Nellis Air Force Base

Nellis Air Force Base
Part of Air Combat Command (ACC)
Located near: Las Vegas, Nevada
Coordinates	36°14′10″N 115°02′03″W
Type	Air Force Base
Site information
Controlled by	United States Air Force
Site history
Built	1941
In use	1941-Present
Garrison information
Garrison	57th Wing (USAF)

Airfield information
IATA: LSV ICAO: KLSV FAA LID: LSV
Summary
Elevation AMSL	1,867 ft / 569 m
Website	www.nellis.af.mil
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 03L/21R 10,123 3,085 Concrete 03R/21L 10,055 3,065 Concrete
Sources: official site and FAA

Nellis AFB

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Location of Nellis AFB, Nevada

Nellis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base, located approximately 7.1 miles (11.4 km) northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is under the jurisdiction of Air Combat Command (ACC).

The base is home of the largest and most demanding advanced combat air-training mission in the world. It is the pinnacle of advanced air combat aviation training. The base's all-encompassing mission is accomplished through a wide array of aircraft, and its good year-round flying weather and location make it ideal for advanced combat aviation training. With today's missions of air, space and cyberspace, Nellis has proudly become the "Home of the Warfighter"

Overview

The 57th Wing provides advanced combat training for composite strike forces, which includes every type of aircraft in the Air Force inventory. Training is commonly conducted in conjunction with air and grounds units of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and allied forces from throughout the world. Nellis also conducts operational testing and develops tactics. The base also supports combat search and rescue and remotely piloted aircraft operations worldwide.

Among the many units assigned to Nellis AFB, it is the home of the United States Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, The Thunderbirds. "America's Ambassadors in Blue". Equipped with the F-16 Fighting Falcon, objectives of the squadron are to demonstrate to the public the professional competence of Air Force members, to support Air Force community relations and people-to-people programs and to support Air Force recruiting and retention programs.

The base itself covers more than 14,000 acres, and its vast ranges provide 15,000 square miles of airspace for flying operations. Because of its size and breadth of mission, the base is home to more squadrons than any other base in the Air Force. Nellis' work force of approximately 12,000 military and civilian people makes it one of the largest single employers in southern Nevada.

Units

Assigned Units

• 99th Air Base Wing
• USAF Warfare Center
• 57th Wing
• 98th Range Wing

Tenant Units

• 53rd Test and Evaluation Group
• 505th Operations Group
• 926th Group (Air Force Reserve)
• USAF Air Warfare Battlelab
• Joint Unmanned Aircraft System Center of Excellence

History

Nellis Air Force Base is named in honor of 1st Lieutenant William Harrell Nellis (1916-1944). He was born in Santa Rita, New Mexico on 8 March 1916, and his family relocated to Searchlight, Nevada as a child. He remained in the town until he graduated the eighth grade then moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he attended Las Vegas High School. He graduated in 1936. Nellis enlisted in the Enlisted Reserve Corps on 9 December 1942. He reported for active duty in the United States Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet on 2 March 1943.

After completing flight training at Albany Army Airfield, Georgia in January 1944, He was deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO) and assigned to the Ninth Air Force 406th Fighter Group, 513th Fighter Squadron, where he participated in aerial combat missions flying the P-47 Thunderbolt. Most of the missions flown by Lt. Nellis were air-to-ground operations in support of General George S. Patton's Third United States Army. He was shot down in combat three times. On 27 December 1944 during his 70th mission, Lt. Nellis's aircraft was hit by ground fire while strafing a German convoy near Bastogne, Belgium. His plane burst into flames and plunged into the ground, and was killed.

0n 30 April 1950, the United States Air Force officially renamed Las Vegas Air Force Base to Nellis Air Force Base. A dedication ceremony to mark the occasion took place 20 May 1950, with Lieutenant Nellis' family in attendance.

Origins

In 1929, what would become Nellis AFB was nothing more than a dirt runway, a water well and a small operations shack for Western Air Express Airlines.

In October 1940, Major David Schlatter, of the United States Army Air Corps, surveyed several areas in Utah, Arizona and Nevada looking for a site to locate the first American flexible aerial gunnery school. Major Schlatter was particularly interested in the Nevada site since about 90 percent of the area north, northwest and northeast of Las Vegas was desert wasteland. After surveying several areas in Utah, Arizona and Nevada Maj.Schlatter settled on the Nevada site in October 1940, since about 90 percent of the area north, northwest and northeast of Las Vegas was desert wasteland.

A detachment of five staff officers of the 79th Air Base Group, commanded by Lt. Col. Martinus Stenseth, took up residence in a small basement post office in the Las Vegas federal building in May 1941. A month later, the military population of Las Vegas Army Airfield more than doubled with the arrival of five administrative noncommissioned officers and other support personnel.

During the construction of the airfield, there were no services or facilities. Enlisted men were quartered in Work Project Administration barracks in town. The motor pool consisted of six vintage trucks and a semi-trailer often parked by the barracks. Supply and logistics had not yet been organized, and mechanics had to borrow nuts, bolts and old parts from service stations in Las Vegas and gasoline and oil from the Civilian Conservation Corps. Construction of permanent base facilities began in earnest in mid-1941 for barracks to house 3,000 people.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

External Links

• J. Catherene Wilman, A Pictorial History of Nellis Air Force Base 1941-1996 (Nellis AFB, 1997)
• Nellis AFB at GlobalSecurity.org
• 8081rt: Red Flag and Nellis AFB videos
• Nellis Spotters: Nellis photos and videos
• "U.S Air Force AIM Points: Yes, those were MiGs flying over Nevada". Air Force Times. 2006-11-14.
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective May 16, 2024
• FAA Terminal Procedures for LSV, effective May 16, 2024
• Resources for this U.S. military airport:
  • FAA airport information for LSV
  • AirNav airport information for KLSV
  • ASN accident history for LSV
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KLSV