Smoky Hill Army Air Base hangars as a B-29 prepares to land, about 1943.
Smoky Hill Army Air Field, later renamed Schilling Air Force Base, was a former defense site in Salina, Kansas. The base was initially built on 2,600 acres southwest of Salina. It was initially used during World War II as a processing and staging area for heavy bombardment units going overseas.
Construction began in May of 1942 with the aid of nearly 7,000 construction workers. The first B-17s arrived in September of that year when the 20th Bomber Command and the 58th Bomber Wing moved to Smoky Hill Army Airfield, and the 73d Bomb Wing later joined them. The runways of this base, from its first activation to its final deactivation, were among the longest military runways in the United States. Four of its original runways were 10,000 feet long and designed to handle the largest aircraft in the world.
The airfield gained significant historical significance as it was part of the first group of United States Army Air Forces B-29 Superfortress bases for initial training on the aircraft in the summer of 1943. Along with Walker Army Airfield near Victoria, Pratt Army Airfield near Pratt, and Great Bend Army Airfield near Great Bend, Kansas, the initial group of experienced personnel of the 58th Bombardment Wing was formed. The 58th Bomb Wing was the first B-29 combat wing of World War II.
Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Salina, Kansas, 1946.
When World War II ended in September 1945, the base was home to 45 B-29s and 20 tanker planes of the 301st Bombardment Wing.
With the establishment of the United States Air Force in September 1947, the new United States Air Force quickly established its own identity. Army Air Fields were renamed Air Force Bases, and the name of the base was changed to Smoky Hill Air Force Base in January 1948.
The base concluded the era as a B-29 bomber base in the Strategic Air Command in 1949.
On August 1, 1951, the base was reactivated as a Strategic Air Command medium bomber base, comprising two Wings and an Air Division, equipped with the new B-47 Stratojet bomber.
On March 16, 1957, Smoky Hill Air Force Base was redesignated Schilling Air Force Base to honor Colonel David C. Schilling, a fighter pilot responsible for developing aerial refueling techniques for fighter aircraft. He was killed in an automobile accident near Mildenhall, England, on August 14, 1956.
In 1959, the Department of Defense began a significant renovation of the base and also began construction of the 12 silo intercontinental ballistic missile complex. Initially, there were to be nine Atlas silos located around Schilling; however, the number increased to a dozen individual sites located at or near Bennington, Abilene, Chapman, Charton, McPherson, Mitchell, Kanopolis, Wilson, Beverly, Tescott, Glasco, and Minneapolis.
Smoky Hill Army Air Force Base Hangar in 1946.
In 1960, millions of dollars were spent preparing the runways and taxiways for the next generation of bombers and tankers, namely the B-52 and KC-135. Overall spending at the base during this era amounted to $250 million.
Beginning in August 1960, the Site Activation Task Force at Schilling constructed and turned over to the Strategic Air Command the first operational HGM-16 Atlas-F hardened silo missile squadron. The Atlas was stored in a vertical position inside underground concrete and steel silos.
With the activation of the 550th Strategic Missile Squadron, the 310th was redesignated as the 310th Strategic Aerospace Wing on March 1, 1962. By that time, two of the runways had been extended to 13,330 feet with 1,000 feet overruns at each end to accommodate the B-52 bomber, which was supposed to be assigned to the base, but never arrived.
On November 19, 1964, the Department of Defense announced that Schilling, along with 574 other bases around the world, would be closed. At this time, the base was home to approximately 5,090 men. Within the next six months, all planes and men, including the Atlas F ICBM Squadron, were relocated, and the base was closed on June 30, 1965.
On April 3, 1967, Lieutenant Colonel Homer H. Houghton pulled down the flag of the officially deactivating Schilling Air Force Base. The Air Force left Salina for good in April 1967 after the disposition of most of the Air Force property at Schilling. In July 1967, Schilling Air Force Base closed, and responsibility for the sites passed to F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. It later reopened as the Salina Municipal Airport.
Shilling Air Force Base played a role in three major wars involving the United States: World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Activated during the dark days immediately following Japan’s attack on Hawaii, the base was reactivated during the Korean Conflict and finally deactivated while the United States was escalating its involvement in Vietnam.
Smoky Hill Army Air Force Base Barracks in Salina, Kansas, about 1945.
However, the former base housing area of Schilling Air Force Base was converted into a subpost of nearby Fort Riley. It was used for housing for waiting wives and families of military personnel serving in South Vietnam. Schilling Manor was officially established on January 1, 1966, when the Army assumed responsibility for the 735-unit housing area left vacant by the deactivation. Thirty families from Fort Riley moved to Schilling Manor in the fall of 1965 after their husbands departed for Vietnam with the 1st Infantry Division. Schilling Manor operated until 1974, after the last United States Army forces left Vietnam and returned to the United States. The housing area was sold by the federal government in 1977.
In 1973, the Kansas Air National Guard assumed all operating and maintenance authority for the 34,000-acre Smoky Hill Air National Guard Range. The Range, which is maintained and operated by personnel of the 184th Bomb Group, Kansas Air National Guard, is located ten miles south of Salina, Kansas, in the rolling grasslands of the Smoky Hills. The Guard Range is the largest of the Air National Guard’s 15 bombing ranges. Within Smoky Hill’s 34,000 acres lies a 12,000-acre target area comprised of dual conventional ranges and three large tactical ranges. The tactical ranges provide the most realistic air-to-ground training for all types of military aircraft and have four drop zones for cargo aircraft.
Air Guardsmen support this full-time contingent on weekends. In addition to meeting its military mission, the 184th carefully manages the natural and cultural resources of the Range, protecting the environment and providing recreational opportunities, as well as generating revenues from agricultural leases.
Today, most of the Strategic Air Command hangars remain. The ground station has been redeveloped, being used by Kansas State University at Salina and Salina Area Technical College. Other private businesses can be found on the old air base; some of the old streets are still in use, others have been replaced with new construction. The base housing area exists, although the old Capehart Housing units have long since been rebuilt or replaced. A few Air Force barracks are still in use, along with the base chapel, which is now the “All Saints Orthodox Church.” The Kansas Army National Guard also uses some former Air Force Buildings.
B-29s at Smoky Hill Army Air Force Base in Salina, Kansas, about 1945.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, September 2025.
Also See:
Sources:
Emporia State University
Fandom Military
Kansas Division of Environment
The Military Standard