Not at posted coordinates! Be sure to check the logbook for the bonus codes!
A key wing in the history of the B-52 is 99th Bombardment Wing (Heavy), Westover AFB, MA. The 99th wasn’t the largest or strongest bomb wing in SAC, and its tenure wasn’t very long as a strategic bomber base, but it made its mark in other ways. The field now known as Westover Air Reserve Base had humble beginnings. Erected in 1940 in advance of WWII, Westover Field was named in honor of a 1930s-era US Army Air Corps commanding general, Oscar Westover. General Westover was killed on 21 September 1938 when the A-17 aircraft he was flying crashed due to adverse atmospheric conditions.
Westover’s first operator was the 10th Signal Platoon in 1940. During the war, Westover served as a training base for anti-submarine, engineering, chemical platoons, and bomber & fighter groups, although by the end of the war it specialized in heavy bombing training. Following WWII, it received troops redeploying (returning home) from overseas theaters, and in 1948-1949 it was an origin airfield for OPERATION VITTLES—the Berlin Airlift—sustaining decisive airlift for 15 straight, intense months to supply the blockaded Berliners. Westover’s local community also participated in supplying airdropped treats for the marooned children of Berlin (OPERATION LITTLE VITTLES), candy suspended by handkerchief parachutes. During the Korean War, Westover shipped cargo to the Korean theater and accepted war casualties to the base hospital from 1950-1954. In 1955, Air Defense Command relinquished control of what was then known as 4050th Air Refueling Wing and many other wings to Strategic Air Command (SAC). On 01 October 1956, the 4050th was redesignated as the 99th Bombardment Wing, Heavy, having recently transferred from Fairchild AFB, WA to Westover.
As noted earlier, Westover Field was built before the massive bombers of the Cold War, and as such, the runways were insufficient for the monstrous B-52 and even larger B-36. Personal recollections from the era suggest the new runway wasn’t built until 1955. This date will be more important if you consider Westover also hosted a Top Secret nuclear weapons Q-Area Operational Storage Site (OSS), known as Site Item or Stony Brook Air Force Station. Organized under Air Materiel Command (AMC), Stony Brook AFS was the final site of the first five OSS and it was built in 1954. During this period, cold war tensions were high and escalating. The first nuclear detonation by the Russians happened in 1949, and a feared “bomber gap” kept politicians and leaders wary of a Russian bomber attack, so sites like Stony Brook were armed with history’s most fearsome weapons, ready to be loaded on bombers at a moment’s notice. The 1954 date makes the 1955 airfield upgrade more crucial—Stony Brook’s weapons initially could not be loaded onto the intended aircraft! Weapons loading crews had to travel to adjacent bases to practice load procedures on actual bombers before 1955. The 1955 airfield upgrade was sufficient to not only allow operations of the BUFF but to provide an alternate Space Shuttle landing site. In 1962, SAC assumed control of Stony Brook from AMC.
Westover’s history with the BUFF begins at the wing’s first arming with the first B-52C off the production line in 1956. As the D-models were produced, Westover received some as well. As was customary in the early SAC era, bomber wings also had refueling wings attached. Westover was no exception to this custom, and had KC-135As assigned as well as the BUFFs. Westover made the history books in 1957 when on 11 November 1957 a KC-135 tanker piloted by Gen. Curtis LeMay (then Commander-in-Chief of SAC) flew 6,350 miles from Westover AFB to Buenos Aires in 13 hours 2 minutes, a world record for nonstop nonrefueled jet flight. Starting 1967, Westover aircraft and crews were deployed in the Vietnam conflict. In fact, during 1972’s OPERATION LINEBACKER II, two Westover crews were shot down over hostile airspace, and were either killed in action, or became prisoners of war. The SAC and BUFF era at Westover ended on 31 March 1974 when the wing was inactivated and the base transferred to Air Force Reserve.
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To find this cache, calculate the coordinates from the information in this listing.
N 48° AB.CDE W 101° FG.HIJ
A= Year Westover Field was built, XXNX, A=(N/2)
B= Year General Westover perished in a crash, XXXN B=(N-8)
C= Total months during Berlin Airlift, XN months, C=(N-1)
D= Year Westover’s 4050th Air Refueling Wing was relinquished to SAC control, XXNX, D=(N+2)
E= Year Stony Brook Air Force Station was built, XXXN, E=(N-1)
F= Year Westover airfield was upgraded, XXXN, F=(N/5)
G= Year first B-52C was assigned to Westover, XXXN, G=(N+2)
H= Total miles nonstop flight in unrefueled record, X,NXX miles, H=(N-2)
I= Year of OPERATION LINEBACKER II combat losses, XXNX, I=(N-1)
J=Year 99th Bombardment Wing, Heavy deactivated, XXXN, J=(N-0)
https://amcmuseum.org/history/operation-vittles-berlin-airlift/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Westover
https://usafnukes.com/images/PDFs/memories_including_kepler.pdf
http://www.strategic-air-command.com/bases/Westover_AFB.htm
http://www.strategic-air-command.com/wings/0099bw.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99th_Air_Base_Wing