Creech Air Force Base Creech Air Force Base ( " Creech " colloq . ) is a USAF command and control facility used " to engage in daily Overseas Contingency Operations … of remotely piloted aircraft systems which fly missions across the globe . " In addition to an airport , the military installation has the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Battlelab , associated , and unmanned aerial vehicle s of the type used in Afghanistan and Iraq . Creech is the aerial training site for the USAF Thunderbirds and " is one of two emergency divert airfields " for the Nevada Test and Training Range . Description . In addition to the airfield , the base includes the " UAV - Logistic and Training Facility " , the Joint Unmanned Aerial Systems Center of Excellence , and other military units / facilities . also operates the " Silver Flag Alpha RTC " ( Regional Training Complex ) " 15 miles south of Indian Springs on Highway 95 " with 12 small arms ranges including a MOUT . . . village , a bare base tent city and a maneuver area " . History . After World War I , Nevada and other western inland states were surveyed by Capt . Lowell H . Smith and Sgt . William B . Whitefield for landing sites , and by " mid - 1925 the Air Service possessed information on [ ~ 3 , 500 US ] landing places , including [ > 2 , 500 ] emergency landing areas " ( e . g . , Boeing owned everything at Elko , Nevada ' s airfield ) . The United States Army Air Corps subsequently rented a large room in Reno , and the Corps used the 1929 civilian airfield near Las Vegas ( named " McCarren Field " ) for 1930s training flights . A 1939 " western site board " reconnaissance was conducted near Tonopah for a practice range and in October 1940 , Maj . David Schlatter surveyed the southwest United States for a military airfield ( Executive Order 8578 transferred a " 60 × 90 mile area at Tonopah to the War Department on 29 October 1940 " . ) Congressional appropriations of 19 November 1941 for the Commissioner of Public Roads to build " 21 flight strips " along highways for " bombing ranges or for other specialized training " included inland airstrips . " Initially a tent city military training camp " , construction of " Indian Springs Airport " permanent facilities began in March 1942 , " and by February 1943 the camp was used as a divert field and as a base for air - to - air gunnery training . " Indian Springs Army Airfield . The Nevada World War II Army Airfield at Indian Springs supported B - 17 Flying Fortress & T - 6 Texan aircraft and had 5 Auxiliary Army Airfields on the bombing range , e . g . , Area 18 had Aux . Field # 4 & Area 51 had Aux . Field # 1 ( Tonopah Army Airfield also had 5 auxiliary fields ) . In March 1945 Indian Springs AAF was placed in stand - by with a small housekeeping staff and in January 1947 , was closed along with Las Vegas AAF . The Army airfield re - opened in January 1948 and in 1950 , the base ' s 1st USAF unit was assigned to the installation . Indian Springs Air Force Base . Indian Springs Air Force Base was designated in August 1951 and in July 1952 , jurisdiction transferred from Air Training Command to the Air Force Special Weapons Center ( AFSWC ) of ARDC . As an AFSWC facility , " Indian Springs AFB served as a support base for projects from Operation RANGER in 1951 to Operation STORAX in 1962 . " " The 4935th Air Base Squadron was activated to operate the base in accordance with ARDC General Order No . 39 on 16 July 1952 " . The base ' s mission was to support AEC nuclear testing at the Nevada Proving Grounds , southwest , as well as Nellis AFB ' s operation of the Nellis Air Force Gunnery and Bombing Range . " At first fewer than 300 officers and enlisted men were stationed at Indian Springs AFB , but when testing began , the population grew to more than 1 , 500 personnel . The base also hosted more than 100 of the most modern aircraft in the world at the time . " The Air Base Squadron transferred under the 4950th Test Group ( Nuclear ) in 1956 , the base launched the Shot John F - 89J that fired the MB - 1 Genie which detonated over Area 10 , and AFSWC jurisdiction at Indian Springs AFB " continued until 1961 " . Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field . Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field was designated on 1 April 1961 when " the USAF transferred Indian Springs AFB missions to Nellis AFB under the control of TAC " . During the 1970s and 1980s , the primary base mission was range maintenance and the primary unit was the 57th Combat Support Squadron of civil engineers — the only assigned aircraft unit was a detachment of UH - 1N Twin Huey helicopters ( " Det 1 " ) . The 1981 Indian Springs C - 130 crash was " short " of the landing strip , * and the 1982 Thunderbirds Indian Springs Diamond Crash killed all 4 T - 38 pilots impacting along the runway ( controlled flight into terrain ) - - cf . 1966 Indian Springs F - 105 crash . Circa 1988 , " the bulk of Silver Flag Alpha [ moved ] to the Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field " from Nellis , and Indian Springs AFAF was designated Formerly Used Defense Site NV99799F601300 by September 30 , 2002 and in January 2005 , No 1115 Flight was formed at the base to operate the Royal Air Force ' s first UAVs ( became part of No . 39 Squadron RAF in March 2007 . ) Creech AFB . Creech Air Force Base was named on 20 June 2005 and activated , in October 2005 , the Joint Unmanned Aerial Systems Center of Excellence and the 3d Special Operations Squadron ( the latter was the 1st MQ - 1 Predator squadron in the AFSOC ) . A Creech aircraft of the 11th Reconnaissance Squadron was lost in the 2006 NTTR Predator crash , * and the 42d Attack Squadron was formed at Creech AFB on 8 November 2006 as the first Reaper squadron . By 2007 , Creech personnel of the 432nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron had been deployed to Ali Air Base , and the base transferred from a Nellis AFB unit to the 432d Wing when activated on 1 May 2007 ( renamed 432d Air Expeditionary Wing on May 15 , 2008 . ) On 5 March 2008 , the 556th Test and Evaluation Squadron became operational as " the Air Force ' s [ 1st ] test squadron for unmanned aerial systems " . In 2008 the USGS added the military installation to the Geographic Names Information System ( the airport portion of the base was separately designated in 2011 ) . A 2009 Nevada Desert Experience protest against drone attacks on Pakistan by the United States of America resulted in the convictions of the " Creech 14 " ( e . g . , Father Louie Vitale , Kathy Kelly , & John Dear ) arrested on the base for trespassing and sentenced on January 27 , 2011 for time served ( a 2009 protest was also held . ) In 2011 , keystroke logging software had infected UAV ground stations ( " believed to have spread through . . . removable drives " ) , and the Twenty - Fourth Air Force was alerted to the problem by an article in Wired Magazine ( the virus " posed no threat to our operational mission " . ) In 2012 , the ceremony in which the 99th Security Forces Group " stands down " also activated the 799th Air Base Group at Creech .