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Holloman Air Force Base

Established in 1942 as the Alamogordo Army Air Field, Holloman AFB was a training facility for flyers who went on to assignments during WWII. After that war there was fear that the base would close but in 1947 it was announced that Holloman would be a primary site for the development of pilotless aircraft, guided missiles, and other research programs. In 1948 the airfield was given its current name in honor of George Holloman a pioneer in guided missile research. The base went on to make history when Col. John Stap became "the fastest man alive" by riding the rocket-propeled test sled "Sonic Wind 1". History continued to be made when Capt. Joseph Kittinger jumped out of a balloon gondola at 102,800 feet in 1950 descending for 13 minutes at 614 MPH breaking four world records. Another historical landmark came in 1961 when Enos, a chimpanzee, was launched into orbit (traveling around the earth two times) inside a Mercury-Atlas capsule and was recovered safely 3 hours, 21 minutes later. After that Holloman was host to a French Air Wing for awhile and then starting in 1968 for three decades the base served as home for the 49th's F-4 Phantom II aircraft and its pilots. The base currently serves as home and training location for the F-117 "stealth" aircraft and as the training center for the German Air Force’s Tactical Training Center.

The 377th Air Base Wing is the host organization for Kirtland AFB. The Wing supports more than 200 tenant organizations, including the Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, 58th Special Operations Wing, New Mexico Air National Guard, Field Command Defense Special Weapons Agency, Air Force Inspection Agency, Air Force Safety Center, the Department of Energy Albuquerque Office and Sandia National Laboratories. Kirtland's current status is actually the outgrowth of three bases: Kirtland, Sandia, and Monzano. The base is on 52,000 acres in the SE Albuquerque area and now employs about 25,000 people of which about 11,000 are non-military and non-federal positions. In the late 1930's the base started as an Army Air Corps training facility which eventually evolved into air based weapons development and later nuclear bombs. It's proximity to Los Alamos Laboratories was considered ideal for weapon proving activities. In 1947 the Army Air Corps became the Air Force and Kirtland its Special Weapons Center location until 1976. In 1982 the Air Force Space Technology Center was established at Kirtland and is now part of the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Cannon AFB is home to the 27th Fighter Wing. It is located six miles West of Clovis NM and the facility started in the 1920's as "Portair" a civilian terminal for early transcontinental flights. In 1942 after the US entered WWII the base was renamed Clovis Army Air Field and trained gliders and finally B-17, B-24, and B-29 bombers. After the war the base was deactivated in 1947. Then in 1951 it was recommissioned and assigned to the Tactical Air Command (TAC) as Clovis Air Force Base. It has served the 140th Fighter Bomber Wing, the 50th Fighter Bomber Wing, 388th Fighter Bomber Wing, 474th Fighter Bomber Group, and was a training facility for the F-100 "Super-Sabre". In 1957 the base was renamed Cannon AFB in honor of General John Cannon, former Commander of the TAC. Over the years many "wings" and bomber groups have been stationed at Cannon. In 1990 a major reassignment occurred due to major reorganization of the TAC and Strategic Air Command (SAC). It was home to the F-111 until is was replaced in 1998 by F-16 squadrons which include pilots from Sinapore training in the rapid deployment and tactical employment of the F-16 throughout a wide spectrum of missions including air-to-air, joint maritime and precision air-to-ground weapons delivery.

This is the official Mission Statement for the White Sands Missile Range: "U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range provides quality test, evaluation, research, and other technical services to the Army and DOD acquisition programs". This is the official vision statement: "The U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range, a unique strategic national treasure, is America’s Range for the 21st century. We will ensure our war fighters have the best military equipment possible by providing the highest quality and most cost effective test, evaluation, research, and technical services. We will continue to emphasize customer focus, sound resource management, innovative use of technology, modernized infrastructure, stewardship of our land and superior quality of life." The best way to find out what they do there and have done there in the past is to visit the White Sands Missile Range Museum. Suffice it to say that WSMR has always been a highly secret facility, dedicated to technological research in regard to weapons advancement and in particular the development and testing of missiles. The range also encircles the Trinity Site where the first atom bomb exploded on the earth. The base sits under the Eastern lee of an area of the Sacramento Mountains that is known locally as the "Organ Mountains" and is, frankly, very spooky. On the other side of the mountains is Las Cruces, about 20 minutes away. East about 45 miles is Alamogordo. The range's acreage is very huge and crosses over one main highway on which people encounter road blocks because of missile launches. While the White Sands National Monument is partly in the range, there is a public area of the sand dunes which welcomes visitors. In the early rocket development years, this base and Holloman AFB cooperated to send a chimpanzee into orbit around the globe and in other matters. At this base and in Los Alamos is where rocketry weaponry and then space travel first developed in the USA with the help of German scientists who were secreted out of Germany before its fall in WWII. These German scientists and their families were made citizens of the USA by Congressional legislation so important was their knowledge to the USA. What, exactly, is going on a WSMR today is anyone's guess unless you work there.