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No bomb wing in all of SAC ever hosted so many B-52s at one time than did 43d Strategic Wing, Andersen AFB, Guam. During the massive Operation Arc Light bombing campaigns in Southeast Asia, up to 155 B-52s were provisionally assigned (deployed) at one time in 1971. It would consume more than five miles of ramp space to park them all, and at least 30 had to be airborne at any given time because there wasn’t enough space for all of them at the same time, plus accompanying tankers! The small U.S. territory, Pacific island base wasn’t always sowas built big, (but not quite as big as SAC’s biggest, Barksdale AFB, LA), tracing its beginnings all the way back to 4 December 1944, shortly after Guam was liberated from Japanese occupation and the Battle of Guam in July and the Allies recaptured the island on 10 August 1944.
Envisioned as a B-29 Superfortress forward strike base, the north end of the island was an ideal site for a base; it was about 1,500 miles from the Japanese homeland, within range of a B-29. U.S. Navy Seabees (forward-deployed civil engineers that build new bases from wilderness) started in November, and soon built a bare base then called North Field by December 1944. Although a bare base, North Field boasted four runways, plus taxiways and ramp space (parking and maintenance areas) for a massive 200 B-29 bombers. Recall if you will, WWII was still raging and massive waves of bombers would be sent to strike targets, so they needed lots of ramp space.
The first operational unit to occupy North Field was 314th Bombardment Wing, XXI Bomber Command, Twentieth Air Force. The 314th arrived in Guam on 16 January 1945 from Peterson Field, Colorado. The 314th controlled four operational B-29 bomb groups, the 19th, (Square M tail flash/markings), 29th (Square O), 39th (Square P), and 330th (Square K). The first B-29 missions from North Field were attacks against strategic targets in Japan, operating in daylight and at a high altitude to bomb factories, refineries, and other objectives. In March 1945, the XXI Bomber Command changed tactics and started carrying out low-level night incendiary raids on area targets. During the Allied assault on Okinawa, groups of the 314th Bomb Wing attacked airfields from which the Japanese were sending out kamikaze (suicide) planes against the invasion force.
At the end of the war, most of the bomb groups went back home, but left the 19th in place for occupation duty in Japan, and show-of-force and airdrop supply missions for Allied prisoners of war. Also following the war, the base was renamed to honor Brigadier General James Roy Andersen, who died in a crash about the end of February 1945 while on a mission near Kwajalein Island. Andersen Field, as it was then known, assumed a mission of demobilizing war materiel, sending it home, and closing surplus bases.
In the 1950s, Andersen saw its share of bomber activity as well. Three days following the 1950 North Korean invasion of the South, B-29s deployed again to Andersen for bombing missions over Korea. On 6 August 1950, B-29 units from SAC began rotational deployments to Andersen. In 1951, SAC selected several overseas bases, including Andersen, to support rotational unit deployments of its bombers from stateside bases, starting with B-29 units and later including B-36 Peacemaker, B-47 Stratojet, B-50 Superfortress bombers and KB-29 refueling tankers. Then under command of Far East Air Forces (FEAF), bomber activity on Andersen was organized under various units until SAC assumed control under the 3rd Air Division within the 3960th Air Base Wing on 1 April 1955. The first B-36 (a J-model) arrived on 1 October 1954, and the rest of the 92nd Bombardment Wing (Fairchild AFB, WA) arrived by the 16th of the month. This is the first of only two known B-36 wing deployments to Andersen. The first B-47 (an E-model) arrived 5 October 1956 under Operation Lumber Jack. B-47 units continued their 90-day rotations throughout the 1950s, and eventually the B-47s fully replaced the B-36s. 22 January 1957 marked the departure of the last B-29 from Guam.
The decades-old Andersen/B-52 relationship begins on 30 May 1958, as a B-52 and KC-135 visit Guam for a base open house. During a quiet early and mid-1962, the world suddenly quivered during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October, and then Guam took a direct hit from Super Typhoon Karen that November. 11 died in the Category-5 winds and 45,000 were left homeless. The catastrophe led many structures in Guam to be constructed in typhoon-proof concrete, including much of Andersen AFB.
The first B-52 deployment to Guam didn’t occur until 29 March 1964, when B-52B serial number 53-0394 City of El Paso from the 95th Bomb Wing at Biggs Air Force Base, Texas touched down on the Andersen runway. On 18 Jun 1965, 30 B-52Fs made conventional bombing strikes on Vietnam targets for the first time under Operation Arc Light (for more info, see Feelin’ BUFF 31: B-52s in Vietnam: Operation ARC LIGHT). From this point forward, the B-52 and Andersen AFB have been synonymous. On 29 June 1965, just a couple weeks after the first B-52 strikes from Andersen, the last B-47 bomber departed Andersen.
Little known in Arc Light history is the fact that actor Jimmy Stewart (also a Brigadier General in the US Air Force Reserves) flew an Arc Light mission on 21 February 1966 in a B-52F from Andersen. Many of the BUFFs shot down or otherwise lost during Arc Light were provisionally assigned to Andersen. When the air base at U-Tapao in Thailand opened, BUFFs and crews from Andersen deployed there under Operation Poker Dice on 10 April 1967 to ready the base for B-52 operations. When Operations Linebacker I and II kicked off, up to 155 B-52s crowded the sprawling ramp at Andersen (for more info, see Feelin’ BUFF 32: B-52s in Vietnam: Operation LINEBACKER, LINEBACKER II). Throughout the 11-day operation, Andersen-based BUFFs flew 379 of the 729 sorties. The 3960th Air Base Wing (ABW) was deactivated and replaced by 43rd Strategic Wing on 1 April 1970. On 15 July 1972After 43rd SW deactivated, the new air traffic control tower at Andersen opened. At633rd ABW activated to operate the time, it was the tallest in the US Air Force, at 168 1/2 feet tall and climbing it would require 223 steps.base.
While the number of aircraft aggregated at Andersen during Operation Linebacker II will likely never be eclipsed, its largest single movement of aircraft might never be as well. On 25 October 1972, well over 170 aircraft (B-52/KC-135 and others) were evacuated from Andersen due to a threatening typhoon. On 15 August 1973, Andersen-attached B-52s flew their last combat mission, and Operation Arc Light was terminated. On 12 February 1974, the one year anniversary of the return of U.S prisoners of war held in Vietnamese captivity, Andersen dedicated the Arc Light Memorial to the 75 B-52 aircrew killed and the 33 B-52s lost in the campaign.
In March 1983 during a mining exercise called Operation Team Spirit ’83, Andersen had photographed 3 different models of B-52s in one place. An H, G and a D were immortalized in what might be the most types of operational B-52s ever assembled in one place. Andersen had 3 H’s on the ramp, returning from deployment in Australia, but also 4 Gs deployed to Andersen for the exercise and 14 Ds assigned to Andersen. On 12 October 1983, the final D model, serial number 56-0676 (which also was the first BUFF to shoot down an enemy fighter during the Vietnam War) departed Andersen for Fairchild AFB, WA where it is on static display.
In October 1988, strategic alert at Andersen was finished and now focused on conventional combat roles; the 43rd Bombardment Wing itself would be deactivated on 30 September 1990. On 27 March 1990, the final B-52 (B-52G serial number 59-2596) to be permanently assigned at Andersen departed for Darwin, Australia for the Australian Aviation Heritage Center. Andersen personnel invested some 18,000 man-hours to spruce up the tired bird, an effort called the “Glossie Aussie.” 59-2596 is one of 3 intact (and one crashed) BUFFs on display beyond the US.
When Operation Desert Storm began on 17 January 1991, less than a year after the BUFFs left Andersen for good, they deployed back there under the 1500th Strategic Wing (Provisional). Six G-models were forward deployed to Diego Garcia to support the war effort. On 23 January 1992, a B-52 (G-model, serial number 58-0234) was destroyed and scrapped on site at Andersen due to battle damage received in Desert Storm. On 1 October 1994, the 633rd deactivated and the 36th ABW activated, following the 36th’s deactivation at Bitburg Air Base, Germany (and in keeping with AF tradition of retaining historic unit designations). On 5 February 1996, the first B-2 Spirit bombers to land at Andersen arrived; the Spirit of California and Spirit of Washington hailed from the 509th Bomb Wing, Whiteman AFB, MO. On 2-3 September 1996, two H-models deployed from Barksdale AFB, LA with 13 Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missiles to Andersen, striking Iraqi targets and returning to Andersen following the mission under Operation Desert Strike. This marked the H-model’s first conventional combat mission.
Andersen in the modern era is no less ready for regional crises than it was during the Cold War. When the 9-11 attacks occurred, combat air patrol began over Guam, led by US Marine Corps fighters. The wing also became a bridge point in the moving of 60,000-tons of cargo, 38,000 passengers and serviced over 3,200 aircraft under Operation Enduring Freedom. Continuous Bomber Presence missions began at Andersen with six deployed Minot AFB B-52Hs on 22 February 2004. On 26 June 2015, the last Vietnam-era M-117 (750-lb) bombs were expended from the Pacific Air Forces stockpile, retiring the aging weapons.
Some random, Andersen-related trivia tidbits: The last execution in the US Air Force occurred at Andersen on 28 January 1954 for two airmen involved in raping and killing Ruth Farnsworth in 1948. On 15 July 1972, the new air traffic control tower at Andersen opened. At the time, it was the tallest in the US Air Force, at 168 1/2 feet tall and climbing it would require 223 steps. Additionally, from 1990-2011, Andersen was an alternate Space Shuttle landing site. Throughout Andersen’s history, the wing has remained a ready and willing aid in response to emergencies. Numerous typhoons, earthquakes, humanitarian crises and even refugees from Kurdish Iraq all made Andersen’s history.
To find this cache, calculate the coordinates from the information in this listing. N 48° AB.CDE W 101° FG.HIJ
A= Day Allies recaptured the island, NX August 1944, A=(N+1)
B= B= Amount of B-29 ramp space planned for North Field, NXX aircraft total, B=(Nx0)
C= Year B-52 first visits Guam for a base open house, XXXN, C=(N/2)
D= Day of first B-52 deployment to Guam in March 1964, XN March, D=(N-1)
E= Year Brigadier General Jimmy Stewart flew an Arc Light mission in a B-52F, XXNX, E=(N-1)
F= Year Andersen dedicated the Arc Light Memorial, XXXN, F=(N-3)
G= Serial number of B-52D that is now displayed at Fairchild AFB, WA, XX-XNXX, G=(N+3)
H= Serial number of B-52G restored for Darwin under “Glossie Aussie”, XX-XXXN, H=(Nx0)
I= Number of CALCM launched by B-52Hs in Desert Strike, NN CALCM, I=(NN-8)
J= Beginning day of first Continuous Bomber Presence missions in February 2004, XN, J=(N+0)
https://www.andersen.af.mil/About-Us/History-Tour/VIETNAM-WAR/
https://www.andersen.af.mil/History/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andersen_Air_Force_Base
https://www.andersen.af.mil/About-Us/History-Tour/EARLY-COLD-WAR/
https://www.andersen.af.mil/About-Us/History-Tour/LATE-COLD-WAR/
https://www.andersen.af.mil/About-Us/History-Tour/KOREAN-WAR/
https://www.darwinaviationmuseum.com.au/legendary-boing-b52-g-stratofortress/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_displayed_Boeing_B-52_Stratofortresses
https://www.andersen.af.mil/About-Us/History-Tour/1989/
https://www.andersen.af.mil/About-Us/History-Tour/1994/