Scott's USAF Installations Page

Trip Report: Before Snow Flies

First published in 2011. Reformatted 2025.

I've wanted to revisit the Dalhart air fields. I had the trip planned for autumn 2010 but I didn't get to it in time. Snow fell, and winter happened. After a couple of false starts in summer 2011, I finally took the trip in early autumn. Most of these places are revisits, rather than first-time visits. Just a reminder PIN means Permanent Installation Number and ILC means Installation Location Code; I include these for Air Force properties when I know them.

Friday, 7 October 2011

I departed Denver at 0600, heading east then south.

La Junta Radar Bomb Scoring Site CO, PIN 7910, ILC MNDJ, 38-02-36, 103-30-13. This site had a large building with connecting ports for equipment trailers. In 1998 the building was signed "LEMAY TECH OPS FACILITY" but in 2011 it had a business name on the wall. It is located at the east end of the La Junta airfield ramp. The compound was locked up, so I photographed from outside the fence. The present facility dates to about 1990, although adjacent land may have been used by the Air Force since the late 1940s. The site was closed 7 December 2001.
General view
General view
General view
General view
General view
General view
General view
General view
Sign
Sign
Sign
Sign
Sign
Building
Building

La Junta Mini-MUTE 1MM5 CO, ILC MNDB, 37-57-58, 103-23-22. This small emitter site supported La Junta RBSS. It was activated 14 September 1993 and disposed of 15 April 2002. It had been remediated after closure. The title "Mini-MUTE" stands for Miniature Multiple Threat Emitter System.
General view
General view
Debris
Debris
Debris

La Junta Mini-MUTE 1MM6 CO, ILC MNDD, 37-59-57, 103-09-23. This small emitter site supported La Junta RBSS. It was activated 14 September 1993 and disposed of 15 April 2002. The perimeter fence was still in place and the site was entirely behind another barbed wire fence.
General view
General view
Gate

Granada Relocation Camp CO, aka Camp Amache, 38-02-55, 102-19-45. Thousands of American citizens of Japanese heritage spent WWII in this prison and others like it around the country. Technically, it was not a military installation; the War Relocation Authority oversaw the camps, but the design was along the lines of Army P.O.W. camps and Army Military Police guarded the prisoners. This property is now accessible to the public and does have interpretive signage.
Entrance
Foundations
Foundations
Foundations
Foundations
Foundations
Building
Water tank
Water tank and building
Water supply building

Lamar AT&T Main Station CO, 37-55-28, 102-36-39. This property, while not military, provided essential communications to the military. The reasons for the collocated Air Force site are still not clear. This site had a large, nuclear blast-resistant microwave tower, and also an underground L-4 coaxial cable switching station. I observed one nuclear blast detector on the grounds, and a set of former Ground Entry Point antenna. A Prowers County employee told me that AT&T hadn't used the facility in many years, and the county had leased the aboveground portion of the building for its Head Start program. The facility looked unchanged from my 1998 visit.
Gate
General view
General view
General view
General view
Building
Ground Entry Point antennae
Nuclear blast detector
Tower and fence

I settled into a motel in Lamar for the night. This was a 10.5-hour day, covering 363 miles.

Saturday, 8 October 2011

From Lamar, I hit the road at 0600 for a long day of driving with only a couple of stops. This was my first visit to Texas in nearly three years!

Amarillo Air Force Base TX, PIN 1277, ILC AGWF, 35-13-10, 101-42-45. This was a training base during WWII, home to Basic Training Center No. 12 and Airplane Mechanics School No. 4 of the Army Air Forces. It continued to serve Air Training Command until inactivated 1 January 1969, and also had a Strategic Air Command presence. I had seen the airport in 1998, but on this revisit, I found much more of the Air Force built environment. This is now Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport (AMA).
SAC maintenance docks
SAC maintenance docks
SAC maintenance docks
SAC maintenance docks
SAC 70-man alert facility
SAC 70-man alert facility
SAC 70-man alert facility
WWII hangars
WWII hangars
WWII hangars
WWII hangars
Radar facility, former ADC M-88 site
Ordnance area
Engine test cell
Engine test cell
Engine test cell
Chapel
Chapel
Chapel
2 Elevated water storage tanks, northeast part of base
2 Elevated water storage tanks, central part of base
2 Elevated water storage tanks, central part of base
Fuel Pumphouse
Fuel Pumphouse
Building
Building
Building
Building
Building
Building
Building
Building
Building
Building
Building
Building

Childress Army Air Field TX, 34-25-55, 100-17-20. This was an Army Air Forces bombardier school during WWII. My goal this time was to confirm an extant Norden bombsight storage & maintenance building. I verified the concrete vault portion, and the surrounding building looked vintage also. The building was tucked away in a fenced compound, on what is now Childress Municipal Airport (CDS).
Hangar
Hangar
Building
Norden bombsight maintenance and storage building
Norden bombsight maintenance and storage building

I drove back to Amarillo for the night. This was a 10-hour day, covering 508 miles.

Sunday, 9 October 2011

I headed northwest from Amarillo at 0730. I had seen the Dalhart airfields back in 1998, and in 2010 I noticed what appeared to be a distant, grainy view of a Norden bombsight storage and maintenance building in the background of one of my photos. That's what spurred this trip!

Dalhart Auxiliary Field No. 2 TX, PIN, 36-05-40, 102-25-20. This field supported Dalhart AAFld during WWII. It was retained by Air Material Command as Dalhart Air Force Auxiliary Field No. 2, in a non-maintenance or inert status, until the late 1950s. It is now known as Miller Airfield (25TS), and appeared unchanged since my 1998 visit.
General view
General view
General view
General view
Chimney
Elevated water storage tank structure
Elevated water storage tank structure
Hangar structure
Hangar structure
Norden bombsight maintenance and storage building remains
Norden bombsight maintenance and storage building remains
Norden bombsight maintenance and storage building remains

Dalhart Army Air Field TX, 36-01-30, 102-33-10. This was a 2AF bomber training base during WWII. It is now the Dalhart Municipal Airport (DHT), and appeared unchanged since my 1998 visit.
Hangars
Hangars
Hangars
Hangar
Hangar
Building
Elevated water storage tank structure
Elevated water storage tank structure
Foundation
Foundation
Foundation
Foundation
Foundation
Celestial navigation building foundation
Celestial navigation building foundation
Celestial navigation building foundation
Norden bombsight maintenance and storage building remains
Norden bombsight maintenance and storage building remains
Norden bombsight maintenance and storage building remains
Norden bombsight maintenance and storage building remains

La Junta Mini-MUTE 1MM4 CO, ILC MNDF, 37-19-12, 103-21-15. This small emitter site supported La Junta RBSS. It was activated 14 September 1993 and disposed of 15 April 2002. The land was remediated after closure.
Gate
General view
General view
Debris
Debris

I made it back to Trinidad CO for the night, covering 387 miles in 9 hours.

Monday, 10 October 2011

I motored out of Trinidad at 0730, heading north.

Pueblo Army Air Base CO, 38-17-30, 104-29-45. This is now Pueblo Memorial Airport (PUB). Not much remains from this airfield's WWII service as a 2AF bomber training base.
Hangar
Hangar
Tower
Tower

I made it home to Denver in 5 hours and 235 miles. Total was 1,493 miles for this trip.

Updated May 10, 2025

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