Kearns Army Air Base
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Kearns Army Air Base was a U.S. Army Air Base southwest of
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
,
Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
. It served in many roles. Despite being referred to as air base, it had no runways and no airplanes could land near there. It was not associated with Salt Lake City Municipal Airport No. 2 (now
South Valley Regional Airport South Valley Regional Airport , formerly (FAA LID: U42), is a public airport located in West Jordan, southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Originally named Municipal Airport No. 2, construction began July 8, 1941, and it opened ar ...
), which bordered Kearns to the south, which was a small general aviation airport. At right is an Area Map of Kearns dated 6/25/43 when it was a technical training center. On the west side is a railroad spur to the base. There are six E-W roads, which from N to S are Avenues F to A, at 4715 S, 4865, 5015 (150 between these three, 200 between the next), 5215. 5415 and 5615 S. The N-S roads, E to W, are 1st Street at 4020 W (next to now 4015) to 9th Street at 4820 W (100 between each of these).


History

On 10 February 1942, the United States district engineer (Colonel E. G. Thomas) recommended a "5,450-acre dry farming area in Kearns" for an inland Army training site. For one of "the eight new technical training installations rushed into operation" during 1942–3, a
Kearns, Utah Kearns ( ) is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. Named after Utah's U.S. Senator Thomas Kearns, it had a population of 36,723 at the 2020 Census. This was a 2.8 percent increase over the 2010 figure of 35,731. Kearns is home to th ...
"plot of 1,405 acres was purchased". The Kearns Center military unit was activated (designated) 1 May 1942, and "a contract for a theater of operations cantonment was let" on 16 June 1942. "Basic Training Center No. 5" began operations on 17 July and opened on 20 July under Training Command. A "
Denver and Rio Grande Western The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south fro ...
" spur was built to the installation's railroad station, and by 21 August all barracks were complete. "Upon completion of their basic training most of the pre-aviation cadets
ere Ere or ERE may refer to: * ''Environmental and Resource Economics'', a peer-reviewed academic journal * ERE Informatique, one of the first French video game companies * Ere language, an Austronesian language * Ebi Ere (born 1981), American-Nigeria ...
sent to one of the many college operated light schoolsunder the supervision of the Army Air . The
510th Training Group 51 may refer to: * 51 (number) * The year ** 51 BC ** AD 51 ** 1951 ** 2051 * ''51'' (film), a 2011 American horror film directed by Jason Connery * "Fifty-One", an episode of the American television drama series ''Breaking Bad'' * ''51'' (album) ...
and 3 technical school squadrons (1032d, 1033d, and 1034th) were assigned to Kearns on 10 September 1942, and Kearns' commander—Colonel Leo F. Post—arrived by September 12. Construction was completed in October 1942 and Kearns' "basic military training and technical training" continued until 30 Sep 43. Nine
B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...
bombardment groups were at Kearns, but arrived and left by train as there was no airfield. -- 459th, 460th, 455th, 456th, 465th, 466th, 467th, 458th and from
Gowen Field Boise Airport (Boise Air Terminal or Gowen Field) is a joint civil-military airport in the western United States in Idaho, south of downtown Boise in Ada County. The airport is operated by the city of Boise Department of Aviation, overseen ...
, 461st—formed 31 August-17 October 1943. The base transferred to
Second Air Force The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended ...
on 1 October 1943, and the bomb groups all were reassigned by the end of 1943 (e.g., the 461st to
Wendover Field Wendover is a town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road along t ...
).Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4. In January 1944, Kearns AAF began performing personnel replacement training, rather than group training. In April, ground echelon training for B-24 support personnel was ended.


Camp Kearns

In April 1944, "Camp Kearns" was returned to the
Western Technical Training Command Western Technical Training Command was a command of the United States Army Air Forces. It was assigned to the Army Air Forces Training Command, and stationed at Denver, Colorado throughout its existence. It was inactivated on 15 October 1945. ...
when the WTTC's
Fort Logan Fort Logan was a military installation located eight miles southwest of Denver, Colorado. It was established in October 1887, when the first soldiers camped on the land, and lasted until 1946, when it was closed following the end of World War II ...
in Colorado transferred to the
Air Service Command An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...
—then on 1 July 1944 Camp Kearns transferred to AAF
Personnel Distribution Command Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any other ...
.


Army Air Base Kearns

Redesignated Army Air Base, Kearns on 1 October 1944 when transferred to the
Second Air Force The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended ...
, command of the base transferred from Converse R. Lewis to Colonel Walter F. Siegmund. Both the "Overseas Replacement Depot, Kearns, Utah" and "
Salt Lake City Army Air Field Salt Lake City International Airport is a joint civil-military international airport located about west of Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The airport, along with the much smaller Provo Municipal Airport, Provo Airport (PVU) and ...
...under command jurisdiction of Kearns ORD" transferred to
Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...
on 21 March 1946. Kearns ORD & SLC AAFld (along with North Carolina's Greensboro ORD & the
Greensboro-High Point Army Airfield Piedmont Triad International Airport (; commonly referred to locally as "PTI") is an airport located in unincorporated Guilford County, North Carolina, west of Greensboro, serving the Piedmont Triad region of Greensboro, High Point and Winsto ...
) transferred to AAFTC on 30 April and Kearns finally transferred to
Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for air defense of the continental United States. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air De ...
(31 July). The base (including Kearns AAF) was inactivated on 15 August 1946 and transferred to the
War Assets Administration The War Assets Administration (WAA) was created to dispose of United States government-owned surplus material and property from World War II. The WAA was established in the Office for Emergency Management, effective March 25, 1946, by Executive Or ...
for disposal. The War Assets Administration declared Kearns surplus on 24 January 1947, and the high bid by Standard Surplus was opened in July 1948 for the installation with only 100 remaining buildings. A "Camp Kearns Memorial" was emplaced at the Arlo D. James Kearns Veterans Memorial Park (later moved to .) A theater for "colored personnel" became part of Kearns Junior High School. A base chapel is now part of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church. The base train station is a day-care center. A cannon that had stood next to the headquarters' flagpole now decorates the corner of 40th West and 54th South. The World War I-era cannon and flagpole from the old Camp Kearns military base have been relocated to the Kearns township recreation center, 5670 S. Cougar Lane (4800 West). They are now part of the new Kearns Veterans Memorial Plaza, dedicated Nov. 10, 2012. http://archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=/sltrib/news/55178744-78/kearns-memorial-veterans-flagpole.html.csp


See also

* Utah World War II Army Airfields *
Western Technical Training Command Western Technical Training Command was a command of the United States Army Air Forces. It was assigned to the Army Air Forces Training Command, and stationed at Denver, Colorado throughout its existence. It was inactivated on 15 October 1945. ...


References

{{USAAF Training Bases World War II 1943 establishments in Utah Airports established in 1943 Airports in Utah Transportation in Salt Lake County, Utah Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Utah Buildings and structures in West Jordan, Utah