Everything about Otis Air National Guard Base totally explained
Otis Air National Guard Base is an
Air National Guard installation located within the
Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR), a military training facility, located on the upper western portion of
Cape Cod, in
Falmouth,
Barnstable County,
Massachusetts,
United States. It was previously known as
Otis Air Force Base prior to its closure by the Air Force.
Units
The host unit on Otis ANGB is the
102nd Intelligence Wing, and (
Air Combat Command) (ACC)-gained unit of the
Massachusetts Air National Guard. Part of the facility is also called
Cape Cod Air Force Station (Cape Cod AFS). Otis is also home to the
253rd Combat Communications Group, the
267th Combat Communications Squadron and the
202nd Weather Flight of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, as well Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod (
CGAS Cape Cod}, operating the
HU-25 Guardian and
HH-60J Jayhawk.
History
World War II
According to the
102nd Intelligence Wing Public Affairs office, Otis Air National Guard Base is named for pilot, flight surgeon, and eminent
Boston City Hospital surgeon, Lt. Frank "Jesse" Otis, a member of the
101st Observation Squadron who was killed on Jan. 11, 1937 when his
Douglas O-46A crashed while on a cross-country training mission.
In 1938, the landing field area at
Camp Edwards was named
Otis Field in memory of the
Boston flying physician. Ten years later the base was renamed
Otis Air Force Base in his honor. Until 1973, it was the largest
Aerospace Defense Command base in the world and is the only base named for a doctor.
During
World War II, the field was known as
Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Otis and was a subordinate field for
Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island.
Cold War
Air Force Usage
During the
Cold War, the base was a very important place for
Aerospace Defense Command. The base was abuzz with activity ranging from the Air Force's
33rd Tactical Fighter Wing to the
551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing. The 551st flew the
EC-121 Warning Star before moving to
Hanscom Air Force Base in 1969. The 33rd flew various fighter jets in conjunction with the
101st Fighter Interceptor Squadron. The base was also home to the
26th Air Defense Missile Squadron, which maintained the
BOMARC surface-to-air missiles on the base. The Regular Air Force began leaving Otis in the late 1960's as improvements in radar made the 551st more costly when compared to newer technologies. The 31st left when the Air Force began to move the continental air defense mission over to the
Air National Guard.
Air National Guard Usage
The
101st Tactical Fighter Squadron used Otis when the Air Force was present. It shared missions with the
33rd Tactical Fighter Wing.
UFO Sightings
During the 1950s, Otis had quite a few instances of
UFOs being associated with it. One of these instances allegedly involved a
F-94C Starfire which was said to have vanished along with its radar operator over the base. The pilot reportedly escaped. The incident was mentioned on the
History Channel. This alleged incident is controversial, and may never have actually occurred. A recent book though states that there was an incident but the Air Force is denying the specifics of the event for fear of tarnishing the pilot involved.
John F. Kennedy
President John F. Kennedy used Otis on many occasions for the landing of Air Force One when he traveled to the
Kennedy Compound in
Hyannis. He would then board a helicopter which would then take him to the compound. It was at the base hospital that his wife, Jacqueline, gave birth to their son
Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, who died two days later.
Closure
In 1973
Governor of Massachusetts Frank Sargent appointed the Otis Task Force to oversee a phase-down of military activities at MMR. The major concern of Cape residents was the fate of base property and impacts on the local economy as military activities decreased.
Reopening of the Base
In 1977, Otis AFB was officially redistributed with the establishment of boundary lines which divided the complex into several installations, all within the confines of the original base. Established was
Otis Air National Guard Base,
Camp Edwards (an Army National Guard small arms training facility that served as a POW camp during WWII), and the
Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod (which shares the base's runways with the
102nd Intelligence Wing). Together they form the
Massachusetts Military Reservation, where 17 other state, federal and private entities operate within its boundaries.
In 1978, the Air Force returned with the construction of the
Precision Acquisition Vehicle Entry Phased Array Warning System (PAVE PAWS) near the
Cape Cod Canal. PAVE PAWS is designed to detect airborne ballistic missiles and monitor orbiting satellites.
It is an alternative landing site for the
Space Shuttle orbiter if it ever had to abort its mission during liftoff. However, this is only possible if the orbiter is in a high inclination launch. The comparatively short main runway at Otis also makes its use for this purpose unlikely when compared to other nearby installations such as
Westover Air Reserve Base or
Pease International Tradeport/Pease Air National Guard Base, both former
Strategic Air Command installations with runways over 2,000 feet longer than Otis.
September 11, 2001
On September 11, 2001
FAA Boston center contacted the base at 8:34 notifying them of the hijacking of
American Airlines Flight 11.
Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Duffy and
Major Daniel Nash flew
F-15 fighters out of the base heading toward New York City to intercept the plane. Conflicting reports say they departed somewhere between 8:46 and 8:52. They flew at
subsonic speeds. There was no way that they could have operated supersonic because of rules regulating the use of
supersonic speeds over the continental
United States.
Environmental issues
Military operations in the early years at Otis included the use of petroleum products and other hazardous materials such as fuels, motor oils, and cleaning solvents and the generation of associated wastes. Consistent with practices of other industries at the time, it was common practice for many years to dispose of such wastes in landfills, dry wells, sumps, and the sewage treatment plant. Spills and leaks also occurred. These activities have resulted in serious impacts to the Upper Cape’s groundwater resources. As a direct result of the threats from waste
plumes in the groundwater, much of the water supply in the surrounding area was converted from wells to municipal water sources.
In towns near the
PAVE PAWS radar on Otis Air Force Base there was significant concern about possible adverse effects on health of humans resulting from
PAVE PAWS radiation. In 1978 the EPA and the US Air Force School of Medicine decided that no such threat to human health was plausible. At the request of local residents, in 1979, two panels formed by the National Research Council reviewed existing data on the radar and on comparable systems: an engineering panel and a biomedical panel. Neither panel found any cause for concern, but the panels did recommend additional studies. The local communities' concerns peaked again in the late 1990s, and another National Research Council panel studied not only previously available data, but also engineering measurements newly gathered by the Air Force, epidemiological data gathered by local public health authorities, and the results of studies on various other systems. The report of this latest NRC panel, issued in 2005, available from the National Academies Press both online and in hard copy, finds no evidence for adverse health effects from
PAVE PAWS. There are nearby clusters of certain types of cancer, but as is often true in cluster studies, there are so many confounding effects that any possible effect due to
PAVE PAWS is indiscernible. Further, no plausible causal link to
PAVE PAWS on health of nearby residents has been discovered. Of scientific interest is the possibility that growth rates of vegetation close to the radar and exposed to the direct radar beam may possibly be retarded, but no plausible connection of that possibility to effects on human health is known.
Units of Otis
Current Units
Previous Units
26th Air Defense Missile Squadron (1961-1972)
564th Air Defense Group, later the 33rd Air Defense Group
33rd Tactical Fighter Wing (1948-1957)
437th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron 1952-1956 (First operational unit with the F-94C)
4707th Defense Wing
554th Reconnaissance Squadron (1963-1969)
551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing (1954-1969)
- 19th Air Refueling Squadron
- 551st Supply Squadron/EMS/AMS
- 551st Air Police Squadron
- 551st Security Police Squadron
- 551st Transportation Squadron
- 551st Field Maintenance Squadron
- 961st Airborne Early Warning and Control Squadron
- 962nd Airborne Early Warning and Control Squadron (1955-1969)
- 963rd Airborne Early Warning and Control Squadron
- 966th Airborne Early Warning and Control Squadron (???-1962)
553rd Reconnaissance Wing Batcats (1967-1970)
Note: The Lockheed YF-12 was supposed to be stationed at Otis. This would've either meant the creation or three new squadrons of the reuse of the squadrons above.Further Information
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