wurtsmith air force base housing

Visiting Wurtsmith Air Museum, Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan - YouTube One of the unfortunate risks in flying is a crash. Wurtsmith Air Force Base - Oscoda, MI - Civilian Exposure This is very dear to my heart and want to get involved however I can. During World War II, P-47 fighters were assigned to Oscoda. Because of this KC-135 squadrons would routinely fly 175 day assignments and return to their home base. P-6E, serial number 32-156, 17th Pursuit Squadron from Selfridge Field Michigan. [1], As new technologies and mission goals evolved with time the need for the Strategic Air Commands need for the northern tier became obsolete. Wurtsmith Air Force Base is said to have originally started with a fishing trip between two men. The Arrow Street purge system, installed in 1982 to remove contaminants from the Building 43 plume, has lowered concentrations o [3] Search Superfund Site Information. EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 28 Dec. 2016, cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0503675. For more information regarding services offered by the Lackland Air Force Base Education Center, call 210-671-2895 or DSN 473-2895. . The plane was equipped with the cannon and four .50-caliber machine guns two mounted on the wings, two more just behind the propeller and timed to fire through the spinning blades. In 1932, Capt. [THE FLINT JOURNAL VIA AP] Environmental context Total organofluorine and known fluorosurfactants were quantified in 11 aqueous film forming foams (AFFFs) used to extinguish fires in Ontario, Canada, and one commercial AFFF product. She gave Kelly the rundown of the base. The pilot apparently noticed it and tried to lift his ship. Lester Graham. Photos of P-47s flown by French Pilots at Oscoda. Testing by the Air Force has found high levels of the toxic chemical PFOS in the foam near a plume coming from the former nuclear bomber base. The Wurtsmith Air Force Base, created in 1923, played a large role in WWII. This unfortunately happened on October 11. , 1988 when KC-135 crashed with 6 crew members and 10 passengers on board. Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport became a public airport in 1993. Cindi developed hypertension and Lawrence diagnosed with lung disease. It has found from testing this area that some places to have over 1000 parts-per-trillion for PFOS and PFOA. Veteran Compensation Programs (USVCP) (www.veteranprograms.com), and any of their associated websites is for general informational. . The base is located in Oscoda, Iosco County, Michigan. Mr. Norton remarked that they were flying the wings off of the planes. The site of Wurtsmith Air Force Base is located 2 miles Northwest of Oscoda, Michigan, about 150 miles North of Detroit. The Airacobra reached its peak usage in the USAAF in early 1944, with over 2100 in service. CLU-IN | TechDirect and Newsletters > Technology News and Trends [1], As new technologies and mission goals evolved with time the need for the Strategic Air Commands need for the northern tier became obsolete. [1] On the first Wednesday the, fresh flight crew would relive the current flight crew in the bunkers. Everyone from the mechanics keeping the planes flyable, to the cooks, preparing food for the airmen stationed at Wurtsmith Air Force Base, to the, commanders who ensured that everything from the flight schedules being correct. By comparing the concentrations of known fluorosurfactants with the total organofluorine, less than 10% of the fluorosurfactants were identified in half of the samples. WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Our biodegradation . In July 2018 the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), set the table for Congress to consider legislation that would force the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to extend health benefits to base veterans without making them prove their illnesses are linked to chemical exposure. On June 30, , 1993 the 379th Bomb Wing was disbanded and Wurtsmith Air Force Base was closed. The P-6 Hawk (1932-1937) Aircraft was @ Oscoda. Now, I have been diagnosed with Stage 5 kidney failure and congestive heart disease, I am currently on dialysis awaiting a kidney transplant. Air Force - DOD Base Family Housing On June 30th, 1993 the 379th Bomb Wing was disbanded and Wurtsmith Air Force Base was closed. According to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the private well located across the road from Oscoda High School tested about the 70 parts-per-trillion advisory level that was established for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctyl sulfonate (PFOS). Two years after release I started to experience very visible loss of musculature and strength. Neither Michigan nor any U.S. officials have conducted a comprehensive study on the contaminants and pollutants under the base. Why are you focusing only on chlordane and other organochlorine pesticide (OCP) contamination at the Family Housing? The B-52 is being serviced under the Strategic Air Command Recovery Oriented Aircraft Maintenance (ROAM) system. I served at Wursmith AFB from 1982 to 1989, living in base housing the entire time and drinking the water. Some areas of the site are still under investigation. Wurtsmith Air Force Base is a decommissioned United States Air Force base that was closed by the 1991 Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC 2) and is a proposed EPA Superfund site. My family lived on this base in 1983 to 1987, are we at risk? This is desirable from a strategic standpoint, but for the airmen that served on the bases themselves this meant that they were removed from the vast majority of society. Drew said, Dad, thats an airplane., You could see the wings. [ July 4, 2018 ] Grissom Air Force Base, ID Air Force [ May 28, 2018 ] March Air Force Base, CA Air Force [ February 17, 2018 ] Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Navy [ November 5, 2017 ] Fort William D. Davis , Panama Army [ August 28, 2017 ] Naval Air Station Alameda, CA Navy [ March 19, 2016 ] Wurtsmith Air Force Base, MI Air Force [ June 2 . Physical Location:4071 East Van Ettan StreetOscoda, Michigan 48750, Mailing Address:PO Box 664Oscoda, Michigan 48750, Tele: (989) 739-7555(Not answered Nov-Apr)Email:email@wurtsmithairmuseum.net, AN ARTIFACT FROM WURTSMITHS COLD WAR PAST HAS RETURNED HOME, There was one final project I wanted to accomplish before departing my assignment as Flight Commander of Aircrew Flight Equipment and SERE at the. Once we brought that up and cleaned the tag, we knew it was the 221226 serial number.. The human-made chemicals are in your blood, your clothes, your cosmetics. We make no endorsements or recommendations of any VSO, attorney, law firm, claims specialists or organization working with veterans on their service-connected claim(s). This lead to Wurtsmith transferring to Air Combat Command control, and then on June 30th 1993, Wurtsmith Air Force Base closed. During the Gulf War these planes were run practically 24/7, landing only to swap flight crews to meet the flight crew rest requirements. Posts and surveys made on this website are opinions or suggestions of users of this website and are not representations, opinions or suggestions of U.S. The popular legend, supported by interviews and other historical documents, is that Wurtsmith was established as the direct result of a fishing trip by Lt. Ennis Whitehead (later Lt. Gen. Whitehead, commander of the Fifth and Far Eastern Air Forces during and after World War . The base was put into a standby status to be there just in case something happened in those areas. [4] Over the tenure of the base it was home to an aerial gunnery range, a fighter-interceptor training base and later home to the 379th Bomb Wing as a member of the Strategic Air Command.[4]. We thought that was kind of unbelievable.. Congress set a May 2022 deadline for the DOD to report on the cleanup status of these bases, the Filthy 50, with extremely high levels of PFAS contamination. State officials' concerns about pollution in the area date back to 2012, when the health department issued a "do not eat" advisory for all fish caught near Wurtsmith Air Force Base. The single officers who lived on base lived in a dorm type building. At the time, George was a hub of F-4 Phantom fighter jets and OV-10 Bronco reconnaissance planes. 1st Combat Evaluation Group PFOA exposure is also shown to be associated with increased risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children between ages 12-15. On January 18, 1994 it was listed as a Superfund due to extensive groundwater contamination with heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, including trichloroethylene, 1,1-dichloroethane, 1,1,1-trichloroethane . Wurtsmith Air Force Base - Alchetron, the free social encyclopedia Maximum speed was 178 mph at sea level, 171 mph at 10,000 feet. distance from the bunker. My wife has breast cancer, and Hashimoto's Disease (auto immune), I had a double mastectomy to remove growths, hormone issues, kidney scaring liver lesions, lumps in both lungs, sleep APNEA, sudden onset Headaches, unexplained stress attacks, to name a few. [5] The 379th flew with a Triangle K tail flash to continue thetradition from their World War II counterparts. Because the Committee on Toxicology (NRC, 1979) concluded that it could not determine a level of exposure to chlordane below which there would be no biologic effect under conditions of prolonged exposure of families in military housing. The pesticide levels and CERCLA 120(h) Deed Restrictions are public information and readily available. Wurtsmith Air Force Base has been an integral part of the United States Air Force from the 1920's to June 3rd 1993. . Marie and the straights of Mackinac. This man later took the proposal to build a gunnery range to the people of Oscoda. I lived in base housing, I want to say 8607H Ohio from 82-84. [1], While these crews were on ready alert they did not have a whole, lot to do. While the vast majority of personnel on Wurtsmith Air, Force Base were not part of a flight crew rotating through ready alert, their, respective jobs all served to ensure those planes could take off at a moments, notice. Stay tuned for further developments. [6] 379th Bomb Wing Homestead AFB B-47 Wurtsmith AFB B-52, www.strategic-air-command.com/wings/0379bw.htm. He was training with fellow pilots out of what was then Selfridge Field when his plane crashed. Stationed there for 84-88 and am suffering with a motor neuron disease process. [4] In the lateryears of World War II Wurtsmith Air Force Base was used as a fighter-interceptor training base and housed the 332d fighter group, which was part of the famous Tuskegee Airmen. DOD Base Family Housing - Organochlorine Pesticide Contamination With all of this in a single family, the V.A. Feds: Wurtsmith veterans could get cancer, other health problems from It was a feeble effort, for the plane seemed to lift for only a few feet and then it crashed, nose first, into the water. The tire bead failed, allowing the casing to slip over the rim on one side and bind on edge of the wheel fairing on takeoff. In a nutshell, this is what were trying to do get permission to relocate the parts so they would resemble a plane, David Losinski said. During the Pacific conflicts personnel and the KC-135Stratotankers were deployed to forward bases in the Pacific to support landoperations. Theyre looking for other divers who can assist with the effort. 379th Air Expeditionary Wing | Military Wiki | Fandom It is primarily a large jet airplane salvage, jet engine maintenance and light general aviation . In 2016, residents near Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Michigan discovered that the water they drank, bathed in, swam in, and fished in was contaminated with jet fuel, cancer-causing chlorinated . [5] However, the B-52H aircraft maintained nuclear alert at WurtsmithAir Force Base. https://www.oscairport.com/index.php/available-properties/, https://www.oscairport.com/index.php/development-site/, https://www.afhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/APH-Winter2016.pdf, http://www.armytimes.com/story/news/2014/07/30/divers-find-wreckage-of-world-war-ii-era-plane/13354373/, https://wurtsmithairmuseum.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Air-Refueling-Squadron-_-Real-People-_-George-Schlatter720p.mp4. Former Wurtsmith Air Force Base (BRAC 1991) - AF [4] On August 1st 1958 the 4026th Strategic Wing was formed at Wurtsmith Air Force Base. [1] The KC-135s had many more opportunities to travel because they would fly in support of any craft capable of refueling in flight. This remoteness of Wurtsmith Air Force Base, as well as common brotherhood of being in the United States Air Force resulted in a tight knit community formed by the airmen and their families. This is a short video about the small museum located at the decommissioned Wurtsmith AFB in Oscoda Mi.http://www.rv-project.com /. To gain a measure of the extremely high levels of contaminated drinking water, according to the ATSDR, TCE levels in a well at the corner of Arrow Street and N. Skeel Avenue were as high as 5,173 parts-per-billion (ppb) during 1977, 1978, & 1979 tests, which is more than 1,000 times the EPA's current limit of 5-ppb for TCE in drinking water. [1] This includes on base housing, a daycare center for children, a doctor's office, a . It still haunts me today that we had to do that and were told to just follow orders. Having high amounts of this chemical directly underneath their high school could have serious long-term effects on the kids that attend school as well as the faculty. Wurtsmith AFB has a better paper trail showing irrefutable evidence of contamination of the base drinking water with Trichloroethelene (TCE) first discovered in 1977 as a result of a complaint from a base housing resident. This meant that Wurtsmith Air Force Base was essentially a self-contained airport with all of the necessities to support a full community on Base. The gunnery range was tasked with training pilots fromSelfridge air base in the challenging maneuvers required to land a DeHavillandbiplane on the frozen lake Van Etten for the young Army Air Corps. The Wurtsmith base closed in 1991, sending the Harrises to Plattsburgh, N.Y., where friends and neighbors remembered the boys as Scouts and Little Leaguers, and their parents as being involved in . The museum's exhibits are extensive and incredibly high-quality -- including several aircraft that can be examined up . This weapon system used some hazardous and a lot of special chemicals to support it. They also were known as the Red Tails because they painted the tails of their aircraft red. Wurtsmith Air Force Base is a decommissioned United States Air Force base that was closed by the 1991 Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC 2) and is a proposed EPA Superfund site. Wurtsmith Air Force Base History - Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport Authority to the proper paperwork being completed to allow the missions to continue. These bases wereresponsible for a housing a Ready Alert Nuclear Strike Force. This is a very big issue for the people of Oscoda and the surrounding areas for obvious reasons. The P-47D, in general service by the spring of 1944, had a maximum speed of 440 miles (700 km) per hour and a ceiling of 40,000 feet (12,200 meters). Any one else from 84-89 have issues? Dallas Naval base, Texas. Military challenging states on $2 billion chemical liability - Unwell Water Their children developed asthma, spinal defects and thyroid problems. Drinking water laced with high levels of poisonous chemicals may be to blame for cancer and other chronic disease among veterans and families who lived at Wurtsmith Air Force Base in northern Michigan, according to a new federal health report draft. [2] The flight crashed at 2:20PM while returning from K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base in the Upper Peninsula. I was born on base November 1978, and lived on base with my mom, brother born 1989 on base, and my dad, a civil engineer stationed on base until oct 1982. They resumed the investigation last spring. Today the Wurtsmith district is integral to the community's economic potential. Aircraft upper wing, left lower wing, rudder and propeller damaged. Lt. Ennis also thought it would be a great place for young Army Air corps to test aircraft (WAFB.net). Over the course of Mr. Nortons career as both a KC-135 Navigatorand a DC-10 Pilot, Mr. Norton served as a flight commander, served numerousdeployments during the Gulf War escorting fighter squadrons from the UnitedStates into theater, supporting fighter squadrons and bomber squadrons intheater, served multiple temporary duty assignments to England, Spain, SaudiArabia, Alaska, and other Air Force Bases around the globe. With this long list of negative effects it is clearly a big health issue for local residents. [1], While Wurtsmith Air Force Base was its own little town, it was segregated by officers and enlisted. China Lake Naval base, California. Aircraft rolled 630 feet before nosing over. As Michigan makes PFAS strides, Oscoda residents say Air Force is In addition, it would facilitate the installation of nose cannon since the armament could be mounted near the centerline, minimizing the effects of recoil forces. The 1st Combat Evaluation Group (initially "1CEG", later "1CEVG") was a Strategic Air Command (SAC) unit. It has recently been discovered that that the base has been leaking chemicals into the surrounding waterways. Contaminated water has been shown to be the main way that humans get exposed to this chemical, which is exactly whats going on in Oscoda. At the start of 1985, Wurtsmith maintained an $80 million annual payroll with 3,600 military and civilian personnel. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan Redevelopment Profile [6], During the Gulf War B-52s from Wurtsmith Air Force Base were flownout of Prince Abdullah AB in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. [5] The 379th flew with a Triangle K tail flash to continue the, tradition from their World War II counterparts. The military has not begun cleanups at any of the 50 Department of Defense sites Congress has identified as highly contaminated with the "forever chemicals" known as PFAS - and it could be years before cleanups are complete. In 1977 the 379th Bomb Wing upgraded the B-52H fleet to B-52Gaircraft. People who are exposed every day for an extended period of time are the ones who start to see real problems, some of which I mentioned above. This building was like the barracks, but each officer had his own room. Senators Gary Peters (MI) and Debbie Stabenow (MI) and U.S. [5] In recent years groundwater contamination has be linked to jet fuel, cleaning agents, and fire suppression agents used at Wurtsmith Air Force Base.