Satellite and aerial maps of Hill AFB with nearby locations
Nearby locations | Km | Bearing | |
---|---|---|---|
Ogden Regional Medical Center , Utah | 4.5 | 000 | 54UT |
McKay-Dee Hospital Center Heliport , Utah | 6.7 | 012 | UT16 |
Ogden-Hinckley , Utah | 8.7 | 337 | KOGD |
Bountiful , Utah | 28.7 | 172 | KBTF |
Salt Lake City Intl , Utah | 37.3 | 180 | KSLC |
LDS Hospital , Utah | 39.2 | 168 | UT55 |
Hill AFB |
1939 to present | ||
41° 7' 26.04'' N 111° 58' 22.80'' W | ||
Ogden, Utah, Ogden, Utah | ||
ICAO: KHIF | IATA: HIF | FAA: HIF |
Elevation: 4789 feet |
1550th ARRS 1971 Hill AFB, UT by Al Magnin: I arrived at Hill AFB in June of 1971. The 1550th ARRS was just starting to get organized. I was met by the flight line chief in one of the nose docks. He and I walked to the front of the hanger and he asked me which of the aircraft I wanted to work on. Parked on the ramp was a variety of aircraft including: H-43s, TH-1-Fs, H-3s, H-53s and C-130s and of course the helicopters that I chose to work on the UH-1Ns. The remainder of the aircraft was B-57s from a squadron that would soon be departing to another base to make way for what would ultimately become the largest Helicopter Squadron in the world. I chose the UH-1N because they looked like sports cars out there compared to the rest of the helicopters. They were camouflaged gunships that just looked mean.
The line chief than asked me to take a couple of days to get settled and also because everything was in such disarray as they struggled to figure out where to assign people. It was so disorganized at this time that there wasnt even any barracks available to put us in so we were told to just find a vacant room and bunk there until things got straightened out. It was almost two months before we finally settled into our own barracks.
At that time the barracks were full of airman going too and returning from South East Asia. Lifestyles in the barracks were very lax but in those days it was almost expected. Guys stayed up all night playing cards and listening to music played on their expensive equipment that they bought while overseas. It wasnt uncommon to see a number of females in the barracks as well. This period of time lasted only briefly and tightened up significantly once the War came to an end.
In the meantime the aircraft assigned to the 1550th ARRS rapidly increased their numbers in support of the Vietnam War. Our mission was to train pilots, door gunners and Air Rescue crews. By September of that year we were working 12 hour days 7 days a week in order to keep up with our mission obligations.
The winter was ungodly cold, especially as the sun began to rise over the mountains. Hill AFB is situated at the mouth of Weber Canyon and in the mornings the icy cold winter winds can reach speeds in excess of sixty mph. During our pre-flights we would tie knots on ropes to knock the snow and ice off of the rotor blades.
When the flights crews arrived early in the morning and the rotors began to turn it became so cold that on one morning as I was marshalling my aircraft my nose began to run. I reached up to wipe it with my wool glove as I tried again to do it a second time ice had already formed on my glove and I opened up a gash on my face from the sharp piece of ice. We wore hooded parkers with fur around the hood. We could zip the hood up far enough so all you could see of our faces was a small hole surrounded by fur. As we marshaled the helicopter the fur froze and ice formed all around the opening until we could hardly see. Some morning after snowing all night “whiteouts” would occur as the helicopters rose up while being marshaled out. Then all of a sudden the helicopter would rise up above the whiteout just so the pilot could see again. It was quiet scary for us to be in front of a helicopter when you cant even see it.
We flew gunnery missions, Search and Rescue (SARs), and pilot training missions. We generally flew 2 missions each morning consisting of a 90 minute sortie followed by a brief refuel and thru-flight insp and back up for another 90 minutes. This repeated again in the afternoon and occasionally at night when night hoist missions were scheduled.
When the Vietnam War ended we became the 1550th ATTW. The C-130s in our squadron were some of the first to hang cruise missiles from under their wings. When the missiles ran out of fuel; H-53s were used to snag the missiles with a large hook that hung from the aft cargo door. Sometimes they snagged them and sometimes they didnt. Those that didnt make it were brought back to the base and stacked up by one of the hangers like cord wood.
After several TDYs I left the 1550 the in Dec of 1974 when I separated from the military. It is my understanding that the helicopter that I was crew chief of back then is still flying missions today. ( 69-6665 )
The line chief than asked me to take a couple of days to get settled and also because everything was in such disarray as they struggled to figure out where to assign people. It was so disorganized at this time that there wasnt even any barracks available to put us in so we were told to just find a vacant room and bunk there until things got straightened out. It was almost two months before we finally settled into our own barracks.
At that time the barracks were full of airman going too and returning from South East Asia. Lifestyles in the barracks were very lax but in those days it was almost expected. Guys stayed up all night playing cards and listening to music played on their expensive equipment that they bought while overseas. It wasnt uncommon to see a number of females in the barracks as well. This period of time lasted only briefly and tightened up significantly once the War came to an end.
In the meantime the aircraft assigned to the 1550th ARRS rapidly increased their numbers in support of the Vietnam War. Our mission was to train pilots, door gunners and Air Rescue crews. By September of that year we were working 12 hour days 7 days a week in order to keep up with our mission obligations.
The winter was ungodly cold, especially as the sun began to rise over the mountains. Hill AFB is situated at the mouth of Weber Canyon and in the mornings the icy cold winter winds can reach speeds in excess of sixty mph. During our pre-flights we would tie knots on ropes to knock the snow and ice off of the rotor blades.
When the flights crews arrived early in the morning and the rotors began to turn it became so cold that on one morning as I was marshalling my aircraft my nose began to run. I reached up to wipe it with my wool glove as I tried again to do it a second time ice had already formed on my glove and I opened up a gash on my face from the sharp piece of ice. We wore hooded parkers with fur around the hood. We could zip the hood up far enough so all you could see of our faces was a small hole surrounded by fur. As we marshaled the helicopter the fur froze and ice formed all around the opening until we could hardly see. Some morning after snowing all night “whiteouts” would occur as the helicopters rose up while being marshaled out. Then all of a sudden the helicopter would rise up above the whiteout just so the pilot could see again. It was quiet scary for us to be in front of a helicopter when you cant even see it.
We flew gunnery missions, Search and Rescue (SARs), and pilot training missions. We generally flew 2 missions each morning consisting of a 90 minute sortie followed by a brief refuel and thru-flight insp and back up for another 90 minutes. This repeated again in the afternoon and occasionally at night when night hoist missions were scheduled.
When the Vietnam War ended we became the 1550th ATTW. The C-130s in our squadron were some of the first to hang cruise missiles from under their wings. When the missiles ran out of fuel; H-53s were used to snag the missiles with a large hook that hung from the aft cargo door. Sometimes they snagged them and sometimes they didnt. Those that didnt make it were brought back to the base and stacked up by one of the hangers like cord wood.
After several TDYs I left the 1550 the in Dec of 1974 when I separated from the military. It is my understanding that the helicopter that I was crew chief of back then is still flying missions today. ( 69-6665 )
List of units at Hill AFB |
Years | Unit | |
---|---|---|
1973/92 | 6514 TS | S-65 H-53, S-61 H-3, |
1971/76 | 1550 ATTW | HH-1H Iroquois, UH-1N, UH-1F Iroquois, H-43 Huskie, |
1971/91 | 551 SOS | S-70 H-60, S-61 H-3, S-65 H-53, H-43 Huskie, |