Location of Bolling Air Force Base, D.C.
Bolling Field and Anacosta Naval Air Station, mid 1940s
Bolling Air Force Base (IATA: BOF, ICAO: KBOF, FAA LID: BOF) is a United States Air Force base in Southwest Washington, D.C., between the Potomac River and Interstate 295 and is conjoined with Naval Support Facility Anacostia. The base was named in honor of Colonel Raynal C. Bolling.
The host wing is the 11th Wing, which includes an operations group, a maintenance directorate, a mission support group, and a medical group.
Bolling's current mission is to provide worldwide flagship ceremonial and musical ambassadorship, as well as comprehensive wartime base operating support to all assigned Air Force organizations and their personnel.
History
Origins
Bolling Field was officially opened 1 July 1918 and was named in honor of the first high-ranking air service officer killed in World War I, Colonel Raynal C. Bolling. Colonel Bolling was the Assistant Chief of the Air Service, and was killed in action near Amiens, France, on 26 Mar 1918 while defending himself and his driver, Cpl Paul L. Holder, from an attack by German soldiers.
The tract of land selected for the base was scouted by William C. Ocker at the direction of General Billy Mitchell. The base began near Anacostia in 1918, as the only military airfield near the United States Capitol and was originally named The Flying Field at Anacostia on 2 October 1917. It was renamed Anacostia Experimental Flying Field in Jun 1918, and Bolling Field on 1 Jul 1918. With the establishment of the United States Air Force as an independent military service, it was renamed Bolling Air Force Base on 24 Jun 1948.
Bolling AFB has served as a research and testing ground for new aviation equipment and its first mission provided aerial defense of the capital. It moved to its present location, along the Potomac in the city's southwest quadrant, in the 1930s.
Major Commands to which assigned
- Director of Military Aeronautics, 28 Jun 1918
- 3d Service Command, 6 Mar 1928
- Chief of Air Corps (Exempted Station), 1 Jul 1936
- General Headquarters Air Force, 15 Mar 1941
- Redesignated Air Force Combat Command, 20 Jun 1941
- Redesignated: Strategic Air Command, 21 Mar 1946
- Redesignated Headquarters Command, United States Air Force, 17 Mar 1958
Major Units assigned
- 312th Aero Sq (Service), Jul 1918-17 Aug 1919
- 99th Observation Sq, 18 Aug 1919-21 Mar 1921
- HQ Detachment, Bolling Field, 11 Jul 1922-31 Mar 1928
- General Headquarters, Air Force, 1 Oct 1933-28 Feb 1935
- 14th Air Base Group, 1 Mar 1935-31 Mar 1944
- 1st Staff Squadron, 1 Sept 1936-31 Mar 1944
- 2d Staff Squadron, 1 Sept 1936-31 Mar 1944
- 4th Staff Squadron, 17 May 1941-31 Mar 1944
- Air Force Combat Command, 28 Mar 1941-12 Mar 1942
- V Air Support Command (redesignated: Ninth Air Force), 23 Jul - 28 Oct 1942
- 5th Bombardment Wing, 10 Jul-31 Jul 1942
- VIII Ground Air Support Command, 28 Apr-29 May 1942
- 10th Ferrying Squadron, 10 Apr 1942-1 Mar 1943
- Transatlantic Sector, AAF Ferrying Command,
- Redesignated, Transatlantic Sector, Air Transport Command, 21 Feb 1942-15 Apr 1943
- Redesignated Air Force Base Unit 1, 1 Apr 1944-1 Apr 1948
- 503d Army Air Force Base Unit, 21 Feb 1944
- Redesignated: 503d Air Force Base Unit, 27 Sept 1947-1 Apr 1948
- Redesignated: Headquarters Command, USAF, 17 Mar 1958-1 Jul 1976
- 1st Special Air Missions Squadron
- Redesignated: 1111th Special Air Mission Squadron
- Redesignated: 1299th Air Transport Squadron, 10 Mar 1948 - 10 Jul 1961
- 16th Special Air Missions Group
- Redesignated: 1100th Special Air Missions Group
- Redesignated: 2310th Air Transport Group, 10 Mar 1948-29 Nov 1952
- 1100th Air Base Wing, 16 Mar 1949-30 Sept 1977
- Redesignated: 1100th Air Base Group, 30 Sept 1977-15 Dec 1980
- Redesignated: 1100th Air Base Wing, 15 Dec 1980-15 Jul 1994
Operations
The First Army Air Tournament took place at Bolling Field in May 1920
In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson sent Bolling pilots on the first permanent airmail route from Washington, D.C. to New York, New York.
Charles Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis" returned to Bolling field in 1927 after its historic transatlantic flight. It was reassembled at Bolling for Lindbergh's goodwill flight to Mexico and South America.
In 1934, then-Lieutenant Colonel Henry "Hap" Arnold led a bomber flight from Bolling Field on a 4,000-mile aerial journey to Alaska to demonstrate the capabilities of strategic long-range bombing missions. Carl Spaatz and Wiley Post also began or ended historic flights there.
The core units at Bolling Field at the beginning of 1939 were one housekeeping squadron, the base headquarters, the 14th Air Base Squadron and two air base maintenance squadrons -- the first and second staff squadrons.
For the duration of World War II, Bolling Field served as a training and organization base for personnel and units going overseas, and it became the aerial gateway to the nation's capital.
The Army Air Forces Headquarters and the Army's GHQ Air Force (later the Air Force Combat Command) moved to Bolling in March 1941. After creation of the United States Air Force, Bolling Field was re-designated as Bolling Field Command, and organized, on 15 December 1946. It was redesignated Headquarters Command, USAF, on 17 March 1958.
President Harry Truman's initial official aircraft and Franklin Roosevelt's only official aircraft, The Sacred Cow, retired from service at Bolling Air Force Base in 1961.
Bolling Air Force Base was reassigned to the Military Airlift Command (MAC) in 1976 when Headquarters Command, USAF was inactivated. In 1985, Bolling Air Force Base was designated the headquarters for the Air Force District of Washington. The Air Force District of Washington was redesignated as the 11th Support Wing in 1994 and renamed the 11th Wing in 1995. The Secretary of the Air Force and the Air Force Chief of Staff jointly directed reactivation of the Air Force District of Washington, effective 1 January 2005 with the 11th Wing as its subordinate unit.
The last fixed-wing flight out of Bolling Air Force Base, 1962.
In 1962, due to airspace congestion around Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport), fixed-wing flying activities departed Bolling for nearby Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. Similar operations at adjacent Naval Air Station Anacostia were also discontinued at the same time. Forty-four years after the dedication of Bolling Field, the last airplane departed July 1, 1962, carrying 33 passengers and six crew members bound for Andrews.
Current use
The Air Force District of Washington (AFDW) was created and activated at Bolling on 1 October 1985 with the mission of providing administrative support to Air Force members. On 15 July 1994, AFDW was deactivated, but was reactivated 5 January 2005 to "provide a single voice for Air Force requirements in the National Capital Region" according to the base's website.
Bolling field units also provide ceremonial support to the White House, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of the Air Force and the Air Force Chief of Staff, mainly through 11th Wing, the United States Air Force Honor Guard and The United States Air Force Band.
The Defense Intelligence Agency built its Defense Intelligence Analysis Center at Bolling Air Force Base and moved many of its operations there in 1987.
The only aeronautical facility at the base is a 100 by 100-foot helipad (ICAO: KBOF).
As a result of the 2005 BRAC, the base will become Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling-Naval Research Laboratory, D.C, and lose 96 military and 242 civilian positions.[3]
For a brief time during the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009, Bolling is home to the Air Force Global Strike Command, before it will move to a permanent base.
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "Bolling Air Force Base".
External links
