Wurtsmith Air Force Base is a decommissioned

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

base in Iosco County, Michigan. Near

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...

, it operated for seventy years, from 1923 until decommissioned in 1993. On January 18, 1994, Wurtsmith was listed as a

Superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Pro ...

site, due to extensive groundwater contamination with heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,

volatile organic compounds Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic compounds that have a high vapor pressure at room temperature. They are common and exist in a variety of settings and products, not limited to house mold, upholstered furniture, arts and crafts sup ...

, including

trichloroethylene Trichloroethylene (TCE) is an organochloride with the formula C2HCl3, commonly used as an industrial metal-degreasing solvent. It is a clear, colourless, non-flammable, volatile liquid with a chloroform-like pleasant mild smell and sweet taste.

, 1,1-dichloroethane, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and

vinyl chloride Vinyl chloride is an organochloride with the formula H2C =CHCl. It is also called vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) or chloroethene. It is an important industrial chemical chiefly used to produce the polymer polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Vinyl chloride is a ...

. In 2010,

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (also PFAS, PFASs, and informally referred to as "forever chemicals") are a group of synthetic organofluorine chemical compounds that have multiple fluorine atoms attached to an alkyl chain; there are 7 milli ...

contamination was discovered, and as of 2022 remediation is still ongoing. During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, Wurtsmith was one of three

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 ...

(SAC) bases in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

with the B-52

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...

, the others ( Kincheloe AFB and Sawyer AFB) were in the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula b ...

. The base was named in honor of Major General Paul Wurtsmith, commander of SAC's Eighth Air Force, who was killed when his

B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served ...

bomber crashed on Cold Mountain near Asheville, North Carolina, on September 13, 1946. In 2022, Granot Loma was being touted as a potential space port in the Upper Peninsula, in tandem with Wurtsmith.

Previous names

* Camp Skeel, November 1931 * Oscoda Army Air Field, August 1942 * Oscoda Air Force Base, 24 June 1948 * Wurtsmith Air Force Base, 15 February 1953 – 30 June 1993

Major commands to which assigned

* General Headquarters Air Force, 26 June 1936 *

Third Air Force The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a Numbered Air Force, numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U ...

, 2 September 1942 * Air Service Command, 12 December 1942 *

, 5 March 1943 *

First Air Force The First Air Force (Air Forces Northern & Air Forces Space; 1 AF-AFNORTH & AFSPACE) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Its primary mission i ...

, 14 August 1943 * Continental Air Forces, 16 April 1945 : Re-designated

, 21 March 1946 *

Continental Air Command Continental Air Command (ConAC) (1948–1968) was a Major Command of the United States Air Force (USAF) responsible primarily for administering the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve. During the Korean War, ConAC provided the necessary aug ...

,1 January 1949 *

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 ...

, 1 January 1951 *

, 1 April 1960 *

Air Combat Command The Air Combat Command (ACC) is one of nine List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Commands (MAJCOMs) in the United States Air Force, reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force (HAF) at the Pentagon. It is the prim ...

, 1 June 1992 – 30 June 1993

Major units assigned

* First Pursuit Group, 15 October 1927 * 100th Base HQ and Air Base Squadron, 31 October 1942 * 524th Base HQ and Air Base Squadron, 21 June 1943 * 134th AAF Base Unit, 14 April 1944 – 12 April 1945 * 4301st Base Services Squadron, 1 August 1948 : Re-designated 2476th Base Service Squadron, 1 January 1949 : Re-designated 4655th Base Service Squadron, 1 December 1950 * 332d Fighter Group, 2 April 1943 – 9 July 1943 * 100th Fighter Squadron, 29 October 1943 – 8 November 1943 * 301st Fighter Squadron, 21 May 1943 – 10 July 1943 * 302d Fighter Squadron, 19 November 1943 – December 1943 * 403d Fighter Squadron, May 1943 – 15 December 1943 * 754th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, 27 November 1950 – 20 July 1951 * 63d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 5 January 1951 – 17 August 1955 * 527th Air Service Group : Re-designated 527th Air Defense Group, 16 February 1953 – 15 October 1955 * 75th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1 October 1968 - 30 November 1969 * 445th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 15 August 1955 – 30 September 1968 *

31st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron 31 (thirty-one) is the natural number following 30 and preceding 32. It is a prime number. Mathematics 31 is the 11th prime number. It is a superprime and a self prime (after 3, 5, and 7), as no integer added up to its base 10 digits res ...

, 8 June 1956 – 20 August 1957 *

18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (18th FIS) is a subordinate unit of the 354th Fighter Wing based at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, and flies the F-16, Block 30 General Dynamics F-16C/D aircraft. Mission The 18th Fighter Interceptor Sq ...

, 20 August 1957 – 27 April 1960 * 4026th Strategic Wing, 1 August 1958 – 9 January 1961 * 40th Air Division, 1 July 1959 – 8 June 1988 * 920th Air Refueling Squadron, 15 July 1960 – 15 June 1993 * 379th Bombardment Wing, 9 January 1961 – 30 June 1993 * 94th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1 December 1969 - 30 June 1971

Environmental contamination

On January 18, 1994 Wurtsmith was listed as a

due to extensive groundwater contamination with heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,

, including

, 1,1-dichloroethane, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and

. In March 2010 the

Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), formerly Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (Michigan DEQ, MDEQ, or simply DEQ), is a principal department of the U.S. state of Michigan for environmental issues. T ...

(EGLE) became aware of

concentrations in groundwater, when EGLE staff sampled at a former fire training area on the base. Air Force completed the PFAS Preliminary Assessment, Site Inspection, and planned the Remedial Investigation under the

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agenc ...

. Air Force performed three removal actions and planned two interim remedial actions. On November 1, 2017, more than twenty-two years after being listed as a superfundsite Wurtsmith held its first Restoration Advisory Board meeting. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Wurtsmith Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) meetings became virtual events, yet in August 2021 RAB members said that progress was made on the WAFB cleanup, and that the relationship between the Air Force and the community has improved.

References

External links

Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Superfund Site
EPA.gov
Oscoda-Wurtsmith AirportRenaissance ZonesOscoda-Wurtsmith Airport airport informationWurtsmith Air Museum
{{coord, 44.4525, -83.380278, type:airport_region:US-MI, display=title Installations of the United States Air Force in Michigan 1923 establishments in Michigan Buildings and structures in Iosco County, Michigan Military installations closed in 1993 Installations of Strategic Air Command Military Superfund sites Superfund sites in Michigan 1993 disestablishments in Michigan