F.E. Warren Air Force Base
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Francis E. Warren Air Force Base is a base of the United States Air Force. The base is located 3 miles (5 km) west of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Headquarters for the 20th Air Force are located at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, and also the 90th Space Wing. The base's main focus is the operation of the LGM-30 Minuteman and LG-118A Peacekeeper ICBM systems, with silos in Southeast Wyoming, Western Nebraska, and Northern Colorado.
History
Warren AFB was founded as Fort D.A. Russell, US Army cavalry post in 1867 to help protect railroad development in the frontier area of Wyoming.
When it became an Air Force base in 1947, the only airfield ever at F. E. Warren was a single dirt strip. This field, never used by modern day pilots, was made famous by World War I ace Cap. Eddie Rickenbacker who crashed his plane on the field. Maj. Carl Spaatz who was later promoted to general and the first Air Force Chief of Staff, served at this base.
Warren was initially used as a training facility. In 1958, 24 Atlas missile sites were established there under Strategic Air Command.
In 1962, the new Minuteman replaced the Atlas. During the early 1970s, the the Minuteman I missiles were replaced with with Minuteman III missiles. In 1975 Peacekeeper missiles began to be based there.
During a period of Air Force reorganization in the early 1990s, Warren transitioned from SAC to Air Combat Command, and finally, on 1 July, 1993 to Air Force Space Command. The base became home to the 90th Space Wing on 1 October, 1997.
External links
Warren Air Force Base (http://www.warren.af.mil/F.E.)
| The information on this page may change as a result of the 2005 U.S. Base Realignment and Closure Program (BRAC 2005). |
