Grand Island Army Airfield | |
|---|---|
| Part of Strategic Air Command | |
| Hall County, nearGrand Island, Nebraska | |
 2006 USGS Orthophoto | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Air Force Base |
| Location | |
  Grand Island AAF | |
| Coordinates | 40°58′03″N98°18′35″W / 40.96750°N 98.30972°W /40.96750; -98.30972 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1942 |
| In use | 1942-1946 |
Grand Island Army Airfield (IATA:GRI,ICAO:KGRI,FAALID:GRI) was aUnited States Army Air Forces airfield which operated from 1942 to 1946. After its closure, the base was reopened asCentral Nebraska Regional Airport.
Grand Island Army Airfield was opened in 1942, and was one of eleven USAAF training bases inNebraska duringWorld War II. A portion of the 2,125-acre (8.60 km2) site was a former national defense airport. The site is bordered on all sides by farm ground. The Army Airfield was constructed, in part, over the pre-existing Grand Island Arrasmith Airport. To convert the existing airport into a military airfield, 173 buildings and structures were constructed at Grand Island Army Airfield.
The airfield was activated on 1 April 1943, under the command ofSecond Air Force Headquarters,Colorado Springs Army Air Base,Colorado. It was used in the early part of the war to train bomber air crews. Later in the war, the field was a staging area for bomber crews preparing for assignments inGuam andTinian in thePacific Theater of Operations. It was also aStrategic Air Command base in 1946. Major engine and airframe repair facilities were available forB-17 Flying Fortress andB-29 Superfortress bombers. One bombardment training wing (Second Air Force), and three bombardment groups (Twentieth Air Force) were attached to Grand Island during the war.
The 242nd (Operational Training Unit, Very Heavy) of the17th Bombardment Training Wing commanded the support elements at Grand Island AAF as part ofAir Technical Service Command.
KnownB-29 Superfortress units that trained at Grand Island AAF were:
With the departure of the B-29 units the USAAF closed Grand Island Army Airfield on 31 October 1946. The facility was turned over to the City of Grand Island for use as a municipal airport and industrial park.
However the military use of the base did not end entirely. During the 1960s, Grand Island Regional Airport was utilized byConvair F-102 Delta Darts of the328th Fighter Wing,326th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (Air Defense) ofAir Defense Command as a dispersal base. These aircraft were deployed fromRichards-Gebaur Air Force Base outside ofKansas City, Missouri. These dispersal flights ended in 1968.
Today, about a dozen military buildings still exist atCentral Nebraska Regional Airport including several aircraft hangars, some former warehouses being used for commercial storage and several sheds along with the old parachute building.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from theAir Force Historical Research Agency
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