Otis Air National Guard Base (IATA: FMH, ICAO: KFMH, FAALID: FMH) is an Air National Guard installation located within Joint Base Cape Cod, a military training facility located on the western portion of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It was known as Otis Air Force Base prior to its transfer from the active duty Air Force to the Air National Guard. In the local community, it is more commonly known as Otis Air Base or simply Otis. It was named in honor of pilot and Boston surgeon Lt. Frank "Jesse" Otis.
During the Cold War, the base was a key Aerospace Defense Command (ADC) installation. Activities included the 33rd Fighter Wing, the 4604th Support Squadron supporting the Texas Towers (1956–63), the 60th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, and the 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing aircraft, flying over the Atlantic Ocean from 1954. The 551st flew the EC-121 Warning Star before moving to Hanscom Air Force Base in 1969. The 551st was also the first Air Force wing to fly the EC-121. The 33rd flew various fighter jets in conjunction with the 60th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. The expanding mission led to the runways being lengthened in 1960. The base was also home to the 26th Air Defense Missile Squadron, which operated BOMARC surface-to-air missiles. The regular air force began leaving Otis in the late 1960s as improvements in radar made the 551st more costly when compared to newer technologies. The 551st and the 60th left Otis when the Air Force began to move the continental air defense mission over to the Air National Guard.
President John F. Kennedy used Otis on many occasions for the landing of Air Force One when he traveled to the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis. He would then board an Army or Marine Corps helicopter which would then take him to the compound. It was at the Otis AFB Hospital that his wife, Jacqueline, gave birth to their son Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, who died two days later.
Closure
In the early 1970s, Otis AFB was marked for closure as part of a nationwide reduction of military bases, to cut costs as the Vietnam War wound down. In 1973, Governor of MassachusettsFrancis W. Sargent appointed the Otis Task Force to oversee a phase-down of military activities at the Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR). The major concern of Cape residents was the fate of base property and impacts on the local economy as military activities decreased. While the future of the base was in limbo, ideas were floated that would include the redeveloping of the base into a recreation center of sorts that would rival Disneyland.[3] The state even went so far as to mail out brochures to 1,500 corporations around the world, advertising the redevelopment opportunities of the base.[3]
In 1977, Otis AFB was officially redistributed with the establishment of boundary lines which divided the complex into several installations, all within the confines of the original Otis AFB. Established was Otis Air National Guard Base, Camp Edwards (an Army National Guard small arms training facility that served as a POW camp during World War II), and Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod (which utilizes the Otis ANGB runways). Together they form the Massachusetts Military Reservation, where 17 other state, federal and private entities operate within its boundaries.
PAVE PAWS is an Active Space Force site and consists of the 6th Space Warning Squadron. This unit is known as Cape Cod Air Station and not directly affiliated to Otis ANG, Base.
Twenty-first century
F-15s formerly from the 102nd return to Otis on 11 July 2013. The 104th Fighter Wing will maintain its alert posture within the existing alert-infrastructure on Cape Cod while the training missions will fly out of Westover Air Reserve Base.
Otis ANGB was originally scheduled to be closed by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), but it was spared in last minute decisions. However, the 102nd Fighter Wing did lose its F-15 Eagle and transitioned to a non-flying mission, redesignated as the 102d Intelligence Wing. The only military aircraft currently based at Otis ANGB are those of the Coast Guard and Army, although transient military aircraft continue to use the facility, and the Navy has considered it as a place of interest should they decide to base naval forces in the Northeast again.[4][5]
A partnership was created on December 22, 2006 among the Coast Guard, National Guard, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Coast Guard assumed control of the aviation facilities from the Air Force, the Air National Guard took over the management of the utilities, and the state funds the emergency services and fire protection. Improvements to the lighting system were put in control of the Coast Guard.[6] The Federal Aviation Administration has released new flight procedures that identify the ICAO code KFMH with the name of Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod.[7]
In December 2013, Otis was selected as a test site by the United States Federal Aviation Administration to "aid in researching the complexities of integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems into the congested, northeast airspace." Massachusetts Institute of Technology will work with Otis to test drones at the airport.[12]
Military operations in the early years at Otis AFB included the use of petroleum products and other hazardous materials, such as fuels, motor oils, and cleaning solvents, and the generation of associated wastes. It was common practice for many years to dispose of such wastes in landfills, dry wells, sumps, and the sewage treatment plant. Spills and leaks also occurred. These activities had a serious impact on the Upper Cape's groundwater resources; much of the water supply in the surrounding area was converted from wells to municipal water sources as a direct result of the threats from waste plumes in the groundwater.
Residents of nearby towns raised concerns about possible adverse effects on health of humans resulting from PAVE PAWS radiation. Remediation on the site occurred in 1998[16] and a 2005 report from the National Academies Press found no evidence of adverse health effects from PAVE PAWS.[17] In 2012, a wind turbine started operating in the area which is powering 25-30% of the energy used in the remediation effort.[18]
Accidents and incidents
A crew photo of the EC-121H Warning Star (s/n 55-5262, ex-USN BuNo 141289) at Otis Air Force Base. This aircraft crashed off the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts on 11 November 1966, 40 minutes after takeoff from Otis due to engine problems, killing all 19 crewmembers aboard.Parts of 53-0549 that were salvaged from the Atlantic after the plane ditched and exploded on April 25, 1967 at Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. The parts are displayed in a large maintenance hangar at Otis.
14 February 1951: Major Raymond S. Wetmore, World War II ace (21.25 kills) and commander of the 59th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Otis Air Force Base, is killed in the crash of F-86A-5-NA Sabre, 48-0149, c/n 151-43517[19][20] at age 27, after a cross-country flight from Los Angeles to Otis. He was on his final approach when his plane suddenly shot skyward and then turned towards the ground where it crashed.[21] Wetmore was killed instantly. He was reported to have said that he had trouble steering and ejecting from the plane.[21] He was also reported to have said to the tower, "I'm going to go up and bring it down in Wakeby Lake, so I don't hit any houses."[21]
11 July 1965: A USAFLockheed EC-121H-LO Warning Star, 55-136,[23] of the 551st AEWCW, develops a fire in the number three (starboard inner) engine, attempts ditching in the North Atlantic approximately 100 miles east of Nantucket. Night touchdown while on fire proves difficult, aircraft crashes and breaks apart. Three of the 19 people on board survive. Seven of the crew bodies are never recovered.[24][25]
11 November 1966: A USAFLockheed EC-121H-LO Warning Star of the 551st AEWCW, out of Otis AFB, Massachusetts, crashes in the North Atlantic ~125 miles E of Nantucket, Massachusetts by unexplained circumstances, approximately the same general area as the one lost 11 July 1965. All 19 crew members are KWF, bodies never recovered.[24][25]
25 April 1967- A USAFLockheed EC-121H-LO Warning Star, 53-549,[26][27] of the 551st AEWCW, out of Otis AFB, Massachusetts, ditches in the North Atlantic ~one mile off of Nantucket, Massachusetts, just after having taken off from that base. One survivor, 15 crew KWF. Five bodies were not recovered. Col. James P. Lyle, the Commander of the 551st AEW&C Wing to which all the aircraft and crew members were assigned, was the pilot. Colonel Lyle had been assigned to take over that command nine months earlier. It was he who presented each of the next of kin of 11 November 1966 crash victims with the United States Flag during that memorial service.[24][25]
Fuel delivery truck crashes at Otis Rotary have caused fires, treated with fire fighting foam, which has seeped into the groundwater and contaminated drinking water with perfluorinated organic compounds (PFC's). Three homes in a Pocasset, Massachusetts neighborhood have also been receiving bottled water.[31]
Previous units
View of an inspection at Otis Field in August, 1944
Note: The Lockheed YF-12 was supposed to be stationed at Otis. This would have either meant the creation of three new squadrons, or the reuse of the above squadrons.
Arval J. Roberson, Last commander of Otis Air Force Base and World War II ace.
Monuments
In a rotary near the original main gate to the base, is a Lockheed F-94 Starfire (tail number 51-4335) which was, presumably, flown by future General Daniel "Chappie" James Jr. when he was a squadron commander at Otis AFB in the 1950s. James' name is written on the fuselage of the aircraft near the canopy.
^"Archived copy". home.att.net. Archived from the original on January 11, 2010. Retrieved January 11, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ abcBoyd, Hon. Allen, (Florida), House of Representatives, "Congressional Record", 106th Congress, Second Session, 15 December 2000, Extension of Remarks, pages E2215 and E2216.
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