Mountain Home Air Force Base
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World War IIConstruction began in November 1942 and the airfield officially opened on 7 Aug 1943. Training began for U.S. Army Air Force crews for the B-24 Liberator bomber. The first group was the 470th Bombardment Group (Heavy), which trained at Mountain Home from May 1943 until January 1944, when that unit moved to Tonopah AAF Nevada. The 490th Bombardment Group (Heavy) replaced the 470th and trained B-24 crews until it deployed to England in April 1944. The 494th Bombardment Group then replaced the 490th, still training Liberator crews. In October 1945 the base was placed in an inactive status. Post World War IIThe base remained inactive for over three years, until December 1948, when the newly created U.S. Air Force reopened the base. The 4205th Air Base Group, was activated on 12 Dec 1948 to prepare the newly re-designated Mountain Home Air Force Base for operational use. Cold WarThree wings of the Air Resupply and Communications Service used the base in the early 1950s. In 1953, the base was transferred to Strategic Air Command which assigned the 9th Bombardment Wing to Mountain Home in May 1953, and began flying B-29 bombers and KB-29H refueling aircraft. The 9th began converting to the new B-47 Stratojet bomber and the KC-97 tanker in September 1954. Titan MissilesIn 1959, construction of three Titan missile sites began around Mountain Home. The 569th Strategic Missile Squadron operated these sites and was assigned to the 9th Bombardment Wing in August 1962. In November 1964, the U.S. Air Force announced that the Titan I missile sites would be closed. | ||||||||||
| Mountain Home | 569-A | 3 | Bruneau | Owyhee | ID | 42.67031, -115.86749 | ||||
| Mountain Home | 569-B | 3 | Oreana | Owyhee | ID | 43.06642, -116.26375 | ||||
| Mountain Home | 569-C | 3 | Boise | Ada | ID | 43.34553, -115.99196 |
In late 1965, the U.S. Air Force began phasing out the aging B-47 bomber and announced plans to bring the 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing to Mountain Home. The 389th, 390th, and 391st Tactical Fighter Squadrons had returned from South Vietnam, joined the 347th, and began converting to F-111A aircraft. 366th Fighter WingThe 366th Fighter Wing (in various designations) has been the host unit at Mountain Home for over 35 years, following its return from the Vietnam War in late 1972. Before the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing's arrival at Mountain Home, the 389th, 390th, and 391st Tactical Fighter Squadrons had returned from South Vietnam, joined the 347th, and began converting to F-111A aircraft. For the first time since it left for Vietnam, the wing once again had its three original flying units. During 1969, a tenant unit began operating at the south end of the base, using part of the original SAC alert area, and about half of the Mole Hole alert facility, sharing the other half with an NCO leadership school from the main base. Det. 1, 320 BW carried out an alert mission with two B-52 bombers and two KC-135 tankers. The unit disbanded in the spring of 1975 and returned to Mather AFB. Operations continued unchanged for several years. The wing tested its readiness in August 1976 when a border incident in Korea prompted the U.S. to augment its military contingent in South Korea as a show of force. The 366th deployed a squadron of 20 F-111 fighters, which reached Korea only 31 hours after receiving launch notification. Tensions eased shortly afterward and the detachment returned home.
The air intervention composite wing's rapid transition from concept to reality began in October 1991 when Air Force redesignated the wing as the 366th Wing. The wing's newly reactivated "fighter squadrons" became part of the composite wing in March 1992. The 389th Fighter Squadron began flying the dual-role F-16C Fighting Falcon, while the 391st Fighter Squadron was equipped with the new F-15E Strike Eagle. These two squadrons provide Gunfighters round-the-clock precision strike capability. Following the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, the resultant initiation of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF), the 366th Wing once again got the call. While the 34th Bomb Squadron deployed to Diego Garcia as the B-1 component of the 28th Air Expeditionary Wing, the wing sent a Base Operations Support package to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, to transform the bare base into a fully functional airfield for large-scale combat operations. In October 2001, the 391st Fighter Squadron deployed to Al Jaber Air Base, Kuwait, while the 389th Fighter Squadron went to Al Udeid in November. Following the wing's return from Southwest Asia, the Air Force began consolidating its B-1 Lancer and KC-135 Stratotanker forces. This led to the reallocation of the wing's bombers and tankers. The 22 ARS' aircraft began transferring to McConnell AFB, Kansas, in May 2002 and the squadron inactivated the following August. The 34 BS' B-1Bs began moving to Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, in June and the squadron officially moved in September. Following the departure of these assets, the Air Force re-designated the 366th as a Fighter Wing. With these changes, the wing's 10-year mission as the Air Force's only standing air expeditionary wing came to an end. A continued reconstruction of the 366 Fighter Wing was official with the 2005 base realignment, coinciding with the large scale integration of the 150+ F-22 Raptors. After the F-16 departure, Mountain Home AFB was chosen to become an F-15E installation because of its ideal training terrain range that is suited for air-to-ground, and air-to-air training missions. Thunderbirds CrashCaptain Chris Stricklin ejects from his F-16C at MHAFB on 14 September 2003. The base was the site of a Thunderbirds crash on 14 September 2003 in which no one was killed. Captain Chris Stricklin, flying Thunderbird 6, attempted a "Split S" maneuver (which he had performed over 200 times) immediately after takeoff based on an incorrect mean-sea-level elevation. Climbing to only 1,670 ft (510 m) above ground level (AGL) instead of 2,500 ft (760 m), Stricklin had insufficient altitude to complete the descending half-loop maneuver. He guided the F-16C aircraft down runway 30, away from the spectators and ejected less than one second before impact. His parachute deployed when he was just above the ground and Stricklin survived with only minor injuries. No one on the ground was injured, but the $20 million aircraft was destroyed. Official procedure for demonstration "Split-S" maneuvers was changed and the Thunderbird pilots now also climb an extra 1,000 ft before performing the Split S maneuver.
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