Fairfax Field

This article is about Military use of Fairfax Field, Kansas. For 1921-1985 civilian aeronautical operations af Fairfax Field, see Fairfax Municipal Airport. For the US Army Project Nike site(s) in Kansas City MO, see Kansas City Defense Area.

Fairfax Field
Part of
1951-4: Air Defense Command
1944-tbd: AAF Technical Services Command
tbd: Air Transport Command
1935-1942: US Navy
Located on Goose Island, Kansas, at the state line on the Missouri River west of North Kansas City, Missouri
Northward view of the air base in World War II after the modification center was built along the south taxiway.
Coordinates 39°09′10″N 094°36′43″W / 39.15278°N 94.61194°W / 39.15278; -94.61194 (Air Force Plant 02)[1] (1941-89 B-25/GM plant)
CodeFUDS - WRD (WWII weather station)[2]

Fairfax Field was a wartime (WWII) facility of the United States Army Air Forces and later, the United States Air Force. The installation was north of Kansas City, Kansas. Used as a pre-war Naval Air Station,[3] the United States Army Air Forces leased the municipal airfield and built an Air Force Plant and modification center for North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber production. Military use of the site continued as late as 1957 by the Strategic Air Command's 3903rd Radar Bomb Scoring Group for bombing practice.

Kansas City[where?] military sites in Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri, had military activities beginning as early as 1919 when the city was part of a recruiting campaign in which "seventeen flying fields, one repair depot, and five balloon stations" took part.[4]: 7  In 1923 the Air Service's southern division of the Model Airway used an airfield in the city for an Army air route to Kelly Field, Texas; and by the end of 1925, the "403th [sic] Pursuit Squadron" was assigned to a Kansas City facility (the Air Service leased the land for the airdrome in Kansas City, Missouri, with steel hangars for $1/year.)[4] In 1940, the USGS mapped the "State Boundary" as a straight north-south line demarcating a small eastern portion of "Fairfax Airport" as being in Missouri.[5] By the end of 1942, Kansas City, Missouri, had a modification center--in addition to the Fairfax plant and modification center in Kansas.[6] On 2 March 1945, Military Air Transport moved an air freight terminal to Fairfax from Kansas City, Missouri.

The USAF Central Air Defense Force (CADF) was activated with headquarters at Kansas City, Missouri, on 1 March 1951; on 24 April the Central Army Antiaircraft Command was "established with HQ at Kansas City" (organized 1 May 1951); and on 1 July the USAF 35th Air Division was activated at Kansas City (moved to Dobbins Air Force Base in September). The 4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron--after being assigned to Peterson Field on 1 March 1952[7]--had its Flight B assigned with "Defense Force Headquarters [at] Kansas City, Missouri".[8] While Grandview Air Force Base was being completed, on 1 October 1952 Kansas City, Missouri, had CADF's Technical and Ground Training Division,[9] and the NSA's Special Study Group met on 1 August 1953 at "Headquarters, Central Air Defense Force, Kansas City, Missouri".[10]

Grandview Air Force Base
On 24 February 1954, HQ CADF moved to Grandview Air Force Base[11] outside the city limits, but the land was owned by the Kansas City, Missouri government (from whom the USAF leased the airport on 1 January 1952--the "USAF accepted responsibility for [the base's] land and buildings" in January 1953.[7]
  1. ^ Murdock, Scott D. (6 May 2003). "List of Air Force Plants".
  2. ^ War Dept, United States (29 June 1942). "The Weather Observer: June 29, 1942 - United States. War Department - Google Books". Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference MilOrder was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Maurer, Maurer. Aviation in the US Army, 1919-1939 (Report). pp. 151, 307. ISBN 0-912799-38-2.
  5. ^ [USGS topographical map] (Map). map depicted at Airfields-Freeman.com. 1940. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  6. ^ Futrell, Robert F. (July 1947). Development of AAF Base Facilities in the United States: 1939-1945 (PDF) (Report). Vol. ARS-69: US Air Force Historical Study No 69 (Copy No. 2). Air Historical Office. p. 141. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 September 2012. Daggett, Calif.; Tucson, Ariz.; Love Field, Dallas, Tex.; Fairfax Airport, Kansas City, Kans.; Buffalo, N. Y..; Evansville, Ind.; Niagara Falls, N. Y.; Offutt Field, Omaha, Neb.; Standiford Field, Louisville, Ky.; Cheyenne, Wyo.; Vandalia, Ohio; St. Paul, Minn.; Denver, Colo.; Birmingham Ala.; Memphis, Tenn .; Tulsa, Okla.; and Kansas City, Mo.
  7. ^ a b Mueller (1982). "Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base". Air Force Bases as of 1982 (Report). p. 502.
  8. ^ "4602d AISS Unit History Sampler" (transcribed excerpts of Secret History of 4602D Air Intelligence Squadron). Cufon.org. Retrieved 9 October 2013. The 4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron was activated and organized under authority of Air Defense Command General Order Number 20, dated 28 February 1952, at Peterson field [sic] [a sub-base of] Ent Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colorado with an authorized strength of thirty-four (34) officers and ninety-seven (97) airmen. Under this General Order, three flights, designated as Flights A, B and C were organized to be located at the three Defense Force Headquarters at Hamilton Air Force Base, California, at Kansas City, Missouri, and at Stewart Air Force Base, new York, respectively.
  9. ^ "Official Register of the United States - United States Civil Service Commission, United States. Bureau of the Census". 1952. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  10. ^ "National Security Agency (NSA) Historical Study: The National Security Agency Scientific Advisory Board 1952 – 1963, September 1965" (PDF). Governmentattic.org. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  11. ^ "title tbd". Retrieved 14 August 2014. HQ, Central Air Defense Force was established [at Grandview Air Force Base] on 2/24/54 NOTE: biographical webpage distinguished the 2 different Missouri sites for HQ CADF.