The P-47D, in general service by the spring of 1944, had a maximum speed of 440 miles (700 km) per hour and a ceiling of 40,000 feet (12,200 meters). "The Department of Defense is evaluating [cleanup standards], and we take our lead from what the Department of Defense says," said Stephen TerMaath, who leads the Air Force division in charge of Wurtsmith cleanup. My ex wife has thyroid disease and auto immune disease. The Losinskis are divers David has been diving since 1977; his son, Drew, since 2002 and both are former members of the St. Clair County Dive Team. On June 30, , 1993 the 379th Bomb Wing was disbanded and Wurtsmith Air Force Base was closed. In a fly off against the contemporary Boeing P-12B, the P-6E was faster, but the P-12B was more maneuverable. The majority of married enlisted and officers preferred to live on base because of the free daycare for children. [2] The flight crashed at 2:20PM while returning from K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base in the Upper Peninsula. Following cleanup, operation and maintenance activities are ongoing. No injuries to the pilot. The Wurtsmith Air Museum is an all-volunteer, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, dedicated to preserving the history of Wurtsmith Air Force Base and aviation in Northeastern Michigan. [1] This would result in a large amount of paperwork and extra expenses for the Air Force. This resulted in KC-135 squadrons spending a greater amount of time on temporary duty assignments than other squadrons from Wurtsmith Air Force Base. Located in Oscoda, Michigan this base is positioned no more than two miles off the shore of Lake Huron. My family lived on this base in 1983 to 1987, are we at risk? The views and opinions expressed in this website/articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency of the U.S. government, We are the men and women of the U.S. Military, Wurtsmith AFB is a Superfund Site. This is desirable from a strategic standpoint, but for the airmen that served on the bases themselves this meant that they were removed from the vast majority of society. [1] Mr. Nortonarrived fresh from navigation school as a 2nd Lieutenant at Wurtsmith Air ForceBase in the fall of 1985. During those efforts, they noted several areas they wanted to investigate, including one about four miles north of the Blue Water Bridge. Then everything happened so fast it seems unbelievable. Residents of the Oscoda area raised $600 to clear 40 acres of land next to the lake as a spot for a training camp and target range. My daughter was born there on base in 1987 she has gastric issues, and was born w heart issues. Many tests have been done to see the extent to which the contamination is harming the citizens residing in the area. ROME, N.Y. -- There was nothing small-scale about Griffiss Air Force Base in the 1990s. Today, the Wurtsmith Air Force Base has a museum where you can learn about its history. Marie and the straights of Mackinac. I served at Wurtsmith from 1974-1977 my whole family has suffered from various ongoing ailments. To all who are interested in the Camp Skeel/Oscoda AAF/Wurtsmith AFB History. As an officer Mr. Norton had to sit in on Court-Martials. During the Gulf War these planes were run practically 24/7, landing only to swap flight crews to meet the flight crew rest requirements. 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 . They were stationed at the air base from 1986 to 1993. The Allison V-1710-85 liquid-cooled V-12 engine behind the pilots seat drove the propeller by means of a driveshaft mounted under the pilots seat. The Wurtsmith Air Force Base, created in 1923, played a large role in WWII. [1], These KC-135s were necessary because the B-52 could not take off with both a, full load of ordnance and a full tank of gas.[1]. I kept up with all this for a while then gave up. Lt. Ennis also thought it would be a great place for young Army Air corps to test aircraft (WAFB.net). At the time, George was a hub of F-4 Phantom fighter jets and OV-10 Bronco reconnaissance planes. While the vast majority of personnel on Wurtsmith AirForce Base were not part of a flight crew rotating through ready alert, theirrespective jobs all served to ensure those planes could take off at a momentsnotice. [1] As soon as the wheels touched down the clock would be reset and they could be sent out on another assignment. I have always scheduled an apt with my dr to talk about the possibility of how this may have affected me. Deliveries of the first P-6s were late, the first example not appearing until October 1929. . [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. The Au Sable River is an attraction for families all around Michigan. By Steve Elliott 502nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs. I remember getting a letter of counseling when I wanted to object as a warning what could happen. In 1979, the state of Michigan sued the Air Force for the contamination. [1] This was followed by one and a half weeks of normal day to day activitiesuntil the flight crew relieved crew on ready alert in the bunkers.[1]. Just run the water until it clears up. . He brought this idea to the attention of his squadron commander Major Carl Spaatz. The EPA Superfund Contaminants of Concern Update of June 3, 2016 lists all the same contaminants listed in 38-3307(7)(i) as it relates to USMC Camp Lejeune water contaminants. However, the P-6 differed from the P-1 in having its fuselage rounded out to match the fatter engine cowling required by the Conqueror engine. This meant that Wurtsmith Air Force Base was essentially a self-contained airport with all of the necessities to support a full community on Base. The base is influential in Michigan, as well as the United States military history. the first KC-135 in operation Southern Watch. It was eerie, David Losinski said. 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 . At one point, they had to use these toxic foam chemicals to put out a fire at the Oscoda High School in 1995. A single-seat low-wing fighter developed for the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) by Republic Aviation, it was the largest single-engined piston fighter ever produced. They took a photo on April 11, from the surface of Lake Huron, of the wing of a Wold War II-era fighter plane that crashed during a training exercise, killing its pilot. At this time, the camp was renamed and the airfield was under III Fighter Command jurisdiction. Wurtsmith AirForce Base was constructed with a runway layout specifically for this. Click on a marker for base information. One example of this is autocross racing. 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. With that being said, these chemicals are going to be reaching a lot more people than just the Oscoda residents. [5] The B-52s did not get to travel nearly as much as the KC-135s. My wife has breast cancer, and Hashimoto's Disease (auto immune), I had a double mastectomy to remove growths, hormone issues, kidney scaring liver lesions, lumps in both lungs, sleep APNEA, sudden onset Headaches, unexplained stress attacks, to name a few. When the Gulf War started in 1990, the 379, Bomber Wing sent B-52s as well as their accompanying KC-135s into the Middle East. More than 40 private businesses and public agencies use the former Air Force facilities and infrastructure, providing more than 1,300 jobs to the area, as well as the conversion of former base housing to 700 privately owned residential homes. Theyre looking for other divers who can assist with the effort. The site of Wurtsmith Air Force Base is located 2 miles Northwest of Oscoda, Michigan, about 150 miles North of Detroit. The 379th was reassigned to Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan without personnel or equipment in January 1961, assuming the aircraft, personnel and equipment of the discontinued 4026th Strategic Wing. 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. Wurtsmith got its start in 1923 as Loud-Reames Aviation Field, a soft-surface landing site for Arm Air Corps aircraft from Selfridge Field. OSCODA, Mich. - Oscoda residents and PFAS activists today held a press conference on the shores of Van Etten Lake to set the record straight on the Air Force's contamination of their community from the former Wurtsmith Air . What's next? Groundwater data collected in 1999 at Wurtsmith Air Force Base (Michigan), Tyndall Air Force Base (Florida) and Naval Air Station Fallon (Nevada), where PFC concentrations ranged from below detection limit to over 14,000 g/L, suggest that any military site where AFFFs have been used is likely to have a dissolved plume containing . He was training with fellow pilots out of what was then Selfridge Field when his plane crashed. Even after the base closed in 1993, the base maintained a fire staff for many years. These high levels of PFOA elevate the risks of kidney cancer, mesothelioma, and diabetes. NPL Status: Proposed Street Address: AFBCA/DB, OSCODA, MI 54961 Congressional District: 01 EPA ID: MI5570024278 Population (within 1 mile): 101-1,000 Contaminant Information. Most Air Corps/Force types used Oscoda at one time or another. U.S. Aircraft rolled 630 feet before nosing over. The main mission of Oscoda Army Air Field, at the time, was to defend Sault Ste. [5] The 379th Bomb Wing immediately continued the 4026thStrategic Wing operations and training. At this time Wurtsmith Air Force Base was still part of theStrategic Air Commands bomber fleet. I was stationed there 1988-1992. Moodys body was not recovered until it washed ashore in Port Huron on June 4, 1944 two days before D-Day and the invasion of Normandy. All four of the the guys that were in that flight were from Tuskegee, Losinksi said. Powerplant: 1 Allison V-1710-85 liquid-cooled V-12, 1,200 hp (895 kW), Maximum speed: 376 mph (605 km/h) (Redline dive speed was 525 mph), Range: 525 miles on internal fuel (840 km). Michigan Radio. 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. State officials' concerns about pollution in the area date back to 2012, when the health department issued a "do not eat" advisory for all fish caught near Wurtsmith Air Force Base. It was renamed Camp Skeel in 1924, for the World War I Pilot Captain Burt E. Skeel, and was used as an aerial gunnery range and for winter maneuvers 1924 through 1944 by the 1st Pursuit . Like the former Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth and Newington, the former Michigan base is now a Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) site. According to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the private well located across the road from Oscoda High School tested about the 70 parts-per-trillion advisory level that was established for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctyl sulfonate (PFOS). "Keeping Wurtsmith AFB and Aviation History of NE MI Alive" Opens on Armed Forces Day in May, hosts a Welcome Home. He flew from Dayton, Ohio to Washington, D.C. at a speed of approximately 266 mph, at an altitude of 25,000 ft. [1] Mr. Norton also landed. One of the unfortunate risks in flying is a crash. The good speed of the P-6E was counterbalanced by some unsatisfacory handling characteristics which made it sluggish in response to controls. [5] However, the B-52H aircraft maintained nuclear alert at Wurtsmith, Air Force Base. Typically, brown-ish water occurs when there is large change in pressure/flow in a distribution system.