Whiteman Air Force Base

USA / Missouri / Knob Noster /
 military airbase, United States Air Force

Whiteman Air Force Base is a US Air Force facility which operates as part of the Air Force Global Strike Command, US Eighth Air Force. The host unit at Whiteman is the 509th Bomb Wing, the only unit of the US Air Force to operate the B-2 "Sprit" Stealth Strategic Bomber, through its subordinate 13th, 393rd and 110th Bomb Squadrons.

The base is also home to the US Air Force Reserves's 442nd Fighter Wing, whose 303rd Fighter Squadron operates the A-10A Thunderbolt II and the Missouri Army National Guard's 135th Aviation Battalion operating the AH-64D Apache Longbow and OH-58 Kiowa attack/observation helicopters.

Founded in 1942 as Sedalia Army Air Field to provide training base for both C-46 and C-47 aircraft and WACO glider pilots for duty on the European front of the Second World War, the base was briefly idled following the cessation of hostilities before being massively expanded by the US Strategic Air Command to serve as a long-range strategic bomber base starting in August 1951. Renamed Whiteman Air Force Base in 1955 to honor the late Sedalia resident 2nd Lt George A. Whiteman, who is confirmed to be the first American airman killed during the Second World War after being shot down on December 7th, 1941, the base continued to grow under SAC operation until the end of the Cold War. Recieving its wing of B-2's in 1993, Whiteman AFB has continued its role in long-range strategic defense and has been the origin point for several endurance record breaking combat missions during the last 30 years.

Official Website: www.whiteman.af.mil/
www.strategic-air-command.com/bases/Whiteman_AFB.htm
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   38°43'38"N   93°33'17"W

Comments

  • Some of the longest combat missions of the B-2 were flown from here to hotspots such as Afghanistan and the Balkans and back with the help of aerial refueling.
This article was last modified 7 years ago