New Web Site Offers Century Of Military Aviation History At Selfridge
HARRISON TWP. -- Attention, aviation buffs and history fans: a new Web site offers detailed information on the nearly 100 years of military aviation history at what is now known as Selfridge Air National Guard Base.
The page, produced by the 127th Wing at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, tracks the history of both the base and the wing, which operates as a component of the Michigan Air National Guard, serving both state and nation. The page is available at www.127wg.ang.af.mil/resources/history&heritage.asp.
Included at the site is a report on the flight of Fox Able One, in which P-80 aircraft, like the one pictured in the 1948 photo at Selfridge at upper left, flew from Selfridge to a base in Germany on July 20, 1948.
Today we take trans-Atlantic flight for granted. But back then, it was the first time United States military fighter aircraft flew across the ocean under their own power, rather than being shipped across the ocean.
The flight was conceived of and planned at Selfridge and left the base during the Berlin Airlift, when Western bloc forces airlifted supplies to West Berlin around a Soviet land blockade.
The page also provides links that provide facts and figures about Selfridge's role in the response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and a chronology that tracks the story of the famed World War II-era Tuskegee Airmen units that operated at Selfridge and helped bring about the end of racial segregation in the military following the war.
The site also provides details on the Selfridge Military Air Museum and provides links to all of the stories in the award-winning Selfridge Heritage Series, which features information on several key figures in early Air Force history, who spent part of their career serving at Selfridge.
A detailed history of the Air National Guard and a comprehensive set of links to other Air Force history and heritage information are also available.
One of the oldest military air fields in continuous service, the military first took possession of what is now Selfridge Air National Guard Base on July 1, 1917. The first flight took place on July 8 and formal flight operations began on July 16, 1917.
Today the 127th Wing of the Michigan Air National Guard is the host unit at the base, which also houses units of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection.
