 for evaluating bomber training missions on practice targets in Southern California. The site was controlled by Detachment 8 of the 3903rd Radar Bomb Scoring Group (redesignated 11th RBS SQ in 1953)[4] which was commanded by Lt Col James O. McHan. The RBS site was near Beale, Castle, and March bomber bases, as well as the Brown Field Bombing Range, Camp Beale Bombing Range, Madera Bombing Range, Muroc Bomb & Gunnery Range, Saline Valley Bombing Range, and Trabuca Bombing Range. Bomb run locations included those of a Castle AFB bomber using the "A/B Santa Barbara" Initial Point and the " LA # 'I' " target.[3] The radar site closed when the RBS unit moved to the Wall, South Dakota, RBS site that had opened in August 1960[4] (cf. Badlands Bombing Range).

References

  1. ↑ Shaw, Frederick J. (2004). Locating Air Force Base Sites: History’s Legacy (PDF). Air Force History and Museums Program. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  2. ↑ "Cheli Air Force Station". Historic California Posts, Stations and Airfields. The California State Military Museum. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=AD0273891 (map of flight path between Sacramento and Santa Barbara on pdf page 56)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://1cevga.com/det2.htm

External links