LOCATION - Kirtland AFB would like to WELCOME you to New Mexico, the "Land of Enchantment." Kirtland AFB is located in the United States, Southwest Region, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The base is located in the southeast section of Albuquerque, and is the third largest installation in the Air Force Material Command (AFMC). The base occupies over 52,000 acres and employs about 22,280 people. Albuquerque is considered a lower cost area to reside in than the east or west coast. Every October the city of Albuquerque hosts the world's largest International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. The city is home of the world's longest Aerial Tramway. The sun shines more than 300 days a year in Albuquerque creating weather that is ideal for any outdoor activity.
MISSION - The primary mission of the 377th Air Base Wing, Kirtland's host organization, is to provide world-class nuclear surety, expeditionary forces, and support to base operations. . Visit the Kirtland AFB official homepage to obtain more information about the mission at Kirtland AFB.
ECONOMIC INPACT - The total value of Kirtland Air Force Base's economic impact to the local community is almost $8.2 billion and creates 51,678 jobs in the local area.
SPONSORSHIP - Sponsors are assigned by the Unit Intro Monitor. Your sponsor is probably the most important person at Kirtland AFB in assisting with preparations for your move. He or she can help you locate temporary and permanent housing, and assist with in-processing. Your sponsor should send you pertinent information about the base and local communities-such things as the base guide, base newspaper, housing information, maps and his or her phone number and address. If you have not heard from your sponsor within 30 days of your reporting date contact your squadron commander or the Military Personnel Flight (Customer Service), DSN 246-5459 or commercial (505) 846-5459, at Kirtland AFB. International students if you have not heard from your sponsor, please call (505) 846-9812 or DSN 246-9812. The sponsor and the newcomer will confirm the meeting arrangements.
An important item in any move is maintaining uninterrupted mail service. If you are being assigned to Kirtland and have a sponsor, he/she will need a copy of your orders to provide you with an advance mailing address, no earlier than 90 days prior to your arrival. If you are a single enlisted member and plan to reside in one of the dormitories, you can obtain a Postal Service Center (PSC) box address through your sponsor.
TEMPORARY QUARTERS - When you arrive at Kirtland AFB, your first stop should be the lodging office on the east side of the installation. If you are active duty on official orders you need to go through the Lodging Office (Kirtland Inn). If they do not have available rooms they will assist you with a non-availability slip and other information.
Space-A reservations can be made up to 30 days in advance, depending on occupancy. Personnel on orders (priority 1) can make their reservations as soon as they know they are coming to Kirtland AFB. To learn more cross reference to topic, Installation - Temporary Lodging."
RELOCATION ASSISTANCE - The Family Support Center (FSC) provides information through the Newcomers' Information Fair, Welcome to New Mexico Tour, Smooth Move Briefing, and Smooth Moves for Kids to assist you in your move whether you are PCSing, retiring or separating. The Relocation Assistance Center (505-846-6359, DSN 246-6359) provides a loan closet stocked with household items such as dishes, pots and pans, child car seats, futons and much more for you to borrow to make your move easier. Stop by to pick up a base, city, or state map, a video tape or brochure packet to learn about your next tour of duty station. The Newcomers Briefing is held every Tuesday in the Consolidated Support Building, Room 120. Call the Military Personnel Flight (Customer Service) at DSN 246-5459 or Commercial (505) 846-5459 to confirm the date and time. To learn more cross reference to topic, "Installation - Housing - Loan Closet and Family Relocation Assistance.
CRITICAL INSTALLATION INFORMATION - Family Housing has an 8 month waiting list for O4 and above. Key and essential personnel will have priority on the waiting list. There is a wait time for 4 bedrooms for O1-O3. Visit the Kirtland AFB Homepage to read about BRACC and the changes at Kirtland AFB. All active duty military members that are qualified to receive BAH must first report to the Kirtland Housing Management and Referral Office (HMRO), prior to engaging in any residential rental/lease agreement in privatized (on-base) or community (off-base) housing. This requirement also applies to home purchase agreements. All unaccompanied members below grade E-5 must report to the Dorm Manager (Commercial 505-853-5479, DSN 263-5479) for housing assistance. For further assistance with your housing needs contact the HMRO at Commercial (505)-846-8217, DSN 246-8217. There are two child development centers on Kirtland AFB. Both centers have a waiting list for unborn through 2 years of age. Parents are encouraged to forward a DD 2606, Department Of Defense Child Development Program Request for Care Record, to the Gibson CDC or Maxwell CDC to establish a need for care. If you are going to be bringing pets to Kirtland AFB please go to the AF Portal and read the KAFBI 31-205, Animal Control Requirement. Vicious dogs, including Pit Bulls, American Staffordshire Bull Terriers, English Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Rottweilers (full or mixed breed), wolf hybrids, or any other breed with dominant traits geared toward aggression are banned from base housing at Kirtland AFB. Twenty hours (20) of child care per child (Commercial 505-846-0741 or DSN 246-0741) is paid by the Air Force Aid Society for all Air Force active duty personnel within 60 day of their PCS to Kirtland AFB. If you have emergency financial needs call Commercial (505) 846-0741,
DSN 246-0741 or stop by the Family Support Center to speak to the Air Force Aid Society Officer or Assistant Officer.
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE HISTORY Kirtland Air Force Base's beginnings stem from three private airfields of 1928-1939 and are similar to that of other installations choosing to adapt existing runways and hangars for military use. In 1928, Frank G. Speakman and William L. Franklin, two Santa Fe railroad employees, had inaugurated a private venture for an airport. Working with the town of Albuquerque, they graded two runways on the East Mesa -- one approximately 5,300 feet long and the other just under 4,000 feet. Albuquerque Airport was wholly a private venture, irrespective of the town's involvement. Immediately following construction of the airport, other individuals and promoters became interested in Albuquerque as a crossroads location for southwestern air traffic. James G. Oxnard, a New York air transportation promoter, bought Franklin's interest in Albuquerque Airport, expanding the facility toward the end of 1928.
As the decade closed, two airlines initiated competitive passenger, mail, and cargo service between the Midwest and California, positioning Albuquerque as an important transcontinental airfield. Shortly after beginning activities, one of the companies, Western Air Express, decided to build its own airport on the West Mesa. This airport became known as Albuquerque Airport-while the former Albuquerque Airport on the East Mesa took on the name Oxnard Field, continuing as a private venture.
As of late 1939, Army and Navy pilots began using Oxnard Field for refueling and maintenance during a variety of military flights. Later that same year, the Army Air Corps leased 2,000 acres neighboring Albuquerque Airport, four miles west of Oxnard Field. The Army eventually bought the Oxnard Field property and its subsequent transfer to the federal government restricted the runways to military use only.
Construction of Albuquerque Army Air Base began in January 1941 and was completed in August 1941. The first Albuquerque Army Air Base commander, Colonel Frank D. Hackett, arrived in March 1941. The following month, the base received its first military aircraft. On April 1, 1941, a lone B-18 bomber, piloted by Lieutenant Sid Young, landed on the north-south runway. With the assignment of five pilots to the aircraft, the day marked the official opening of Albuquerque Army Air Base.
The summer of 1941 saw the arrival of the first troop train, loaded with 500 base support personnel, as well as arrival of the 19th Bombardment Group (19 BG) under the command of Lt. Col. Eugene L. Eubank. Business on the new airfield really began to boom with the arrival of 2,195 pilots, bombardiers, and navigator trainees for the new B-17 "Flying Fortress." The 19 BG moved out shortly thereafter for duty in the Philippines and South Pacific, where many crewmembers were decorated for bravery. Even in the absence of the 19 BG, activity at Albuquerque Army Air Base increased. Just a week after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the first class of bombardiers began with the establishment of the Army's first wartime advanced flying school.
In February 1942, Albuquerque Army Air Base was renamed Kirtland Army Air Field in honor of Col. Roy C. Kirtland, one of the Army's oldest pioneers in aviation. Colonel Kirtland is one of the early Army pilots, receiving in 1911 Certificate No. 46 from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale. He also holds Expert Aviatior License No. 11 from the Aero Club of America. From April to June, 1911, he was in charge of the U.S. Aviation School at College Park, Md. Since the airfield originally opened, Kirtland's aircraft inventory had grown to 50 AT-11s and 28 B-18s.
The war years at Kirtland continued to be filled with distinguished records of training entire flight crews for the B-17 and B-24 bombers and the base's three schools -- advanced flying, bombardier training and the multi-engine school -- operated at full capacity. In February 1945, Kirtland Field also engaged in training combat crews for the B-29. This was the "Superfortress" which eventually brought an end to the hostilities with Japan by dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- nicknamed Fat Man and Little Boy.
In February 1946, Kirtland was placed under the Air Materiel Command (AMC) and its flying training activities ceased. Its new job entailed flight test activities for the Manhattan Engineering District, the wartime organization that produced the atomic bomb. The new role for Kirtland was to develop proper aircraft modifications for weapons delivery and to determine ballistic characteristics for weapons of the future.
Kirtland's role in testing and evaluating these special weapons increased in 1947, as the U.S. Army Air Forces became the U.S. Air Force. At that time, Kirtland Army Air Field, with a population of 972 military and civilian personnel, became Kirtland Air Force Base. Most of the weapon proving was conducted on a 46,000-acre tract in the Manzano Mountains, on the southern part of Kirtland AFB, including Forest Service lands withdrawn for testing purposes. Artillery emplacements were set up; observation stations were built; fragmentation areas were prepared; and two 248-foot oak towers were erected near the present day Starfire Optical Range. The establishment of such activities at Kirtland was considered ideal because of its proximity to Los Alamos Laboratory and to Sandia Base, where the Department of Defense (DoD) had established the Armed Forces Special Weapons Command (AFSWC) to direct military employment of the new weapons to be built.
The story of Kirtland AFB is really the story of three bases, since the merger in 1971 of Kirtland, Manzano and Sandia Bases that brought the three installations together under one command. Sandia Base was originally created in 1942 as Albuquerque Air Depot Training Station for aircraft maintenance personnel. By late 1943, however, Sandia was in a caretaker status. A year and a half later, the Manhattan Engineering District created the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project at Sandia Base to coordinate military special weapons activity.
Armed Forces Special Weapons Command (AFSWC) also constructed two operational sites. One was known as Site Able, located in the foothills of the Manzano Mountains, just east of Sandia Base. On February 22, 1952, Site Able was renamed Manzano Base and came under operational control of the Air Force.
In December 1949, Kirtland AFB became headquarters for the newly created Special Weapons Command. The nucleus of this organization was composed of pioneering Air Force agencies that had located here to determine future employment of special weapons. The command became the Air Force Special Weapons Center (AFSWC) on April 1, 1952, and was a unit of the Air Research and Development Command ARDC). The Special Weapons Center assumed management of Air Force Systems Command's (AFSC) test and evaluation facilities at Holloman AFB, near Alamogordo, New Mexico, during the summer of 1970. And, just one year later on July 1, 1971, Kirtland merged with Manzano and Sandia Base's, its neighbors to the east, creating a sprawling military complex known as Kirtland Air Force Base -- the third largest installation in AFMC and the sixth largest in the Air Force. Point of Contact
377 ABW/HO, 2000 Wyoming Blvd SE Ste D-2, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117-5606; Commercial: 505-853-0011, DSN: 263-0011.