Salina Post proudly presents Flashback Friday in partnership with the Smoky Hill Museum. Enjoy a weekly tidbit of local history from the staff at Salina Post and the Smoky Hill Museum as we present "Salina-Flashback Fridays."
By SALINA POST
Veterans Day is a day to celebrate the nation's retired soldiers who fought in various wars across the decades. The national holiday began as Armistice Day, but in a bill proposed by Kansas U.S. Representative Edward Reese, the holiday was renamed Veterans Day and signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954.
Salina's history with America's armed forces goes back almost a century, when construction began on the Smoky Hill Army Air Field on May 5, 1942.
The 2,600-acre airfield featured two 10,000-feet long runways, two 7,500-feet long runways, 12 taxi strips and enough room for 4,000 enlisted men and 500 officers with a 176-bed hospital.
The Smoky Hill Army Air Field had these large runways to support the B-17 "Flying Fortress" and B-24 heavy bombers used in the early days of World War II.
According to the June 10, 1942 edition of the Salina Journal, thousands of workers hastily built the airfield, constructing tar paper buildings as many airmen arrived throughout construction. Many airmen would nickname the base the "Smoky Hole" rather than "Smoky Hill."
"The air base, two miles southwest of Salina, is a rush of activity. Buildings are mushrooming up in fast order as grading for building sites and runways progresses. Six to seven carloads of lumber are coming into the air base daily," the Salina Journal reported on June 10, 1942.
The first troops arrived at the Smoky Hill Army Air Field in September 1943, with the first B-17 Flying Fortresses coming shortly after in December 1943.
The United States Military introduced the B-29 "Super Fortress" heavy bomber shortly after and designated Salina as the first operational training center for B-29 bombers in the nation.
The Smoky Hill Army Air Field served as a process and staging area for heavy bombardment units traveling overseas, where General Henry H. Arnold, commander of the Army Air Forces, hoped to send 175 combat-ready B-29 bombers overseas by March 1, 1944.
As the March 1 deadline approached, it was apparent that the Smoky Hill Army Air Field would need more time to prepare the large planes.
According to a document provided by the Smoky Hill Museum, Arnold proposed an aggressive campaign named the "Battle of Kansas" or the "Salina Blitz." This campaign would include three other airfields in the state, including Walker, Pratt and Great Bend airfields.
"Hundreds of technicians and experts from production lines across the country were brought to the four centers to standardize all the planes and get them ready for the March deadline," according to a document from the Smoky Hill Museum.
This effort allowed the airfield to finish preparing the B-29 bombers by the March deadline.
READ MORE: 📸 Flashback Friday: Salina Post - Smoky Hill Museum - Vol. 14
The 21st Bomber Command activated at the Smoky Hill Army Air Field on March 1, 1944. By the end of the month, the 20th Bomber Command made its way to the China-Burma-India theatre to begin operations against Japan, and in June 1944, Kansas-built B-29s bombed the country.
Toward the end of World War II, the base's mission changed from preparing troops for overseas duty to welcoming them home. By October 1945, the airfield pre-discharged and processed 9,200 men for home.
The airfield switched command to the Strategic Air Command and renamed Smoky Hill Air Force Base in January 1948. It continued as a bomber base, but the military deactivated the site in August 1949.
The base continued operations through the Korean conflict in the 1950s, and on March 16, 1957, the base was renamed again to Schilling Air Force Base after Colonel David Schilling, a WWII fighter pilot who helped develop mid-air refueling techniques for fighter aircraft.
After renaming the base, the military decided to expand — nearly doubling the original size of the base to 4,000 acres.
The sprawling lands of Schilling Air Force Base included 750 housing units, 30 dormitories, a hospital, a dental clinic, three dining halls, a gym, a laboratory, a shopping center, a theatre, a bowling alley, two swimming pools, parks, schools and churches.
According to the Smoky Hill Museum, "the base even had its own police force and fire department, and an annual operating budget of around $29 million. Civilians from the Salina area worked in many base areas, filling administrative, retail and support positions."
The base continued to thrive — soldiers often interacted with Salinans and established celebrations like "Uniform Week," where the command encouraged service members to wear their uniforms in town.
During the base's prime years in the 1950s, it was designated as Strategic Air Command's "Golden Anniversary of Flight Base," which proudly hung over its entrance gate.
Schilling Air Force Base comprised about 32% of the town's income and 25% of its population, adding great prosperity to the community. It wouldn't last forever, though.
On November 19, 1964, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara announced that Schilling Air Force Base would close in six months. By May 1, 1965, over half the personnel working on the base were transferred away.
It finally closed on June 30, 1965. Still, before the base officially closed, the Salina City Commission and Chamber of Commerce formed a joint committee named the Schilling Development Council "to secure a long-range re-use plan for the base," according to the Smoky Hill Museum.
READ MORE:📸 Flashback Friday: Salina Post - Smoky Hill Museum - Vol. 13
This development council established the Salina Airport Authority to own and improve the base for future use.
The Salina Airport Authority worked hard to refurbish and upgrade the base, demolishing unusable parts of the site and transforming it into a municipal airport and, eventually, a regional one.
Kansas State University Aerospace and Polytechnic Campus established itself at the now Salina Regional Airport in 1991, where about 1,000 students enroll each year.
Today, the Salina Regional Airport provides close-range flights to Hays Regional Airport, Chicago, IL, Denver, CO, and other locations.