Nellis Air Force Base

Nellis Air Force Base
Part of Air Combat Command (ACC)
Located near: Las Vegas, Nevada
A flight of Aggressor F-15 Eagles and F-16 Fighting Falcon "Agressor" aircraft assigned to the 64th and 65th Aggressor squadrons at Nellis Air Force Base.
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 98th Range Wing 99th Air Base Wing

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

class=notpageimage|

Location of Nellis AFB, Nevada

1994 USGS Orthophoto

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

• 57th Wing (57 WG)

The 57th Wing is the largest composite flying wing in the United States Air Force. It provides advanced aerospace training to world-wide combat air forces and showcases aerospace power to the world while overseeing the flying operations at Nellis. Major components of the wing are:

57th Adversary Tactics Group (57 ATG) (tail code: WA)

The 57 ATG consists of F-15 Eagle and F-16 Falcon Aggressor air and space squadrons that replicate adversary threat tactics while training combat air forces aircrews. Primary training organization for Red Flag, an advanced aerial combat training exercise.

USAF Weapons School (tail code: WA)

The USAF Weapons School teaches graduate-level instructor courses that provide the world's most advanced training in weapons and tactics employment to officers of the combat air forces. It's weapons squadrons operate a wide variety of aircraft at Nellis and at Geographically Separated bases across the United States.

USAF Air Demonstration Squadron

"America's Ambassadors in Blue", the Thunderbirds have performed aerial mastery in state-of-the-art combat fighters for more than 300 million people in all 50 states and 60 countries around the world.

United States Air Force Advanced Maintenance and Munitions Officers School

A non-flying organization, the school provides graduate-level instruction to maintenance and munitions officers in the USAF distinctive capability of Agile Combat Support (ACS).

• 98th Range Wing (98 RANW)

The 98th Range Wing operates, maintains, and develops the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR). The Wing provides instrumentation for Green Flag West at the National Training Center (NTC) and Leach Lake Tactics Range (LLTR).

• 99th Air Base Wing (99 ABW)

The 99th Air Base Wing, activated in October 1995, is the host wing for Nellis Air Force Base. The wing oversees base day-to-day operations and provides support for more than 10,000 personnel assigned to Nellis AFB and the Nevada Test & Training Range.

Major Tenant Units

• 53d Test and Evaluation Group

A Geographically Separated Unit (GSU), the group is responsible for the overall execution of the Eglin Air Force Base's 53d Wing's flying activities at Nellis AFB.

422d Test and Evaluation Squadron (422 TES) (Tail Code: OT)

The 422 TES is a composite squadron that executes HQ ACC-directed operational test and evaluation for all aircraft assigned to the command. At Nellis, this includes the A/OA-10, F-15C, F-15E, F-16CM and the F-22.

• 505th Operations Group (505 OG)

A non-flying unit, the 505 OG develops and documents proven and innovative operational procedures

• 926th Group (Air Force Reserve)

An Air Force Reserve unit under Tenth Air Force, integrated into regular Air Force units at Nellis.

• Air Expeditionary Force Battlelab (AEFB)

The mission of the AWB is to improve expeditionary combat capability

• Joint Unmanned Aircraft System Center of Excellence

Provides support to the Joint Operator and Services by facilitating the development and integration of common unmanned aircraft system operating standards, capabilities, concepts, technologies, doctrine, tactics, techniques, procedures and training.

History

Lt. William Harrell Nellis, the official namesake of Nellis AFB

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 (LVAAF) 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 Works Progress 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.

World War II

Las Vegas Army Gunnery School, December 1942

Construction of permanent base facilities began in earnest in mid-1941 for barracks to house 3,000 people. By the time of the Pearl Harbor Attack and the United States entry into World War II, there were 10 AT-6 Texan advanced flight trainers and 17 Martin B-10 bombers at the airfield. The base was officially activated as Las Vegas AAF on 20 December 1941. It was placed under the jurisdiction of the Western Flying Training Command, Air Corps Flying Training Command. The 82d Flying Training Wing (Flexible Gunnery) was assigned by Flying Training Command as the primary instructional organization.

The first B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers arrived in 1942, giving students their first chance to train in the gun turret of an actual combat plane and providing aircraft to train co-pilots in ground and transition school. At the height of World War II, 600 gunnery students and 215 co-pilots graduated from LVAAF every five weeks, and more than 45,000 B-17 gunners were trained.

Over the course of the war, the gunnery school at Las Vegas AAF expanded greatly to accommodate the large numbers of students. By 1944, students on gunnery missions fired from four-engined B-17, B-24 and B-40 aircraft while two-engine aircraft towed targets and single-engine tactical aircraft simulated attacks on the bombers. Unfortunately, towed targets hardly resembled attacking fighter aircraft, but one device that more closely simulated combat conditions was a camera gun that students "fired" at fighter aircraft flying in normal attack patterns toward the bombers. These cameras, which came into general use during 1944 and 1945, posed problems relating to developing the film and measuring the results for each student, but in conjunction with greater standardization of training and other improvements, they greatly reduced the shortcomings in flexible gunnery training.

Also, to make training more realistic, the 82d FTW used "frangible" bullets to fire at specially built Bell RP-63 aircraft that simulated conventional fighter attacks against bombers. The bullets were made in such a way that they splattered into powder when they struck the aircraft. The RP-63s were equipped with radiosonic equipment to cause a wing lamp to flash, showing gunners when they had scored. Unfortunately, the number of hits registered by the recording devices was usually disappointingly small--whether because of misses or a failure of the recording mechanisms was unclear

In March 1945, the base converted from B-17 training to B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber gunnery training, with the population of the base peaking with nearly 11,000 officers and enlisted personnel. Of those, more than 4,700 sere students. Among the training devices used in the instruction of B-29 gunners was the manipulation trainer--12 towers arranged to resemble a formation of planes. The towers ranged in height from 10 to 40 feet, each equipped with 2 nose, 2 tail, 2 ring sighting, and 4 blister positions. As students in these positions faced simulated attacks from PT-13 and PT-17 aircraft, they "fired" camera guns at the attacking fighters

Flexible gunnery training ended shortly after the surrender of Japan. With World War II ended, the base converted to the role of a separation and demobilization center. During 1945 and 1946 thousands of soldiers received separation physicals and final pay at Las Vegas Army Airfield on their return to civilian life. Activities at the base wound down until 31 December 1946 when AAF Training Command closed the airfield. It was placed on caretaker status on 28 August 1946, and was inactivated on 31 December 1946.

United States Air Force

Air Training Command

Las Vegas AAF was re-activated on 30 August 1947 by Air Training Command as a subinstallation of Mather Army Airfield, California under the ATC Flying Training Division. Initially the Army Air Forces wanted to conduct a course to train navigator, bombardier, and radar operator training at the base, but because of problems with sharing the airfield with local civilian interests, the training was shifted to Mather.

In 1948 Air Training Command began rebuilding its training programs. After the massive demoralization after World War II, plans were made by the new United States Air Force to rebuild a combat force capable of defending against the threat of the Soviet Union after the breakout of the Cold War. On 13 January 1948, the facility was renamed Las Vegas Air Force Base. It was then assigned as a sub-installation of Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, on 1 April 1948 to provide advanced training for fighter pilots.

3595th Pilot Training Wing

To provide advanced training of fighter pilots, ATC returned Las Vegas AFB to active status on 1 April 1948 and established the 3595th Pilot Training Wing (Advanced Single-Engine) on 22 December. However, training did not begin at Las Vegas until 1 March 1949. Training squadrons assigned to the wing were:

• 3595th Training (later Fighter Interceptor) Squadron, 22 December 1948
• 3996th Training (later Fighter Interceptor) Squadron, 27 July 1949

The outbreak of the Korean War on 25 June 1950 indicated that ATC would soon see an increase in training requirements. By 1 July the Air Force had directed ATC to accelerate training to fill the needs of a new 95-wing Air Force. With operational commands immersed in the war, it was left to ATC to train pilots for combat. The first school opened at Nellis AFB in Nevada. ATC redesignated the 3595th Pilot Training Wing (Advanced Single-Engine) as the 3595th Training Wing (Combat Crew).

On 17 July 1950, Nellis began a special training program to provide 115 combat-ready F-51 Mustang pilots for the Far East Air Forces and 92 combat-ready F-80 Shooting Star pilots to serve as replacements for casualties in the first months of the Korean campaign. Effective 1 September 1950, the advanced single-engine pilot training mission at Nellis was transferred to Craig AFB, Alabama. On 1 October, Nellis AFB was elevated to primary installation status, with all base management functions transferred from Williams AFB.

Nellis assumed fighter-bomber training, and Nellis established its USAF Air Crew School (Fighter) on 14 November 1950. In early 1951, with the large number of Air Force wings converting from conventional to jet aircraft, ATC established in April an on-the-job training program to turn out more jet mechanics. Using recently graduated airplane and engine mechanics, ATC assigned these individuals to Nellis to learn jet aircraft maintenance.

A major reconstruction project at Nellis AFB was performed between 1951 and 1954. A re-design of the airfield with jet-capable runways, a new configuration of the taxiways and an expansion of the aircraft parking ramp was performed. In addition, the temporary wartime wooden structures of the World War II gunnery school were replaced with permanent concrete and steel structures of support building and barracks, including a base housing facility for married personnel. The first Wherry houses were completed in 1958, with updated Capehart houses being completed in February 1960.

ATC Fighter Weapons School

In February 1949, ATC officials directed Las Vegas AFB to study the possibility of establishing a central gunnery school with both training and research capabilities. On 15 May 1949, with USAF approval, ATC opened its USAF Aircraft Gunnery School at Las Vegas. The 3525th Aircraft Gunnery Squadron was activated on 11 February, before the school opened, Las Vegas AFB officials hosted their first aerial USAF Gunnery Meet.

Because of heavy commitments to the Korean War effort, the Nellis Gunnery School was converted to combat crew training. This mission would last through the end of 1953. Effective 1 January 1954, the school graduated its last Combat Crew Training Class and assumed, as its primary mission, the training of gunnery instructors for the USAF. On that date, the squadron received a new title, the USAF Fighter Weapons School.

Under Air Training Command, the F-51, F-80, F-84, and F-86 would be the primary aircraft used for instruction at the school. However, ATC suspended training at its Nellis-based fighter weapons school in late 1956. The reason for the suspension was because of the almost total failure of the F-86 Sabre aircraft used at Nellis.

The school was planned to have received F-100s in FY1958. Instead, those aircraft went to Tactical Air Command operational units. In January 1957 the ATC commander told the Air Force chief of staff that the only way ATC could continue to operate the school was if the Air Force would agree to provide first-line aircraft on a timely basis. If that couldn't be agreed upon, then ATC felt the school mission should be handed to TAC.

In December USAF officials announced that TAC would assume responsibility for the fighter weapons school, which it did on 1 February 1958 with the transfer of jurisdiction of Nellis to Tactical Air Command.

Tactical Air Command

By the end of 1957, ATC basing structure had changed considerably as the result of tactical commitments, decreased student load, and fund shortages. During 1958 ATC discontinued its Flying Training and Technical Training Air Force. As a result, jurisdiction of Nellis AFB was transferred to Tactical Air Command on 1 July 1958. This reassignment came about as the result of a USAF-directed study of the feasibility of putting combat crew training under the appropriate zone of interior operational commands.

4520th Combat Crew Training Wing

The assets of the ATC 3595th PTW were re-designated initially as the 4520th Combat Crew Training Group by TAC on 1 Jul 1958. The group was upgraded to Wing sttus on 1 May 1961.

The 4520th's mission was the graduate training of fighter pilots. Soon after the transfer to TAC, the F-100C and F-100D entered the school inventory, providing complete mission capabilities. In 1961, F-105Ds were also supplied to the 4520th Combat Crew Training Wing. The wing taught veteran pilots in all phases of fighter weapon employment, finds the pilot proficient upon graduation in air-to-air gunnery, rocketry, conventional and nuclear bombing, aeria1 refueling, and combat navigation. Mid-1965 marked the beginning of the F-4 Phantom II Instructor Course.

When pilots would rotate back from combat units in Southeast Asia, some of the best of the best would become Fighter Weapons instructors at Nellis. There they would teach the best young pilots from other combat units to become experts in the fighter they flew and all the weapons it used. 4520th Combat Crew Training Wing was seen as a core for a fighter weapons center. On 1 September 1966, the wing was reorganized and re-designated as the 4525th Fighter Weapons Wing.

4525th Fighter Weapons Wing

On 1 January 1966 the USAF Fighter Weapons School, and activated as a formal unit at Nellis and was comprised of three divisions, the F-100, F-4, and F-105. The school, however was discontinued, and inactivated by HQ TAC on 1 Sep 1966, and merged with the 4520th CCTW, being re-designated as the 4525th Fighter Weapons Wing.

474th Tactical Fighter Wing

On 20 January 1968 the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing was activated at Nellis AFB, giving the base an operational Tactical Fighter Wing, assigned to Twelfth Air Force.

Tactical components of the wing received their initial F-1lls between November 1968 and March 1969 and began training for proficiency in the new weapon system.

In February 1970, the 474th Wing became a tenant at Nellis AFB. Wing assumed an operationally ready status between 31 January and 8 September 1971, and from September 1971 initiated tactical exercises for the maintenance of tactical operational proficiency.

57th Fighter Weapons Wing

The 57th Fighter Weapons Wing was activated at Nellis on 15 October 1969, replacing the 4525th FWW as a tennant wing. Although Nellis remained under the jurisdiction of Tactical Air Command, the HQ USAF-controlled (AFCON) 57th FWW gave the wing at Nellis a permanent lineage and history that the TAC provisional wing could not carry.

At Nellis, it trained tactical fighter aircrews, conducted operational tests and evaluations, demonstrated tactical fighter weapon systems, and developed fighter tactics. As new fighter aircraft entered the inventory, more Instructor Courses were added to the curriculum. The F-111 entered the FWS inventory in 1971 followed in 1974 by the A-7. The first totally air-to-air school, the F-15, was certified in 1977. The succeeding year found the A-10 phased into the curriculum. And in 1982 the F-16 came on board.

The 57th assumed operational control of "Red Flag" exercises in October 1979; developing realistic combat training operations featuring adversary tactics, dissimilar air combat training, and electronic warfare. In 1990 the aggressor mission transferred to 4440th TFTG and later to the 414th CTS.

The USAF Air Demonstration Squadron (the "Thunderbirds") was assigned to the wing in February 1974 and has remained an integral part of the wing to present. It incorporated intelligence training after March 1980.

References

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

• Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC, 2004.
• Manning, Thomas A. (2005), History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas ASIN: B000NYX3PC
• Martin, Patrick (1994). Tail Code: The Complete History of USAF Tactical Aircraft Tail Code Markings. Schiffer Military Aviation History. ISBN 0-88740-513-4.
• Mueller, Robert (1989). Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982. USAF Reference Series, Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-53-6
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.

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