Ellsworth AFB South Dakota
Ellsworth AFB is located in the eastern side of South Dakota, relatively close to Rapid City. It is operated by the Air Force and works in a tight collaboration with the close human community. As a matter of fact, the citizens contributed to a gift representing the main entrance of the military base. The main mission of the base is to provide decisive and precise fight power for worldwide response. There are around 8000 inhabitants, including military personnel, family members and employed civilians.
History
The facility was established in 1941. Its name was given in the memory of Richard E. Ellsworth, who died in 1953 after his plane crashed during a training session. The general led over 400 missions during World War II, in countries like Burma or China. He was commanding the 28-th Strategic Renaissance Wing when he died. The base was initially built to deal with the training sessions for a few heavy bombing units. It took the workers less than a year to build a few runways, multiple offices and centers, five hangars and plenty of housing facilities. In 1945, as World War II was drawing to an end and the Air Force started to demobilize, the place was inactivated and placed in a standby position. It was shut down for less than three months, when it was reopened to deal with weather reconnaissance basic missions. Since the facilities were not considered to be advanced enough, it was taken through a detailed and intense reconstruction process. During these two rebuilding years (1946-1947), the base was shut down.
During the long Cold War, Ellsworth AFB didn’t play any major roles, although it was constantly used for training missions, not to mention about the units and aircrafts that were constantly being replaced at every few years. Other than the Cold War, the military facility took part at Operation Allied Force in Yugoslavia, along with the NATO forces, and Operation Enduring Freedom, which started soon after the 9/11 attacks on World Trade Center.
The 2005 base realignment and closure event barely spared Ellsworth AFB from the closure list, with 8 to 1 votes.
Units
The 28-th Bomb Wing is currently the most important unit hosted on site. Its general mission is simple – placing bombs on specified targets. It is divided in four different groups – medical group, mission support group, operations group and maintenance group. All together, these groups consist of 15 squadrons. Each of them has a specific role in the good going of the unit. Ellsworth AFB is also referred to as home by a few tenant units, such as the Defense Reutilization & Marketing Office, the Northwest Area Audit Office, the American Red Cross or the Defense Security Service.
Housing
Most of the housing facilities have been recently improved. The Rushmore Heights is the newest housing area on site. It was opened in 2006. In order to get a home, you must fill in an application. A sponsor will help you make the right choice for you and your family. The single soldiers will be hosted in smaller homes. Those who don’t move fast enough will need to rely on the off site privatized system.
Location: 44.1505, -103.0944
Phone: (605) 385-1000
DSN: 675-1110December 11, 2011
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