Peterson Air Force Base

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"Peterson Field" redirects here. For the IATA, ICAO, & FAA information (COS, KCOS) for the airfield
shared by this military installation, see Colorado Springs Airport. For airfield near Plains,
see Peterson Field (Georgia).

Peterson Air Force Base

Part of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC)

eponym: 1st Lt Edward J. Peterson

location: El Paso County, Colorado

nearest city: Colorado Springs, Colorado

Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) headquarters moved[clarification needed] to Peterson

AFB Building 1 in December 1987[1] from the Chidlaw Building,[2] and the facility

was renamed the Hartinger Building in April 2003[3] NORAD moved to building

2 (out of picture, at bottom) in January 1988 (renamed the Eberhart-Findley

Building in 2012).[4]

Coordinates 38°49′25″N 104°41′42″W[citation needed]

Site information

Controlled by United States Air Force

 Site history

Built 1942

In use 1942–present

Garrison information

Garrison 21st Space Wing

Peterson Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force Base that shares an airfield with the adjacent Colorado
Springs Municipal Airport, home to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD),
the Air Force Space Command headquarters, and United States Northern
Command (USNORTHCOM) headquarters. Developed as a World War II air support base for Camp
Carson, the facility conducted Army Air Forces training and supported Cold War air defense centers
at the nearby Ent Air Force Base, Chidlaw Building, and Cheyenne Mountain Complex. The base
has been the location of the Air Force Space Command headquarters since 1987 and has had
NORAD/NORTHCOM command center operations since the 2006 Cheyenne Mountain
Realignment placed the nearby Cheyenne Mountain Complex centers on standby.

Contents

 1Operations
 2History
o 2.1Army Air Base, Colorado Springs
o 2.2Peterson Field
o 2.3Bomber Commands
o 2.4USAF installation
o 2.5Primary installation
 3References
 4External links

Operations[edit]
Peterson AFB has flight operations by the 302d Airlift Wing. Current units at the base are:

 21st Space Wing (host unit) with 3 local groups

 Headquarters Air Force Space Command
 Headquarters NORAD/USNORTHCOM, and operations centers
 United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command - U.S. Army Strategic Command
(Forward): headquarters and U.S. Army (SMDC) 1st Space Brigade
 302d Airlift Wing (Air Force Reserve Command) with 3 local groups
 544th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group headquarters
 561st Network Operations Squadron (“Gryphons”)
 Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC), Detachment 4.[5]
 USAF Academy Band
 Space Logistics Directorate (SMC)
 Colorado Wing, Civil Air Patrol (civilian auxiliary)
The base's Retiree Activities Office has the representative for the Air Force Retiree Council Area IV
(Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming).[6]

History[edit]
Colorado military construction during the buildup of US training installations prior to the bombing of
Pearl Harbor included the 1940 Lowry bombardier school at Denver and Camp Carson south
of Colorado Springs (HQ completed January 31, 1942). Sites "in the vicinity of Colorado Springs"
were assessed in the summer of 1941 for a USAAF airfield,[7] and during April 1942 the Photographic
Reconnaissance Operational Training Unit (PROTU) was activated in a leased facility[where?] at
Colorado Springs.[8] On May 6, 1942, the site adjacent to the airfield of the 1926 Colorado Springs
Municipal Airport was selected,[9] and the airport's airfield was subsequently leased as an "air support
field"* for Camp Carson under the "air support base development program". In May 1942, units such
as the 5th Mapping Squadron (from Bradley Field) arrived and used city facilities. The "Second
Photographic Group Reconnaissance" (activated 7 May 1942 at Will Rogers Field)[10] transferred to
Colorado Springs, and the "2nd Group ... headquarters was situated in a former garage across the
street from the Post Office, barracks were in the city auditorium...and the mess hall was located at
the busy horseshoe counter of the Sante Fe R.R. station."[11] Land at the Broadmoor was used for
maneuvers, and the 2nd Group initially operated without aircraft.[11] Personnel[specify] were also "housed
temporarily at Colorado College" and a youth camp near the Woodmen sanitorium.[12] (the 14th
Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron was located at the Kaufman Building on Tejon St.)[13]
Army Air Base, Colorado Springs[edit]
Not to be confused with the 1943 Colorado Springs Tent Camp.
"Army Air Base, Colorado Springs",* construction began after May 10, 1942, on "nothing more
than a large patch of Colorado plain",[14] and the installation was placed under the
Headquarters, United States "AAF [on] 11 Jun 1942".[9] The 373d Base HQ and Air Base Sq was
activated[where?] as the base operating unit on 20 Jun 1942 (replaced by the 214th AAF Base Unit in
1944), and the base was assigned to the 2nd Air Force on 22 June. On July 7, 1942, "HQ PROTU"
was on the "Army Air Base, Colorado Springs" and was ordered to provide "four to five months of
training to each individual."[14] During air base construction, the 20th Combat Mapping Squadron was
activated on July 23, 1942, and used the Alamo Garage[15] on Tejon Street.[16] Runways were
completed in August 1942,[12] and eponym 1st Lt Edward J. Peterson crashed 8 August 1942 on take
off (1st Coloradoan killed at the airfield.)
Peterson Field[edit]
For the "Colorado Springs Hqs 2AF" west of "Peterson Fld"[17] after its 1943 move from Fort George
Wright to a leased facility in[18] "Colorado Springs",[19] Colorado, see Second Air Force.
Peterson Field was the airfield named on December 13, 1942,[20] and included the runway used by
both the municipal airport and the military installation:[21] "Army Air Base, Peterson Field", which had
begun publishing the Wingspread base newspaper by July 11, 1942.[22] The "18 Dep Rpr Sq" was
assigned to the military installation from 19 January – 29 April 1943, and the installation was
assigned to the Third Air Force (5 March – 1 October 1943) and by the end of the 1943 summer had
tar paper barracks, an officer's club, and a theater in a Quonset.[23] After the base transferred
to Second Air Force on 1 October 1943,[9] in June 1944 Peterson Field began fighter pilot
training[specify] with P-40N Warhawks.[20] "In March 1943 the Third Air Force took over the photographic
reconnaissance Operational Training Unit which had been operating at Peterson Field...under the
direct control of the Director of Photography since April 1942."[24]
Bomber Commands[edit]
The 4th Heavy Bombardment Processing Headquarters ("4 H Bomb Processing HQ") was activated
on 10 June 1943 (the 1st B-29 landed at Peterson Field in the summer of 1943),[23] and bomber
training by the 214th AAF Base Unit (Combat Crew Training School, Heavy) B-24 Liberator)[failed
verification]
began after the 383rd Bombardment Group relocated from Geiger Field, Washington[20] on 26
October 1943. In 1944 (11 June – 20 October), the XXI Bomber Command was assigned to
Peterson; and the "HQ and HQ Sq" of XXII Bomber Command was assigned 14 October 1944 – 13
February 1945, and by 17 August 1944, 4 bomb wings (313th through 316th) were assigned to the
base—the last left on 7 June 1945.[9] The 263rd AAF Base Unit became the Peterson "base
operating unit" on 8 March 1945 (transferred to Andrews Field on 17 March 1946).[9]:8,471 The Army Air
Forces Instructor School[specify] opened at Peterson Field in April 1945,[20] and the base was one of
several that transferred to Continental Air Forces on 16 April (VIII Bomber Command arrived 17
August 1945).
The base was inactivated 31 December 1945 after the 13th Bombardment Wing (17 October)
and VIII Bomber Command (c. 15 December) departed, and site management by the base operating
unit ended on 17 December.[25] In 1946, Peterson's last AAF Base Units were discontinued: 260th
AAF Base Unit (Fighter Wing) in January, the 202nd AAF Base Unit (Special) in February, and the
268th AAF Base Unit (Instrument Instructor Unit) in March and the 201st (Headquarters Base Unit)
in April (the 72nd Fighter Wing was at the base from "4 Jan 46-9 Apr 46"). The 703rd AAF Base Unit
(Hq, 53d AACS Group) moved to Kelly Field in February. Designated surplus on 29 July 1946,[9] "the
U.S. Government returned control[specify] of the [air]field to the City of Colorado Springs".[1] Many of the
base buildings were torn down.[1] In 1946, Tonopah AAF (Nevada, on 1 October), Clovis AAF (New
Mexico, 16 October), and Casper AAF (Wyoming, on 15 December) became detached installations
of the inactive base for a short period.
During planning for the new United States Air Force, Colorado's Arlington Auxiliary Army
Airfield became a detached installation of the surplus base (1 January – c. 10 October 1947), and
the "468th Construction Co (15th AF)" became the inactive base's operating unit in February 1947.
The base with new construction was activated 29 September 1947 – 15 January 1948, then was
"surplus"[9] until after the notice in November 1950 to reactivate Air Defense Command. The "23
Photo Sq 19 May 43-9 Aug 48" remained throughout both inactive/surplus periods, and the "4600
Maint & Sup Sq" was established at the surplus base on 1 December 1950).[9]
USAF installation[edit]
The military base at the municipal field reactivated as an off-base installation of Ent Air Force
Base on 1 Jan 1951 and was operated by Ent's 4600 Air Base Group.[9] After being assigned to
Peterson on 1 March 1952,[9] the 4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron had subordinate
organizations at the "Defense Force Headquarters [on] Hamilton Air Force Base, California,
at Kansas City, Missouri,[specify] and at Stewart Air Force Base" New York.[26] The 4600th Group
became the 4600th Air Base Wing on 8 April 1958 (moved to Peterson on 18 October 1972).[27]:40 The
4600th was replaced by the 46th Aerospace Defense Wing on 1 April 1975.[27] In January 1968, Air
Training Command's 3253d Pilot Training Squadron at Peterson Field began light aircraft
indoctrination for cadets. These operations moved to the United States Air Force Academy on 21
March 1974.[28] The military base at Peterson Field gained its own base commander[specify] on 28
February 1975.
Primary installation[edit]
Designated Peterson Air Force Base on March 1, 1975, when Ent AFB was being closed, Peterson
was the last of the April 1945 Continental Air Forces airbases to be named an air force base. Also on
March 1, Peterson assumed several functions from Ent AFB, which became the "Ent Annex" of
Peterson, 18 July 1975 – 7 February 1978[9] (Peterson's off-base "Temporary Military Facility" was
opened for space training by 1986). During the first part of the reorganization that broke up
ADCOM,[27]:46 the base "transferred to the Strategic Air Command" on October 1, 1979[1] (units
transferred included the 47th Comm Sq to AFCS and the 46th Wing & 4602nd Computer Services
Sq to SAC).[27]:47 ADCOM HQ offices at the Chidlaw Building became the Aerospace Defense
Center at Peterson on December 1, 1979.
Peterson's NORAD COC Backup Facility achieved Full Operational Capability on 16 November
1982[4] from the Cheyenne Mountain Complex which was placed on warm standby.
The 1st Space Wing replaced the 46th Aerospace Defense Wing on 1 April 1983. Thereafter the 1st
Space Wing transferred host unit responsibility to the 3d Space Support Wing activated on 15
October 1986. Army and other units transferred from the former Ent AFB Federal Building to
Peterson Building 2[citation needed] (renamed the Eberhart-Findley Building in October 2012).[4] On 15 May
1992, the personnel and equipment of both the 1st SW and 3d SSW merged to become the 21st
Space Wing. Peterson's Space Analysis Center was at the corner of Academy & Fountain Blvds by
2004 before moving on base to bldg 1470, and in 2004 the Space Operations School used a building
along I-25 at Woodmen Drive.

External image

Peterson.AF.mil gallery

JFK's Air Force One at Peterson during 1963 Chidlaw

Building/Cheyenne Mountain visit

MAFFS aircraft at PAFB

The Cheyenne Mountain Realignment moved NORAD/USNORTHCOM operations to Peterson AFB

in 2006. In 2006 the 76th Space Control Facility was constructed at Peterson[29] (the squadron
activated 22 January 2008). The MAFFS aircraft that fought the 2012 Waldo Canyon fire and
2013 Black Forest fire at Colorado Springs flew from Peterson AFB.
Some buildings from the Second World War have survived. Buildings remaining in 1996 were "the
terminal, now the Peterson Air and Space Museum, the Broadmoor hangar, and the Spanish House"
next to the museum,[30] along with Building 391, Building 365, supply warehouses and office
buildings, and aircraft hangars and maintenance shops.[12]