page_title: Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth
section_title: B-52 Stratofortress Era
hierarchical_section_title: Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth / Strategic Air Command / Cold War / B-52 Stratofortress Era
caption_attribution_description: XB-52 prototype bomber at Carswell AFB, 1955 shown with a 7th Bomb wing B-36
context_page_description: Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base includes Carswell Field, a military airbase located 5 nautical miles west of the central business district of Fort Worth, in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. This military airfield is operated by the United States Navy Reserve. It is located in the cities of Fort Worth, Westworth Village, and White Settlement in the western part of the Fort Worth urban area.
  NAS Fort Worth JRB is the successor to the former Naval Air Station Dallas and incorporates other Reserve commands and activities, primarily those of the Air Force Reserve, that were present on site when the installation was known as Carswell Air Force Base, a former Strategic Air Command facility later transferred to the Air Combat Command.
  Several United States Navy headquarters and operational units are based at NAS Fort Worth JRB, including Naval Air Reserve air wings and aviation squadrons, intelligence commands and Seabees.
  The Air Force Reserve Command's Tenth Air Force headquarters and its 301st Fighter Wing continue to be based at the installation, as well as the 136th Airlift Wing of the Texas Air National Guard.
context_section_description: On 10 December 1957, the 98th Bombardment Squadron was detached from the wing and assigned to the newly activated 4123d Strategic Wing at Carswell. This would become the first Boeing B-52 Stratofortress unit at Carswell.  The 7th Bomb Wing officially became a B-52 organization with the adoption of manning documents and equipping authorizations on 1 February 1958.
  On 19 February 1958, the 4123d Strategic Wing took possession of the first Boeing B-52 Stratofortress on Carswell. At the arrival ceremony on base, the bomber was named "The City of Fort Worth." It was subsequently assigned to the 98th Bombardment Squadron of the wing. Shortly following the arrival of B-52 bombers to the 4123rd Strategic Wing, the unit was moved to new facilities at Clinton-Sherman AFB, Oklahoma. With the acquisition of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, all new B-52 wings would operate with an air refueling squadron to support those bombers. As a result, SAC activated the 7th Air Refueling Squadron at Carswell on 1 April 1958, and assigned it to the wing. The squadron would be equipped with the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker later in the year. In January 1959, B-52s from Carswell were constantly in the air and flying to Europe, Asia, and North Africa.
  Air Force One (VC-137C, serial number 62-6000) landed at Carswell AFB shortly after 11:00 pm on 21 November 1963 carrying President John F. Kennedy and his entourage to Fort Worth. The next morning, 22 November, President Kennedy returned to Carswell AFB at 11:25 am and boarded Air Force One for a 15-minute flight to Love Field, Dallas, Texas. It was the last use of Air Force One by President Kennedy before he was assassinated later that day in Dallas.
  On 13 April 1965, the 7th Bomb Wing deployed its forces to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam to bomb the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Most of the wing's bombers and tankers, along with aircrews and some support personnel, were deployed. At Andersen, the wing flew more than 1,300 missions over Vietnam, and returned to Carswell in December 1965.
  B-52 crews were sent through an intensive two-week course on the B-52D, making them eligible for duty in Southeast Asia. B-52s assigned to combat duty in Vietnam were painted in a modified camouflage scheme with the undersides, lower fuselage, and both sides of the vertical fin being painted in a glossy black. The USAF serial number was painted in black on the fin over a horizontal red stripe across the length of the fin.
  The B-52 effort was concentrated primarily against suspected Viet Cong targets in South Vietnam, but the Ho Chi Min Trail and targets in Laos were also hit. During the relief of Khe Sanh, unbroken waves of six aircraft, attacking every three hours, dropped bombs as close as 900 feet (270 m) from friendly lines. Cambodia was increasingly bombed by B-52s from March 1969 onward.
  Rotational deployments to Guam, and also to U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield, Thailand continued on a reduced scale until 1975.  In the 1980s, the 7th received several new weapons systems, including modified B-52H aircraft. In 1983, B-52 crews began training with a new weapon system, the SRAM (Short Range Attack Missile) and later, in 1985, the ALCM (Air Launched Cruise Missile). Also, the wing flew numerous atmospheric sampling missions during 1986 and 1987 in response to the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident; four B-52H aircraft (s/n 60-0024, 60-0033, 60-0051 and 60-0052) were modified to carry atmospheric sampling pods code-named "Giant Fish." These aircraft flew the mission into the 1990s from various bases including Carswell.
  By 1984, Carswell was the largest unit of its kind in the Strategic Air Command. The 7th Bomb Wing contributed personnel to Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East in 1991. After an overwhelming victory in the Persian Gulf, the wing returned to Carswell. In September 1991 with the end of the Cold War, President Bush ordered a stand down of all nuclear-alert duties.
caption: Prototype YB-52 bomber at Carswell AFB, c. 1955, shown with a 7th Bomb Wing B-36
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