Any one else from 84-89 have issues? Military bases are known for significant staffing turnover. A sand and gravel aquifer of glacial origin underlies Wurtsmith Air Force Base in northeastern lower Michigan. We have a lot of sick civilians and = veterans from contaminated drinking water. The human-made chemicals are in your blood, your clothes, your cosmetics. Heavily armed with eight wing-mounted 0.50-inch (12.7-mm) machine guns, it could carry a bomb load of as much as 2,500 pounds (1,100 kg) and could carry ten 5-inch (127-mm) rockets beneath the wings. My daughter was born at the base hospital. . City Picto Map, Clark Air Base / Angeles City. The plane was equipped with the cannon and four .50-caliber machine guns two mounted on the wings, two more just behind the propeller and timed to fire through the spinning blades. [1] Wurtsmith Air Force Base was 2nd Lt. Nortons firstpermanent duty station in the United States Air Force.[1]. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality released a report Thursday, Aug. 30, concluding that Wurtsmith wells were 'likely impacted' by PFAS contamination between 1978 and 1997, when municipal water from Lake Huron was brought to the base. Lee N. 2023 Aspyre Media Group, LLC. In their letter, the members expressed their concerns that the Air Force's proposed remediation plan . 1944 -- Maj. Gen. Paul B. Wurtsmith, born in Detroit in 1906, led U. S. Army Air Corps training flights to Camp Skeel near Oscoda prior to World War II. [3] Search Superfund Site Information. EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 28 Dec. 2016, cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0503675. There were 10 passengers and six crew members on board. One specific and important waterway being affected by these pollutants is the Au Sable River. The gunnery range was tasked with training pilots fromSelfridge air base in the challenging maneuvers required to land a DeHavillandbiplane on the frozen lake Van Etten for the young Army Air Corps. The 1st Combat Evaluation Group (initially "1CEG", later "1CEVG") was a Strategic Air Command (SAC) unit. Traci Kroushour, an Oscoda resident until the age of 12, had her uterus removed at the age of 28 and can never have children. Within a few days, a mere 28 Airmen established housing for over 400 personnel, replete with . A map of the base locations listed above can be viewed below. Lester Graham. These bases wereresponsible for a housing a Ready Alert Nuclear Strike Force. The landing gear was changed from rubber-block shock absorbers inside the fuselage to oleo-and-spring units mounted in the outer forward strut. Veteran Compensation Programs (USVCP) (www.veteranprograms.com), and any of their associated websites is for general informational. The ready alert flight crews were rotated on a three week cycle. As soon as an assignment went over 180 days it was considered a permanent change in duty station. Cindi developed hypertension and Lawrence diagnosed with lung disease. [5] In recent years groundwater contamination has be linked to jet fuel, cleaning agents, and fire suppression agents used at Wurtsmith Air Force Base. On May 9, 1961, the base took delivery of its first new Boeing B-52 H Stratofortress, The State of Michigan. .. did this bill die in the committee s? One of the unfortunate risks in flying is a crash. . [5] The 379th Bomb Wing immediately continued the 4026thStrategic Wing operations and training. In 1955 Wurtsmith Air Force Base became an official permanent post in the United States Air Force, which meant that many new services were implemented on base. What's next? The average person has around 3 or 4 parts per billion of these chemicals present in their blood. [1] This was followed by one and a half weeks of normal day to day activities, until the flight crew relieved crew on ready alert in the bunkers. There were frequently extremely large and loud airplanes taxiing, taking off, and landing in the base. In 1977 the 379th Bomb Wing upgraded the B-52H fleet to B-52G, During the Gulf War B-52s from Wurtsmith Air Force Base were flown. My first daughter was born there at their hospital.my ex husband now, is very sick. [1] This meant that they could be flying a mission supporting a fighter squadron in Iraq, then be redirected to refuel a bomber squadron over Saudi Arabia, then fly back to Spain to land. On the other hand, the rear-mounted engine offered increased maneuverability since the weight of the plane would be near its center of gravity. These mission were into Iraq. The cockpit was fairly easy to enter and exit, but the doors had a tendency to fly open in midair at high speed if improperly secured. The ROAM system ensures that aircraft are serviced . Since, 2010 sampling by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the U.S. Air Force has identified elevated levels of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) contamination in drinking water wells and some locally caught fish and deer. Posts and surveys made on this website are opinions or suggestions of users of this website and are not representations, opinions or suggestions of U.S. (Superstorm) Sandy came along (in October) and moved things around, David Losinski said. I served at Wurtsmith from 1974-1977 my whole family has suffered from various ongoing ailments. A short time later in July 1944 it was being used to train Free French Air Force pilots, which eventually led to more and more training and more and more storage of aircraft like the B-52G (oscairport.com). [2] The flight crashed at 2:20PM while returning from K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base in the Upper Peninsula. These Air Force bases were remote. distance from the bunker. Wurtsmith Air Force base was one of fivenorthern tier bases in the Strategic Air Commands arsenal. This resulted in KC-135 squadrons spending a greater amount of time on temporary duty assignments than other squadrons from Wurtsmith Air Force Base. The Tuskegee Airmen were African-American members of the 332nd Fighter Group and 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Force who fought in Europe during World War II. Hill Housing area-- Wurtsmith Elementary School, Grissom Elementary School, Wagner Middle School, . [1], The northern tier Strategic Air Command Ready Alert Strike Force bases were considered less than desirable duty stations for one main reason. In 2016, residents near Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Michigan discovered that the water they drank, bathed in, swam in, and fished in was contaminated with jet fuel, cancer-causing chlorinated . This article is from 2018.. She gave Kelly the rundown of the base. It is one of the most famous bases located in our state. It has recently been discovered that that the base has been leaking chemicals into the surrounding waterways. A sand and gravel aquifer of glacial origin underlies Wurtsmith Air Force Base in northeastern lower Michigan. It was the most horrible thing I have ever witnessed, she said. The former base includes 4,626 acres (1,872 ha) located approximately two miles west of Lake Huron in the Charter Township of Oscoda, bordered by Van Ettan Lake, the Au . In 1953 it was renamed Wurtsmith Air Force Base after Michigan native, Major General Paul Wurtsmith. However, the drawdown was fairly rapid after that and they were quickly replaced by P-38s, P-47s and P-51s. This cycle was from Wednesday to Wednesday. PFOA exposure is also shown to be associated with increased risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children between ages 12-15. One of the unfortunate risks in flying is a crash. There is no amount of PFOA that is officially recognized as harmful. However, many studies have shown otherwise. These planes arrived at dawn on the first day of the Gulf War. It is primarily a large jet airplane salvage, jet engine maintenance and light general aviation . A ground-water divide cuts diagonally across the Base from northwest to . On January 18, 1994 it was listed as a Superfund due to extensive groundwater contamination with heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, including trichloroethylene, 1,1-dichloroethane, 1,1,1-trichloroethane . Published August 24, 2021 at 4:15 PM EDT. Wurtsmith Air Force Base has been an integral part of the United States Air Force from the 1920's to June 3rd 1993. . This bunker compound housed, the flight crews on ready alert, the three B-52 bombers ready to take off at a, moments notice, and the accompanying KC-135s ready to top off the B-52s after takeoff. Because the Committee on Toxicology (NRC, 1979) concluded that it could not determine a level of exposure to chlordane below which there would be no biologic effect under conditions of prolonged exposure of families in military housing. The pesticide levels and CERCLA 120(h) Deed Restrictions are public information and readily available. Heart condition, prostate cancer, diabetic, sometimes confused in making decisions. Representatives Dan Kildee (MI-05) and Elissa Slotkin (MI-08) today urged the U.S. Air Force to take more significant steps to address PFAS contamination around the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base near Oscoda. Only after, the plains were airborne would the crew be notified if it was a drill or not.[1]. The military has not begun cleanups at any of the 50 Department of Defense sites Congress has identified as highly contaminated with the "forever chemicals" known as PFAS - and it could be years before cleanups are complete. Marie and the straights of Mackinac. During World War II, P-47 fighters were assigned to Oscoda. In July 2018 the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), set the table for Congress to consider legislation that would force the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to extend health benefits to base veterans without making them prove their illnesses are linked to chemical exposure. In 1955 Wurtsmith Air Force Base became an official permanent post in the United States Air Force, which meant that many new services were implemented on base. There is an ongoing project to decontaminate the area. According to Robert Delaney, a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality specialist, If you pull the water out of the ground in that training area, it still foams, theres so much in there. Since this entire problem stems from the fact that the foam used to extinguish fires on the base is what carried the toxic chemical, that goes to show just how invasive and problematic this contamination can be. One of these places included directly underneath the Oscoda high school. In 1977 the 379th Bomb Wing upgraded the B-52H fleet to B-52Gaircraft. [1], The ready alert flight crews were rotated on a three week cycle. In addition across the base boundary dirt road was the EOD range where every friday morning we burned and destroyed old munitions and other stuff they needed disposed of. Welcome to The WAFB Historical Site dedicated to preserving the history and heritage of Wurtsmith Air Force Base and the units assigned there. Everyone from the mechanics keeping the planes flyable, to the cookspreparing food for the airmen stationed at Wurtsmith Air Force Base, to thecommanders who ensured that everything from the flight schedules being correctto the proper paperwork being completed to allow the missions to continue. It still haunts me today that we had to do that and were told to just follow orders. This unfortunately happened on October 11th, 1988 when KC-135 crashed with 6 crew members and 10 passengers on board. On June 30, , 1993 the 379th Bomb Wing was disbanded and Wurtsmith Air Force Base was closed.