Mira Loma Air Force Station

Mira Loma Air Force Station
Part of Air Force Logistics Command
Located in Mira Loma, California
Mira Loma AFS
Coordinates 34°01′33″N 117°31′59″W / 34.02583°N 117.53306°W / 34.02583; -117.53306
Type Air Force Base
Site information
Controlled by United States Air Force
Condition Sold
Site history
Built March 1942
In use Open 1942 – closed 1986

Mira Loma Air Force Station is a closed facility of the United States Air Force. It served as a depot for ICBM missile programs operated at Norton Air Force Base and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. It also supported civil defense radiological equipment testing and maintenance.

History

Quartermaster Corps

The site of Mira Loma Air Force Station was originally constructed during World War II as the former Army Quartermaster Supply Depot at Mira Loma, California. The military reservation was situated north of Mira Loma at the corner of Etiwanda Avenue and Highway 60. Land for the facility was purchased in 1942 in support of wartime efforts. The depot consisted of warehouses, an administration building, infirmary, training building, garage, officer's quarters, sewage disposal plant and several other buildings.[1]

Transfer to Air Force

Most of the property was transferred to the U.S. Air Force in 1954 and redesignated Mira Loma Air Force Station. In the late 1950s, Mira Loma AFS was designated the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization Radiological Maintenance Shop for the Arizona and Southern California areas of Region VII, operating from OCDM Warehouse No. 931.[2][3] As solid-fuel Minuteman missiles entered service from 1962, the more problematic liquid-fueled Atlas and Titan systems were removed from alert status. "All of the Atlas Ds were phased out between May and October 1964. From January through March 1965, SAC removed the Atlas Es and Fs, and by June 1965 had deactivated all of the Titan I missiles as well. The Atlas ICBMs were shipped to San Bernardino Air Material Area, Norton AFB, for storage; the Titans were stored at Mira Loma Air Force Station, near Vandenberg AFB."[4] News accounts dated 12 December 1963 stated, however, that "Mira Loma Air Force Station at Ontario will be closed and its mission transferred to other installations in the area by December 1964."[5][6] This was part of Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara's economy moves to consolidate military installations.[7][8]

All remaining Titan I launch vehicles had been shipped to storage at Mira Loma AFS, Riverside County, by 18 April 1965. These were scrapped at Mira Loma in the spring of 1966.[9]

Disposal

Approximately 2/3 of the land was sold to a private entity (Mira Loma Space Center) who re-developed the site as an industrial and commercial office park. The remaining portion of the property was sold to the County of Riverside in 1986.[10] Not surprisingly, perchlorate, used in rocket fuel, has been detected at the site.[11]

References

  1. ↑ http://wikimapia.org/24017613/Army-Quartermaster-Supply-Depot-Mira-Loma-Air-Force-Station
  2. ↑ Advisory Bulletin, "Interim Procedures For Maintenance Of Radiological Instruments", Executive Office of the President, Office of Civil Defense and Mobilization, Battle Creek, Michigan, No. 229, 8 January 1959, Attachment A, Page 2,
  3. ↑ https://www.orau.org/ptp/Library/cdv/Advisory%20Bulletin%20No.%20229%20%20Interim%20Proced%20for%20Maint%20of%20Rad%20Instruments.pdf
  4. ↑ Neufeld, Jacob, "Ballistic Missiles in the United States Air Force 1945-1960", Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force, Washington, D.C., 1990, Library of Congress card number 89-71109, ISBN 0-912799-62-5, page 238.
  5. ↑ Associated Press, "33 Military Installations Will Be Closed, Reduced", The Tuscaloosa News, Tuscaloosa-Northport, Alabama, Thursday 12 December 1963, Volume 145, Number 346, pages 1, 7.
  6. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers? nid=1817&dat=19631212&id=8hkfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-5oEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7356,1863664&hl=en
  7. ↑ Associated Press, "Economy Act Is Expected To Continue", The Tuscaloosa News, Tuscaloosa-Northport, Alabama, Thursday 12 December 1963, Volume 145, Number 346, pages 1.
  8. ↑ http://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/document.php?id=cqal63-1317468
  9. ↑ http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/titan1.htm#chrono
  10. ↑ http://wikimapia.org/24017613/Army-Quartermaster-Supply-Depot-Mira-Loma-Air-Force-Station
  11. ↑ https://clu-in.org/download/contaminantfocus/perchlorate/perchlorateLA_Basin_b.pdf
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