Wurtsmith Air Force Base is a decommissioned United States Air Force base in Iosco County, Michigan. It operated from 1923 until decommissioned in 1993. 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, and vinyl chloride. In 2010, Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances contamination was discovered, and as of 2022 remediation is still ongoing.
During the Cold War, it was one of three Strategic Air Command (SAC) bases in Michigan with the B-52 bomber, the others (Kincheloe AFB and Sawyer AFB) were in the Upper Peninsula. The base was named in honor of Major General Paul Wurtsmith, commander of SAC's Eighth Air Force, who was killed when his B-25 Mitchell bomber crashed on Cold Mountain near Asheville, North Carolina, on September 13, 1946.
In 2022, Granot Loma was being touted as a potential space port in the Upper Peninsula. This would be in tandem with Oscoda, Michigan's Wurtsmith Air Force Base.
Previous names
Camp Skeel, November 1931
Oscoda Army Air Field, August 1942
Oscoda Air Force Base, 24 June 1948
Wurtsmith Air Force Base, 15 February 1953 – 30 June 1993
Major commands to which assigned
General Headquarters Air Force, 26 June 1936
Third Air Force, 2 September 1942
Air Service Command, 12 December 1942
Third Air Force, 5 March 1943
First Air Force, 14 August 1943
Continental Air Forces, 16 April 1945
Re-designated Strategic Air Command, 21 March 1946
Continental Air Command,1 January 1949
Air Defense Command, 1 January 1951
Strategic Air Command, 1 April 1960
Air Combat Command, 1 June 1992 – 30 June 1993
Major units assigned
First Pursuit Group, 15 October 1927
100th Base HQ and Air Base Squadron, 31 October 1942
524th Base HQ and Air Base Squadron, 21 June 1943
134th AAF Base Unit, 14 April 1944 – 12 April 1945
4301st Base Services Squadron, 1 August 1948
Re-designated 2476th Base Service Squadron, 1 January 1949
Re-designated 4655th Base Service Squadron, 1 December 1950
332d Fighter Group, 2 April 1943 – 9 July 1943
100th Fighter Squadron, 29 October 1943 – 8 November 1943
301st Fighter Squadron, 21 May 1943 – 10 July 1943
302d Fighter Squadron, 19 November 1943 – December 1943
403d Fighter Squadron, May 1943 – 15 December 1943
754th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, 27 November 1950 – 20 July 1951
63d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 5 January 1951 – 17 August 1955
527th Air Service Group
Re-designated 527th Air Defense Group, 16 February 1953 – 15 October 1955
75th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1 October 1968 - 30 November 1969
445th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 15 August 1955 – 30 September 1968
31st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 8 June 1956 – 20 August 1957
18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 20 August 1957 – 27 April 1960
4026th Strategic Wing, 1 August 1958 – 9 January 1961
40th Air Division, 1 July 1959 – 8 June 1988
920th Air Refueling Squadron, 15 July 1960 – 15 June 1993
379th Bombardment Wing, 9 January 1961 – 30 June 1993
94th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1 December 1969 - 30 June 1971
Environmental contamination
On January 18, 1994 Wurtsmith 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, and vinyl chloride.
In March 2010 the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) became aware of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances concentrations in groundwater, when EGLE staff sampled at a former fire training area on the base. Air Force completed the PFAS Preliminary Assessment, Site Inspection, and planned the Remedial Investigation under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. Air Force performed three removal actions and planned two interim remedial actions. On November 1, 2017, more than twenty-two years after being listed as a superfundsite Wurtsmith held its first Restoration Advisory Board meeting.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wurtsmith Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) meetings became virtual events, yet in August 2021 RAB members said that progress was made on the WAFB cleanup, and that the relationship between the Air Force and the community has improved.