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Hill
Field was activated on 7 November 1940 when Lieutenant
Colonel Morris Berman arrived for duty as the first commanding
officer. The base was named after Major Ployer P. Hill,
a test pilot who was killed in a crash of the prototype
of the B-17 in 1935 at Wright Field, Ohio. Strategically
located close to transportation lines, the base was operated
by Ogden Air Depot as a maintenance and supply depot.
Four 7,500-foot runways were completed in September 1941,
and by 1943 construction of the base was nearly complete.
Aircraft maintenance and depot supply began in mid-1941
and overhaul of B-17s in April 1942; in February 1943
a B-24 assembly line was opened.
The Ogden Air Depot has changed names four times: the
Ogden Air Service Command, Ogden Air Technical Service
Command, Ogden Air Materiel Area (OOAMA) and on 1 April
1974 the Ogden Air Logistics Center (OO-ALC). Hill Field
was renamed Hill Air Force Base on 5 February 1948.
During the Korean War, Ogden overhauled B-29 and B-26
bombers. Jet fighter maintenance began in 1953 with the
F-89 and F-84; and in 1957 with the F-102 and F-101. Maintenance
of the F-4 began in 1965 and of the F-16 in 1979, while
the C-130 and OV-10 were assigned to the base in 1988.
The Ogden Arsenal was transferred to Hill AFB on 1 April
1955, and Ogden was immediately assigned responsibility
for Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and for most Air
Force airmunitions. A facility to test airmunitions was
completed in 1964 at the Hill AFB Bombing and Gunnery
Range in the desert west of the Great Salt Lake. The facility
was renamed the Utah Test and Training Range, and operation
was transferred to the Air Force Systems Command in 1979;
however, Hill still manages range property.
Ogden began missile management with its assignment in
1954 of the Snark, a subsonic intercontinental missile.
The Bomarc interceptor missile was assigned in 1957 and
the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)
in January 1959. Boeing assembled the Minuteman at Hill,
completing the first missile in July 1962. The Titan II
ICBM was assigned in 1965 and the Advanced Intercontinental
Ballistic Missile in 1975. President Reagan named the
latter "Peacekeeper," and it became operational
in December 1986. Commodities managed by Ogden include
aircraft wheels and brakes (beginning in 1952), flight
simulators (1955), and tires and tubes (1958). Photographic
supply was assigned in 1954, and photographic and reconnaissance
equipment in 1965.
Flying organizations assigned to the base in the 1950s
and 1960s included the 28th Military Airlift Squadron
(C-124), 4677th Defense Systems Evaluation Squadron (TB-29
and B-57), 461st Bombardment Wing (B-26 and B-57), and,
in 1971, the 1550th Aircrew Training and Test Wing (helicopter
combat training). The 388th Tactical Fighter Wing (F-4D)
arrived from Thailand in 1976 and transitioned to F-16s
in 1978. The 419th Tactical Fighter Wing (AFRES) converted
from F-105s to F-16s in 1984.
Since World War II, a new 13,500-foot runway was completed
in 1957 and new maintenance supply and administration
buildings have improved base capabilities. A new chapel,
housing projects, base exchange, commissary, and recreation
facilities have improved the quality of life of personnel
assigned to Hill.
Charles G. Hibbard
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