Pease Air National Guard Base
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Airfield shared with Portsmouth International Airport at Pease. Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] |
Pease Air National Guard Base is a
Pease continues to be home to the New Hampshire Air National Guard's 157th Air Refueling Wing (157 ARW), an Air Mobility Command gained Air National Guard unit, and since 2009 the 64th Air Refueling Squadron, an active duty United States Air Force "associate" unit to the 157th. The 157 ARW was a former tenant activity at Pease AFB and remained at the installation following the BRAC-directed closure of its regular Air Force activities. As of 2011, the base population is 380 full-time military personnel, with a monthly surge of up to 950 when part-time military personnel are included.[2]
Location
Pease Air Force Base occupied 4,100 acres (1,700 ha) of land in total, with roughly 40 percent in the city of Portsmouth and 60 percent in the town of Newington, plus a small amount of golf course acreage in Greenland,[3] all within Rockingham County in the Seacoast Region of New Hampshire. Pease Air National Guard Base is approximately 220 acres (89 ha) in size, and as of September 2014 included 46 structures.[4] It is located approximately 50 miles (80 km) from Manchester, Portland, and Boston[5] — major cities of New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts, respectively.
History
What would become Pease Air Force Base started as the 300-acre (120 ha) Portsmouth Municipal Airport in the 1930s.[6] With the onset of World War II, improvements to the airport were announced in December 1941.[7] The airport was closed to civilian traffic effective August 1942, as part of defense measures along the east coast.[8] Civil Air Patrol usage started in February 1944,[9] and in August the airport was leased to the U.S. Navy,[10] who already had a nearby presence at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
The
Pease AFB was the home of the
The
In 1966, the
Pease AFB served as a base conducting summer field training for U.S. Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) cadets during the 1960s and '70s.[citation needed]
Air Force Base closure
In December 1988, Pease AFB was one of 86 military installations to be closed as part of the Secretary of Defense's
Four historical aircraft on static display near the main gate were disassembled and moved to other locations; Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota received a B-47,[22] and Whiteman AFB received a B-29, KC-97, and B-52.[6] The B-29, serial number 44-61671, is on display at Whiteman as a representation of The Great Artiste.[23]
Air National Guard Base
The majority of Pease AFB was transferred to the Pease Development Authority, who now operate Pease International Tradeport including Portsmouth International Airport at Pease. The remaining part of the former Pease AFB that remained under military control was transferred to the New Hampshire Air National Guard and renamed Pease Air National Guard Base with the 157 ARG designated as the host unit.
With the introduction of the USAF "objective wing" concept into the Air National Guard in the early 1990s, the 157 ARG was redesignated to its current title as the 157th Air Refueling Wing (157 ARW) on October 16, 1995.[24]
On October 2, 2009, the 64th Air Refueling Squadron (64 ARS) was activated at Pease as the 157th's active-guard associate. This was the first time that an active duty Air Force unit had returned to Pease since 1991.[25]
In August 2014, the Air Force announced that the 157 ARW would become the first Air National Guard unit to equip with the new Boeing KC-46 Pegasus aerial refueling aircraft. The KC-46A was scheduled to enter the Air Force inventory during fiscal year 2016, with Pease ANGB to receive its first Pegasus after October 2017.[26] By the end of 2018, a Weapons System Trainer, Boom Operator Trainer, and Fuselage Trainer for the KC-46A were installed at Pease.[27] In early February 2019, it was announced that the 157 ARW would receive the new aircraft by the fall of 2019.[28]
The final KC-135 at Pease, serial number 57-1419, departed on March 24, 2019, for Goldwater Air National Guard Base in Phoenix, Arizona.[29][30] The first KC-46A arrived at Pease on August 8, 2019.[31] The 12th and final KC-46A was delivered on February 5, 2021.[32]
Incidents/accidents
All noted aircraft were based at Pease AFB, unless stated otherwise.
On November 20, 1957, a
On April 15, 1958, a
On July 22, 1959, a KC-97 (serial number 52-2703) crashed near Andover, New Hampshire, while on a nighttime training mission; all seven crewmen were killed.[38][39][40]
On January 4, 1961, a B-47 (serial number 53-4244) crashed on takeoff at Pease; all four crewmen were killed.[41][37]
On August 3, 1962, a B-47 (serial number 52-0526) crashed on takeoff at Pease; all three crewmen were killed.[42][37]
On November 5, 1964, a KC-97 crashed on takeoff at Pease; all five crewmen were killed.[43][44][45] Some of the wreckage was scattered across nearby New Hampshire Route 101,[43][44] which is now New Hampshire Route 33.
On December 8, 1964, a B-47 (serial number 52-0339) crashed in Newington shortly after takeoff; all four crewmen were killed.[46][47][37]
On February 26, 1965, a B-47 (serial number 52-0171) returning to Pease from Spain was involved in a mid-air collision while refueling over the Atlantic Ocean with a KC-135 from Dow Air Force Base; the four crewmen on each plane were killed.[48][49][50]
On July 21, 1965, a B-47 (serial number 52-0160) was forced to make a belly landing at Pease due to inoperative landing gear; there were no injuries.[51][37]
On January 30, 1981, an FB-111A (serial number 68-0263) crashed in Portsmouth.[52][53] Both crewmen successfully ejected, and there were no fatalities on the ground; however, the resulting fires in a housing complex caused $385,000 in damages and left 13 families homeless.[52][53][54] The accident was ultimately attributed to "incorrect" actions of the pilot during a stall spin.[55]
On January 11, 1990, a KC-135 (serial number 59-1494) caught fire on the tarmac at Pease during maintenance work; there were no injuries, however the aircraft was destroyed.[56][57][58]
Events
Prior to its closure as an active base in 1991, frequent air shows were held at Pease, typically featuring either the United States Air Force Thunderbirds or the Blue Angels of the United States Navy. The 1977 show was promoted as being the "21st annual Open House".[59] Air shows held at Pease AFB include those held in September 1960 with the Thunderbirds,[60] August 1972 with the Thunderbirds,[61] July 1977 with the Thunderbirds,[62] July 1987 with the Thunderbirds,[63] May 1988 with the Blue Angels,[64] September 1989 with the Thunderbirds,[65] and May 1990 with the Blue Angels.[66]
Subsequent air shows have been held infrequently. These include August 2010 with the Blue Angels,[67] August 2011 with the Thunderbirds,[68] June 2012 with the Blue Angels,[69] September 2021 with the Thunderbirds,[70] and September 2023 with the F-16 Viper Demonstration Team.[71]
Environmental issues
Aircraft maintenance operations at Pease AFB generated hazardous waste, including spent degreasers, solvents, paint strippers, jet fuels, and others, which contaminated soils and groundwater. Environmental investigations began in 1983 under the Air Force "Restoration Installation Program". In 1990, Pease AFB was placed on the National Priorities List of Superfund sites.[72] The site's contamination is addressed in twelve long-term remedial phases,[73] mainly soil excavation and disposal, vertical containment walls installed in the subsurface and groundwater extraction wells, soil vapor extraction and air sparging to treat petroleum and solvent contamination, and where groundwater extraction and treatment efforts are uncertain (zone 3) improvement thereof and wellhead preparing treatment capability for the Haven water supply well. At two sites a permeable reactive barrier was installed to intercept and destroy the groundwater contamination (sites 49 and 73). The groundwater is monitored long term and its use is restricted.[73]
In June 2014, Portsmouth shut down Haven Well, a water well serving
In July 2015, the preliminary average of the first 98 blood tests was higher than the national average. The EPA ordered the Air Force to "design, install and operate a groundwater treatment system for the Haven well" that will "at a minimum restore contaminated groundwater in the Pease aquifer to levels less than the PHA for PFOA and PFOS" within 420 days or about 14 months. The EPA predicted the contamination to continue to migrate toward the Harrison, Smith, Collins and Portsmouth No. 1 wells, which are known as the "southern well field" at the tradeport. The Air Force used the firefighting foam in 19 other areas, which have not been tested yet.
Pease Development Authority
In 1990, a majority of the former Pease AFB, other than property retained by the Air National Guard, was transferred to the Pease Development Authority (PDA) for reuse as a civilian airport and commercial center. The PDA was created in response to local economic impact from the base closure; many area residents believe that the recession of the early 1990s affected the region more than the Great Recession of the late 2000s.[83]
The airport opened for civilian use in July 1991,[84] and became an FAA-certified airport for commercial air carrier operation under FAR Part 139 in October 1992.[85]
Pease has a
As of 2015, just shy of its 25-year anniversary, nearly 300 economically diverse businesses employing just under 10,000 workers have settled in the Tradeport, and another 4,000 people outside the tradeport support those businesses.[83]
- Wildlife refuge
In 1992, a former weapons storage area in Newington, approximately 1,100 acres (450 ha) with frontage on Great Bay, was turned into a wildlife refuge.[83]
Pease Greeters
The Pease Greeters are a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, non-profit organization whose members greet troops landing at Pease en route to, or returning from, overseas deployment.[86] Since meeting a flight in 2005, the group has met over 1,500 flights through mid-2018.[87] Staffed primarily with retired veterans and local residents,[87] the group was joined by former President George H. W. Bush in greeting a flight in October 2010.[88]
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
This article incorporates public domain material from 157th Air Refueling Wing. United States Air Force.
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- ^ McMenemy, Jeff (May 22, 2014). "Water contamination shuts down well at Pease". seacoastonline.com. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
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- ^ McMenemy, Jeff (July 29, 2015). "Firefighters seek workers' comp due to Pease well water". seacoastonline.com. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
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- ^ a b "Pease Greeters welcome 1,500th flight of military members". The Seattle Times. AP. June 12, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
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- George Adams, former Sgt 509 FMS, Pease AFB (1987–1990)
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Further reading
- "Superfund Site: Pease Air Force Base Portsmouth/Newington, NH". epa.gov. Environmental Protection Agency.
- Harriman, Craig (September 23, 2016). "100th Bomb Wing celebrates 50th anniversary at Pease". seacoastonline.com.