page_title: K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base
section_title: Strategic Air Command
hierarchical_section_title: K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base / History / K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base / Strategic Air Command
caption_attribution_description: English: A KC-135A taking off with water injection to its J-57 engines
context_page_description: K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base is a decommissioned U.S. Air Force installation in Marquette County, Michigan, south of the city of Marquette. Near the center of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the base operated for nearly forty years and closed in 1995. The county airport, Sawyer International, now occupies a portion of the base and has scheduled airline flights and some general aviation activity.
  The area of the former base is now an unincorporated community and census-designated place for statistical purposes. The CDP is known as K. I. Sawyer and had a population of 2,624 at the 2010 census. It is located within Forsyth Township and West Branch Township about 10 miles south of the city of Marquette.
context_section_description: The Strategic Air Command (SAC) became a tenant organization at K. I. Sawyer AFB on 1 August 1958 with the organization of the 4042d Strategic Wing. The 4042d SW was a B-52H Stratofortress dispersal wing, a part of SAC's plan to disperse its big bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike.
  Before receiving the KC-135A tanker and heavy B-52H bomber aircraft of SAC, an all-weather, heavy-duty concrete runway was built, measuring 24 inches (61 cm) thick and 150 feet (46 m) wide. It was extended in 1959 from 6,000 to 12,366 feet (1,830 to 3,770 m), overruns of 1,000 feet (300 m).  There are also 75-foot (23 m) shoulders on each side of the runway, providing a paved width of 300 feet (90 m).
  The two operational units to be assigned later to this wing were the 923d Air Refueling Squadron on 1 May 1960, and the 526th Bombardment Squadron on 1 June 1961. The refueling squadron's first KC-135A aircraft arrived 4 August 1960, and the unit was declared fully combat ready in November of that year.
  In April 1961, the 923d was inactivated and the 46th Air Refueling Squadron organized and activated as a replacement unit. The first B-52H aircraft assigned to the 526th arrived at Sawyer in August 1961. On 1 February 1963, the 4042d Strategic Wing was discontinued and the 410th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) organized and activated with no change in mission, personnel or aircraft. Also on that date, the 644th Bombardment Squadron was activated replacing the 526th, and the 46th Air Refueling Squadron was reassigned to the 410th. The majority of the wing's present support squadrons were also activated on this date as well.
  On 1 January 1964, SAC assumed jurisdiction of Sawyer AFB, with the 410th Bomb Wing becoming the host unit under the 4th Strategic Aerospace Division. K. I. Sawyer was one of three SAC bases in Michigan that operated the B-52: the others were Kincheloe AFB to the east, near Kinross, south of Sault Ste. Marie, and Wurtsmith AFB, in the northeast of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, near Oscoda.
  The 410th and its subordinate units' mission was to operate at full readiness, and support activities included aircraft and vehicle maintenance, bombing crew and unit training, and air refueling support. The wing did not deploy bomber aircraft to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, as the B-52H was dedicated to strategic deterrence. However, the tanker aircraft and aircrews participated in the "Young Tiger" TDY effort, and the bomber aircrews went through RTU (Replacement Training Unit) training to fly B-52Ds out of Andersen AFB, Guam and U-Tapao RTAFB, Thailand and were active participants in many of the notable campaigns that took place in Southeast Asia, such as Operation Arc Light.
  One Sawyer KC-135A (61-0313) became famous throughout the SAC community as "the glider" when it ran out of fuel on a short final approach prior to landing at its home base after flying practice approaches at nearby Kincheloe AFB to complete requalification training. The flight crew, with the exception of the instructor pilot, bailed out when the engines went quiet. The instructor pilot, who remained on board, landed the aircraft just short of the runway overrun, bounced and rolled to a stop on the runway. The aircraft was repaired and returned to service quickly and even the crew entry door (which separated from the aircraft during bailout procedures) was returned to the Air Force by a local farmer.
  Other aircraft assigned to K. I. Sawyer over the years included HH-43B and HH-1H rescue helicopters of the 48th and 39th Air Rescue and Recovery Wings at Eglin AFB, Florida at the K. I. Sawyer Helicopter (later re-designated Training) Annex, 14 March 1975 to 1 October 1977. SAC FB-111 bombers assigned to the 509th Bombardment Wing (Medium) from Pease AFB in New Hampshire, on satellite alert at Sawyer in 1974 and 1975.
  In the early 1980s, K. I. Sawyer's B-52s were modified to carry the new Boeing AGM-86 Air-Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM). The ALCM was powered by 
caption: A KC-135A taking off with water injection to its J-57 engines
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