R.I. Bong Air Force Base
Richard I. Bong Air Force Base is the name of an unfinished Air Force Base built during the late 1950s. It was named after the famous aviator, Major Richard Ira Bong, of World War II fame.
The base was originally intended to be an air defense fighter base for the Chicago and Milwaukee areas. It was conceived in the early 1950s and construction began in the mid-1950s. Construction had barely begun when the base was transferred to the Strategic Air Command. Eventually, the base was considered obsolete as it had become apparent to Air Force officials that the base would be rather redundant with installations nearby that would soon have space for more units. The base was abandoned in 1959 and disposed of the following year.
The base is not to be confused with the planned renaming of Spokane Air Force Base, Washington as Bong Air Force Base, which was the planned name of that facility until General Muir Fairchild died on active duty in 1950, cementing "Fairchild" onto the name of the current Fairchild Air Force Base.
Read more about R.I. Bong Air Force Base: Geography, References
Famous quotes containing the words air, force and/or base:
“Approximately 80% of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation, so let’s not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emission standards from man-made sources.”
—Ronald Reagan (b. 1911)
“To-day ... when material prosperity and well earned ease and luxury are assured facts from a national standpoint, woman’s work and woman’s influence are needed as never before; needed to bring a heart power into this money getting, dollar-worshipping civilization; needed to bring a moral force into the utilitarian motives and interests of the time; needed to stand for God and Home and Native Land versus gain and greed and grasping selfishness.”
—Anna Julia Cooper (1859–1964)
“Thou treacherous, base deserter of my flame,
False to my passion, fatal to my fame,
Through what mistaken magic dost thou prove
So true to lewdness, so untrue to love?”
—John Wilmot, Earl Of Rochester (1647–1680)