Spirit’s Haunt
ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE DATES in the past 100 years is December 7, 1941. On that day, the Japanese attacked
Pearl Harbor with a swarm of aircraft, crippling one of the most powerful navies in the world. When the enemy aircraft attacked, Second Lieutenant George A. Whiteman, a native of
Sedalia, Missouri, scrambled to his Curtiss P-40 Warhawk at
Wheeler Field, Hawaii. As soon as the P-40 started to become airborne, he was downed by the enemy and killed. His legacy still lives on today in the form of Whiteman AFB, Missouri, named in honor of the brave pilot.
The base began life as Sedalia Army Air Base on August 6, 1942. Waco CG-4A gliders, Curtiss C-46s, and Douglas C-47s were based there. After the war, the base was closed and abandoned. In August, 1951, the base was reactivated as a Strategic Air Command base known as Sedalia AFB, with B-47s and KC-97s arriving for service in November, 1953.
On October 1, 1955, the base was officially renamed Whiteman AFB. In June 1961, Whiteman was selected as the fourth Minuteman ICBM wing and had ICBMs in 1963. After 32 years of providing deterrence throughout the Cold War, the 351st Missile Wing was inactivated on July 31, 1995. Under START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991), the Minuteman Missile system fell prey to the treaty and hence was eliminated.
On September 30, 1990, the 509th BW moved from Pease AFB, New Hampshire to Whiteman AFB in a non-operational status without people or aircraft. The 509th BW previously flew the FB-111A Aardvark for many years at Pease AFB. On April 1, 1993, the 509th BW became operational again. On July 18, 1993, the base resumed flying operations after a 30-year waiting period when the 509th BW's first aircraft arrived, a Northrop T-38A Talon, serial number 62-3690. The T-38s are used as companion trainers by B-2 pilots to keep their flying skills honed. The B-2s followed later that year, with the first example arriving in December 1993.
As a result of base closures and realignment, Whiteman AFB also adopted the Air Force Reserve's 442nd Fighter Wing and its 22 A-10C Warthogs, following the closure of Richards-Gebaur Air Force Reserve Base, Kansas City, Missouri. Whiteman AFB is located 65 miles southeast of Kansas City and is two miles south of Knob Noster near U.S. Highway 50. The base property includes 4,684 acres and has a 12,400-foot (3,815-meter) by 200-foot (62-meter) runway.
The base was responsible for a vast network of unused Minuteman II missile sites and launch control centers spread out over 8,550 square kilometers in central Missouri, but they have all been disabled. Whiteman AFB is home to the 20th Reconnaissance Squadron (active duty unit is hosted by the 509th BW but with operational control to the 57th Wing at Creech AFB, Nevada) flying MQ-9 Reapers. Whiteman also hosts a unit of Army AH-64D Apaches, the 1-135th Attack Reconnaissance.