Alpena Air Force Station
Encyclopedia
- For the civil use of this facility, see Alpena County Regional AirportAlpena County Regional Airport-Top Destinations:- External links :* , official site* from USGS The National Map...
Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center is a Michigan Air National Guard
Michigan Air National Guard
The Michigan Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is, along with the Michigan Army National Guard, an element of the Michigan National Guard...
training facility. It is located 7.1 miles (11.4 km) west-northwest of Alpena, Michigan
Alpena, Michigan
Alpena is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Alpena County. It is considered to be part of Northern Michigan. The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is located in the city. The population was 10,483 at the 2010 census...
.
Overview
The Alpena CRTC is a year-round training facility is an Air National Guard Medical Readiness Training School. It provides premier support, facilities, instruction and airspace to Department of DefenseUnited States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
, Department of Homeland Security, Coalition and emergency responders to meet the mission requirements of Combatant Commanders and Civil Authorities.
It is one of four Combat Readiness Training Centers in the United States. The Alpena CRTC boasts the largest airspace east of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, has 147,000 acres available for ground maneuver units, offers the EMEDS Formal Course Instruction and trains over 20,000 Joint and Coalition personnel annually.
The Alpena CRTC is the second organization in the Air National Guard
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard , often referred to as the Air Guard, is the air force militia organized by each of the fifty U.S. states, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia of the United States. Established under Title 10 and...
to be certified as a Joint National Training Center. The base has three JTE's, offers JTAC Training, operates a JTAC 4m Dome Simulator and provides an extensive MRTS program.
History
Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC), formerly named Phelps Collins Field and the Phelps Collins Air National Guard Base, has a long interesting history beginning in the early 1900's. Before that date the area had a reputation for yielding blueberries in abundance to local Indians and early settlers in the area. In the early 1900's the area was known as the "Seven Mile Plains" named because the flat open area stretching from the Seven Mile Dam to M-32.During the early part of the 20th Century, flying machines began to appear in the sky over most of the country including the Alpena area. It didn't take long for the early aeronautical risk takers to realize the flat open area was just what they needed to land and take off with their aircrafts known as Jennies. The landing area was a bit rough going, but so was the practice of flying in general during those early years.
Around the same time, local developers and land owners realized the potential of the flat area and foresaw the need for a landing strip as a result of the onset of air travel. Thus the idea of an airport was born. Harry Fletcher and his brother Philip (Nephews of Alan M. Fletcher, founder of Fletcher Paper Co.) began negotiations along with Robert Scott (then president of Scott Engineering) and James McQuarrie, who later sat on the County Board's Airport Committee. These individuals were fundamental in developing the plan and getting the state on board.
The tract of 80 acres, previously surveyed by the Army Corps of Engineers, was donated by Harry and Phillip. Several other 40 acres plots donated by Alpena Power Company set the proposed plan into action.
During that same time, Works Progress Administration
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
(WPA) crews were working on projects around the country. They were pressed into service to begin the clearing of the underbrush and leveling out the land in preparation for the first landing area, which would later become the main part of the runway now in existence.
On Aug 31st 1931, the airport was formally dedicated as Captain Phelps Collins Field in honor of Alpena's World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
hero who fought and died with the famed Lafayette Escadrille
Lafayette Escadrille
The Lafayette Escadrille , was an escadrille of the French Air Service, the Aéronautique militaire, during World War I composed largely of American volunteer pilots flying fighters.-History:Dr. Edmund L...
. Governor Wilber M. Brucker flew in to formally accept the Airport and it became Michigan's first State owned airport. Phelps had spent a lot of time in Alpena as a youth shortly before he became interested in flying. There is a monument in France honoring the escadrille and his name appears on it.
Construction of the first hanger, a 40x90 foot structure built of cobblestone, began in 1935 and was completed in 1937. It could accommodate four average size aircraft of the era.
The 1st Pursuit Group out of Selfridge Field
Selfridge Field
Selfridge Air National Guard Base or Selfridge ANGB is an Air National Guard installation located in Harrison Township, Michigan, near Mount Clemens.-Units and organizations:...
practiced flying maneuvers and gunnery training near Oscoda
Wurtsmith Air Force Base
Wurtsmith Air Force Base is a decommissioned United States Air Force base in northeastern Iosco County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The former base includes located approximately two miles west of Lake Huron in the Charter Township of Oscoda, bordered by Van Ettan Lake, the Au Sable State...
, Michigan. When they became aware of the facility at Alpena, they were eager to try it out. By the late 1930's they began to use the airfield, housing their personnel in tents at the Alpena County Fairgrounds. This marked the beginning of military personnel using the site for training maneuvers as they still do today.
In 1940, 400-500 Selfridge men trained as Phelps Collins with a compliment of 35 Seversky P-35
Seversky P-35
The Seversky P-35 was a fighter aircraft built in the United States by the Seversky Aircraft Company in the late 1930s. A contemporary of the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109, the P-35 was the first single-seat fighter in U.S...
's. With World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
looming on the horizon the training tempo increased. The next year they brought P-40 Warhawks and the first P-38's Lockheed Lightning fighters.
World War II
As a result of World War II, the demand for training facilities became crucial and so the field was taken over by the War Assets Administration. The rough landing strip was replaced by a military airfield, with construction beginning on 29 July 1942. When completed, Alpena Army Airfield consisted of three hard-surfaced concrete runways (5000x150 (01/19), 5030x150 (70/250), and 5030x150 (16/34). Improvements included: housing for 2,000 personnel, two mess halls, operation buildings, a hospital and three runways over a mile long and 150 feet wide. Actual construction began in 1942. This was a big project for Alpena. By this time the total acreage of the base had increased to 2,500 acres. It was activated on 19 April 1943.The planned use of the base, along with training military personnel, was to provide air defense for the Soo Locks. Controlled by the 4250th Army Air Force Base Unit. the airfield was initially assigned to Air Transport Command
Air Transport Command
Air Transport Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its mission was to meet the urgent demand for the speedy reinforcement of the United States' military bases worldwide during World War II, using an air supply system to supplement surface transport...
as a training base for long range transport pilots. In addition, the base was also tasked with certifying and training a pool of new pilots resulting from the P-47 Thunderbolt
P-47 Thunderbolt
Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
modifications for staging out aircraft to overseas bases.
It operated two sub-bases, one being Kinross Army Airfield, which later became the Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
Kincheloe Air Force Base and Raco Army Airfield
Raco Army Airfield
Raco Army Airfield is a closed military airfield. It is located west-southwest of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. It was closed in 1972.-World War II:...
, which later became a Air Defense Command CIM-10 Bomarc surface-to-air missile site during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
.
It was transferred to Air Technical Service Command in late 1944 when the ATC training program was wound down. Designated as Alpena Army Air Base, the facility was a maintenance and overhaul facility for B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
bombers produced by Ford at its Willow Run
Willow Run
The Willow Run manufacturing plant, located between Ypsilanti and Belleville, Michigan, was constructed during World War II by Ford Motor Company for the mass production of the B-24 Liberator military aircraft....
, Michigan aircraft manufacturing plant. Aircraft would be sent to Alpena for modifications prior to their deployment to overseas combat units.
Postwar era
In 1946, Alpena Army Air Base was declared surplus and turned over to the War Assets AdministrationWar Assets Administration
The War Assets Administration was established in the Office for Emergency Management, effective March 25, 1946, by EO 9689, January 31, 1946. American factorieshad produced massive amounts of weaponry during the World War II...
for disposition. It became Alpena County Regional Airport
Alpena County Regional Airport
-Top Destinations:- External links :* , official site* from USGS The National Map...
. Many of the buildings constructed in 1942 were stripped down and auctioned off and the only buildings left standing were the hospital area and big hanger built in 1943. Some of the barracks (which were very small) were sold off and moved. Some were placed in neighborhoods on Alpena's North side and were converted into private residences.
Air Defense Command
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
Air Defense Command as one of a planned deployment of forty-four Mobile radar stations to support the permanent ADC Radar network in the United States sited around the perimeter of the country. This deployment was projected to be operational by mid-1952. Funding, constant site changes, construction, and equipment delivery delayed deployment.
Exercising a right of return to the facility, ADC constructed the radar station on the northwest corner of the airport on the grounds of the former Army Air Base ground station. This site became operational in December 1954 when the 677th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron
677th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron
The 677th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 30th Air Division, Air Defense Command, stationed at Alpena Air Force Station, Michigan...
was moved to the new station from Willow Run Air Force Station, Michigan. Beneficial occupancy was achieved at this Phase I mobile radar site in late 1954. Operations began in 1956, with an AN/TPS-1D radar, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and warning station. As a GCI station, the squadron's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes.
Budget cuts forced the station to close in 1957. It was then replaced by an unmanned gap-filler radar site, designated P-34E with an AN/FPS-18 radar, located on the southwest side of the airport. It was operated as such by the 752d Radar Squadron at Empire AFS, Michigan from June 1960 until June 1968.
Today, a few buildings remain of the ADC Radar Station, and the FPS-18 support building remains of the Gap Filler site.
Air National Guard use
By January 1952, plans were in place to have joint use with the civilian airport. The facility would be instated as an ANG Permanent Field Training Site (PFTS). So began the training as we know it today. Over the years many changes have occurred, but our core mission has not changed; and still is to train Air National GuardAir National Guard
The Air National Guard , often referred to as the Air Guard, is the air force militia organized by each of the fifty U.S. states, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia of the United States. Established under Title 10 and...
personnel for protection and combat.
Once the ANG took over the site, they completed another round of construction projects totaling $2.5M dollars. Sixty-two concrete block buildings were built including two dining facilities and barracks to house 2,000 men. The North/South runway was extended to 8,000 feet. Most of the day to day operations were performed by the Alpena County Road Commission still occupying a few building on the base.
During the 1960's, the runway taxiways were extended and an air traffic control tower was added. Also during that decade, the Air Defense Command Detachment from Wurtsmith AFB, Oscoda Michigan, had 60 persons permanently stationed here in Alpena until 1972/73 at which time their unit was deactivated.
The original military personnel assigned in 1953 totaled seven individuals and an additional two military and two Federal Civil Service personnel were added the following year. The next major personnel change was in 1979 when the military personnel had their status changed from Federal Civil Service Technicians to Active Guard Reservists (AGR). About that time the civilians employed on the base became Michigan State Civil Servants.
In early 1960's the Grayling Air-to-Ground Gunnery Range Negotiations began and early during the decade the range was constructed on 1,900 acres near Grayling, Michigan
Grayling, Michigan
Grayling is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Crawford County. The population was 1,952 at the 2000 census. Grayling takes its name from the Grayling fish that was once prevalent in its lakes and streams....
. Soon after, aircraft could be seen using the site to fly sorties for aircraft gunnery and bombing exercises. This added asset increased the usage and value of the base immensely.
Units from all over the United States come annually to train, with Air National Guardsman totaling in the tens of thousands.
In 1991, another significant event took place; the site was renamed the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC). This new title was more in line with the base mission of "combat training".
With the closing of Wurtsmith AFB in 1993, the need for radar approach and control was assigned to the CRTC. Equipment and personnel to operate it were added to the facility. The mission of the CRTC was increased with the additional tasking of running an ANG Medical Readiness Training School. The schoolhouse was designed to train ANG medical units for field operations. Both of these programs added personnel to the workforce and the number of employees, military and civilian, was over 100 persons.
Construction in the early 90's was ongoing, with a major emphasis on upgrading the 1950's barracks and latrines to current standards. Thus a $3.8 million dollar dormitory upgrade project begun and office buildings and officer quarters were all remodeled.
During the period, under the command of Col Thomas G. Cuter, the base created a long range plan including a new dining facility, fire station, operations facility, squadron operations (office) buildings, a convention center, a new facility at the Grayling Range and new dormitories thus keeping the Alpena CRTC one of the premier training sites in the world.
In 1991 another tasking was added to the mission when the Air Combat Maneuver Instrumentation (ACMI) was instated. This state of the art system involves computerized communication between the aircraft and a computer satellite, providing full mission replay.
With the addition of the Fire Training Site and MOUT City in early 2000, the CRTC hosts several Fireman Schools and numerous law enforcement training courses annually.
Although the CRTC's core mission is to train ANG units, other military train here regularly. Air Force, Army, Navy Seals Marines and Latvian and Italian military have trained at the site. In recent years the CRTC has opened its gate to numerous non-profit organizations. It is not uncommon to see canine training, emergency response training along with other training maneuvers running all at the same time. Youth programs have expanded from the traditional Civil Air Patrol Cadets to include ROTC, JRROTC, Boy/Girl Scouts of America, Freedom Academy Students, Michigan Youth Camp Cadets.
With the addition of 26 Traditional Guardsman positions in 2000, the number of total base personnel now is over 200 employees. AGR's, Traditional Guardsman, Michigan State Civil Service and contracted employees make up the group. Military members come from all over the United States as well as local residents. Prior to their assignment at the base, many personnel have served the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines.
Personnel have been called to give aid for local area flooding and deployed to Hurricane Katrina relief mission. Many have volunteered and been deployed overseas in support of operations: Dessert Storm, Desert Shield, Iraqi Freedom, Joint Forge, Jump Start, Enduring Freedom, Northern Watch, Northern Eagle and Deep Freeze.