{"id":3710,"date":"2016-10-16T23:27:35","date_gmt":"2016-10-17T03:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ss.sites.mtu.edu\/mhugl\/?p=3710"},"modified":"2016-10-16T23:27:35","modified_gmt":"2016-10-17T03:27:35","slug":"the-closure-of-k-i-sawyer-air-force-base","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ss.sites.mtu.edu\/mhugl\/2016\/10\/16\/the-closure-of-k-i-sawyer-air-force-base\/","title":{"rendered":"The Closure of K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
K.I. Sawyer County Airport<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1944, early construction began on an airport in Marquette county in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Its name – K.I. Sawyer Airport. \u00a0By July 22, 1949, K.I. Sawyer officially activated as the County Airport for Marquette county. \u00a0In 1954, the U.S. Government entered into negotiations with Marquette County to lease over 5,200 acres of land to become the new K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base. \u00a0On January 4 1955, a 99 year lease was signed and construction commenced.<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout its history, K.I. Sawyer was the home to many Operational Units, including the Air Defense Command (ADC), the Strategic Air Command (SAC), and the Air Combat Command (ACC). \u00a0In January of 1956, K.I. Sawyer became the home to the 473rd Fighter Group, a unit of the Eastern Air Defense Command.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
KC-135s and B-52s on the Flight Line<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In February of 1963, the 410th Bomb Wing of the Strategic Air Command was activated at K.I. Sawyer, replacing the 4042nd Strategic Wing. \u00a0Later in 1963, the 410th Bomb Wing began to conduct flying operations with the B-52H Stratofortress and the KC-135 Stratotanker.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Guardians of the North<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unfortunately, in 1993, the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission recommended that K.I. Sawyer be closed. \u00a0On November 21st 1994, the last B-52 stationed at Sawyer leaves for Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. \u00a0The deactivation of Sawyer had begun. On June 1, 1995, an Inactivation Ceremony was held. \u00a0In August of 1995, the process was complete, and a Deactivation Ceremony was held. \u00a0Chief Master Sergeant Vaughn Stewart, the last military member of K.I. Sawyer, left in December of 1996.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Aerial View of K.I. Sawyer AFB<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Currently, part of K.I. Sawyer serves as Sawyer International Airport, the region’s primary civilian airport. \u00a0The remainder of the base has mostly been left alone. \u00a0Much of the former base area is unused and is slowly deteriorating. \u00a0A static aircraft display maintained by a local group houses six aircraft, representing the types of aircraft stationed there. \u00a0The K.I. Sawyer Heritage Air Museum currently operates out of the old base MWR building.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. K.I. Sawyer Heritage Air Museum – Timeline:
    \n<\/span>    http:\/\/www.kishamuseum.org\/timeline.php<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission – Final Report: <\/span>http:\/\/www.brac.gov\/finalreport.html<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Gwinn Sawyer Chamber of Commerce – History of Sawyer: <\/span>http:\/\/www.gwinnmi.com\/history_sawyer.htm<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Strategic Air Command – K.I. Sawyer AFB:
    \n<\/span>    http:\/\/www.strategic-air-command.com\/bases\/K_I_Sawyer_AFB.htm<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Further Investigation:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. K.I. Sawyer AFB After Closure:
      \n<\/span>      https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lfOXtwZX1Ss<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
    2. K.I. Sawyer B-52 Final Flight:
      \n<\/span>      https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=N_1pcSMt7N8<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
    3. K.I. Sawyer AFB – Wikipedia:
      \n<\/span>      https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/K._I._Sawyer_Air_Force_Base<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n
    4. K.I. Sawyer AFB – FortWiki:
      \n      http:\/\/fortwiki.com\/K.I._Sawyer_Air_Force_Base<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      In 1944, early construction began on an airport in Marquette county in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Its name – K.I. Sawyer Airport. \u00a0By July 22, 1949, K.I. Sawyer officially activated as the County Airport for Marquette county. \u00a0In 1954,…<\/p>\n

      Continue readingThe Closure of K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":193,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aircraft","category-installation","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ss.sites.mtu.edu\/mhugl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ss.sites.mtu.edu\/mhugl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ss.sites.mtu.edu\/mhugl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ss.sites.mtu.edu\/mhugl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/193"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ss.sites.mtu.edu\/mhugl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3710"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/ss.sites.mtu.edu\/mhugl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3736,"href":"http:\/\/ss.sites.mtu.edu\/mhugl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3710\/revisions\/3736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ss.sites.mtu.edu\/mhugl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ss.sites.mtu.edu\/mhugl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ss.sites.mtu.edu\/mhugl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}