Gowen Field Air National Guard Base
Encyclopedia
- See: Boise AirportBoise AirportBoise Airport , also known as Boise Air Terminal or Gowen Field, is a joint civil-military, commercial and general aviation airport located three nautical miles south of downtown Boise in Ada County, Idaho, USA...
for civil airport information
Gowen Field Air National Guard Base is the home base of the Idaho Air National Guard
Idaho Air National Guard
The Idaho Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is, along with the Idaho Army National Guard, an element of the Idaho National Guard. It is considered a part of the United States Air Force, as well as its state mission....
124th Fighter Wing.
Overview
The 124th Fighter Wing, Idaho Air National GuardIdaho Air National Guard
The Idaho Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is, along with the Idaho Army National Guard, an element of the Idaho National Guard. It is considered a part of the United States Air Force, as well as its state mission....
includes two flying squadrons and 12 support units based at Gowen Field Air National Guard Base in Boise, Idaho
Boise, Idaho
Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...
. The 124th Wing, a reserve component of the US Air Force, is one of the few Air Guard units in the nation with three separate federal missions.
Until the mid-1990s, the mission of the 124th Wing involved RF-4C Phantom II reconnaissance aircraft. As the F-4 was being phased out of the U.S military, the 124th Wing was selected to assume close-air support and tactical airlift missions. Therefore, the aircraft based at Gowen Field were replaced with A-10 Thunderbolt II
A-10 Thunderbolt II
The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is an American single-seat, twin-engine, straight-wing jet aircraft developed by Fairchild-Republic in the early 1970s. The A-10 was designed for a United States Air Force requirement to provide close air support for ground forces by attacking tanks,...
close air support aircraft and C-130 Hercules
C-130 Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation, and cargo transport...
transports.
BRAC 2005 moved the C-130 Hercules aircraft to the 153d Airlift Wing
153d Airlift Wing
The 153d Airlift Wing is a Wyoming Air National Guard unit, part of the United States Air Force. It is located at Cheyenne Air National Guard Base at Cheyenne Regional Airport, in Cheyenne, Wyoming.-History:...
(ANG), Cheyenne Air National Guard Base
Cheyenne Air National Guard Base
Cheyenne Air National Guard Base is the home base of the Wyoming Air National Guard 153d Airlift Wing.-Overview:The 153d Airlift Wing of the Wyoming Air National Guard occupies approximately of leased land on the City of Cheyenne Regional Airport, located two miles north of downtown Cheyenne,...
, Wyoming.
Gowen Field is also the home of the Idaho Air National Guard, Army National Guard
Army National Guard
Established under Title 10 and Title 32 of the U.S. Code, the Army National Guard is part of the National Guard and is divided up into subordinate units stationed in each of the 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia operating under their respective governors...
, and reserve units of the Army, Navy, and Marines. The Idaho Army National Guard is also very active at Gowen Field, and consists of armor, helicopter, and other training units. The combined area within the Airport boundaries under exclusive-use military lease is about 570 acres of land. Another 1,500 acres on the Airport is under a joint-use agreement between the City and the military.
History
Boise's first municipal airport was built in 1926 on a grave bed beside the Boise River where State University is located today. On April 6, 1926, Varney Airlines flew the first commercial airmail in the U.S. from Pasco to Boise to Elko. Varney later joined others to form United Airlines. United Airlines, which traces its beginnings to Boise, inaugurated jet service to the city on October 26, 1964. It is the only airline to have served Boise continuously since 1933. A great moment in local air history came on September 4, 1927 when Charles A. Lindbergh landed his "Spirit of St. LouisSpirit of St. Louis
The Spirit of St. Louis is the custom-built, single engine, single-seat monoplane that was flown solo by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris for which Lindbergh won the $25,000 Orteig Prize.Lindbergh took off in the Spirit from Roosevelt...
" in Boise.
Boise bought and leased land for the present airport in 1936-38. Its 8,800 foot runway was the nation's longest at that time. Varney's 1931 steel hangar from the old field was moved to the present one in 1939. When planes got too big for it, it was closed in as part of the terminal building. It is still inside today's modern terminal. The United States Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
leased Boise's field and built a major training base for B-17 and B-24 heavy bomber crews. More than 6,000 men were stationed there for most of the war years.
When the war was over Gowen Field was returned to Boise City, then leased to the Idaho National Guard, which still uses it. By 1952 Boise's little airport consisted of the old Varney hangar, now closed in for a terminal building, and a new air traffic control tower, dedicated on July 13th. Boise Airport has two parallel runways: North runway (10L/28R): 10,000 ft. long and 150 ft. wide; and South runway (10R/28L): 9,763 ft. long and 150 ft. wide.