Whiteman Air Force Base

Establishment:1963
Base Type: Air Force

About

Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri is the home of the 509th Bomb Wing, a US Air Force unit that operates the Northrop Grumman Spirit B2 bomber or also known as the B-2 stealth bomber.

The B-2  bomber is employed for penetrating areas and targets that are beyond the range of conventional aircraft or too dense for a conventional aircraft to strike without suffering heavy losses.

It features a low observable stealth technology, designed to be as invisible as possible from radar detection. It has a flying wing design with a crew of two.

Whiteman AFB Address/Location

Whiteman Air Force  Base is at 470 Vandenberg Ave White AFB, MO 65305

Whiteman AFB is the only Air Force base in Missouri, located in  Johnson County and 2 miles south of the city of Knob Noster and 10 miles east of Warrensburg MO.

It is actually only one of the three military bases in Missouri, the other 2 being an Army Base – Fort Leonard Wood Army Base in Pulaski, MO. Pulaski,   and a Marine Base – MC Mobilization Command Marine Corps in Kansas City, MO. Kansas City,

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WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE WEATHER

About the 509th Bomb Wing

The 509th Bomb Wing is part of the Air Force Global Strike Command as well as the host wing at Whiteman Air Force Base. As they operate  and maintain the Air Force’s premier weapons system, the B-2 Stealth Bomber, here are some interesting facts

How Many B2 Bombers does the US have

As of  2019, the 509th Bomb Wing has a fleet of  20 B-2 Spirit bombers and they serve as part of the Air Force’s conventional and strategic combat force.

The US bought 21 B2 stealth bombers in the 1980s and 1990s, but one crashed on Guam in 2008.

The men and women of the wing are combat-ready and are capable of flying anywhere around the world from home station and delivering a wide range of precision-guided conventional and nuclear munitions.

Top Speed of the B2 Stealth Bomber

The B2 bomber has a top speed of 1010 km /hr (628 miles).

B2 Stealth Bomber Cost

The cost of each B2 stealth bomber unit was $737 Million, but if the total program and development cost were to be included, each unit has thus cost $2.1 Billion, or a total of $44.75 Billion for the 21 units.

Before this highly sophisticated fleet of combat aircraft, there were several predecessors since  the 1940s.

History

The Early Years 1940s-1950s

Whiteman AFB started as  Sedalia Glider Base in 1942,  to serve as the US Army Air Corps training base for WACO glider pilots. Construction started in May 1942 and on August 6, 1942, the base was officially open.

In November of 1942, the base was renamed as Sedalia Army Air Field and the host unit was I Troop Carrier Command under the US Air Army  Forces. It was one of the eight bases in the US that conducts training of glider pilots for combat missions.

It continued to be the training site for combat crew in all aspects of troop carrier flying by July-August 1945.

During this time that the 509th Composite Group (which was the ancestor of the current 509th BW) was formed which had one solid mission: to drop the atomic bomb.

This they did successfully when the B-29 “Enola Gay” dropped the first atomic bomb on August 6, 1945, in Hiroshima, and another one on August 9, 1945, In Nagasaki.

Soon after, the Japanese signed the terms of surrender aboard the USS Missouri.

By mid-40s, most of the buildings were abandoned and the base was inactivated in December 1947.

In August 1951, the base was already Sedalia AFB and hosted the new bombardment wing with the first all-jet bomber, the Boeing B-47 Stratojet, and the Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter, a refueling aircraft.

With this development, the 4224th Air Base squadron conducted the construction of the facilities and in October 1952, the 340th Bombardment Wing (340 BMW) assumed the base.  In 1954, the first B-47  and the first KC-97 arrived.

In December 1955, the Air Base was renamed Whiteman Air Force Base in honor of 2d Lt George Allison Whiteman, believed to be one of the first Airmen killed in aerial combat in WWII with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

On the morning of that fateful day,  Lt  Whiteman managed to reach his Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and attempted to take off when enemy fighters hit his aircraft, fatally wounding him and had his aircraft crashing down.

The 1960s-1980s

In June 1961, the Whiteman AFB was chosen by the Department of Defense to host the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). Construction for this purpose started in January 1962.

The following year in February of 1963, while construction was still ongoing,  the 351st  Strategic Missile Wing was activated by the Strategic Air Command at Whiteman, changing the base from a bomber base to an ICBM site.

By June of 1964, the construction of the complex was officially complete and from the 15 underground complexes, Whiteman was able to deploy 150  Minuteman I missiles before a program changed the Minuteman I missiles to Minuteman II in 1966.

Through the 70s, programs were initiated to continually update and improve the base’s weapon systems as well as the construction of buildings within the premises.

In the 1980a a new wave of construction followed, and by the late 1980s, the first female Minuteman missile crew and mixed-gender Minuteman crew were fielded.

It was also during this time in November 1988 that the first B2 bomber rolled out from its assembly in Palmdale California, and first flew on 17 July 1989.

The 1990s onwards

In July 1990 the 100th Air Division was activated and assumed responsibility of the 351’st units, only to be inactivated in July 1991 and the responsibilities were reverted to the 351st.

In April 1993, the 509th  unit returned to operational status and assumed responsibility from the 351st in July of 1993.  In  July of 1993, after a 30-year hiatus, flying operations resumed when the first t-38 landed at Whiteman AFB. On December 17, 1993,  the first B2 bomber, the Spirit of Missouri, landed on the Whiteman runway.

In that same year, in 1993, the Minuteman II was decommissioned. Its first launch center was inactivated in January 1993, and the final missile was removed in May 1995.

The 351st Missile Wing was also officially inactivated in July 1995 in Whiteman, after 33 years.

In June of 1994,  442nd Fighter Wing (442 FW) was officially welcomed at the base after the closure of the Richards Gebaur AFB.

On 4 October 2008, the Missouri Air National Guard‘s 131st Fighter Wing was officially renamed 131st Bomb Wing and moved from  Lambert-St. Louis International Airport to Whiteman Air Force Base.

In February 2010, Whiteman Air Force Base also became home to the 20th Reconnaissance Squadron, an Air Combat Command unit.  It was also at this time that the 509th BW became part of the  Air Force Global Strike Command.

Directions

Whiteman is near Interstate 70 and U.S. Highway 50. Those approaching from the east on Interstate 70 should take the Sedalia exit onto U.S. Highway 65 south. In Sedalia, Highway 65 intersects with Highway 50. Turn west on Highway 50 and drive approximately 20 miles to the Whiteman AFB exit. Turn left onto State Highway 23 south and drive about two miles to the Spirit Gate on the left.For those approaching from the west on Interstate 70, take the Warrensburg exit onto State Highway 13 south. As you approach Warrensburg, Highway 50 passes under Highway 13. Turn east onto Highway 50, at the end of the Highway 13 overpass, and drive to State Highway 23 south. Travel two miles south to reach the Spirit Gate on the left.North and south approaches to Whiteman intersect with Interstate 70 or Highway 50, respectively. If flying to your new assignment, the Kansas City International Airport is a logical arrival location choice with Whiteman 90 miles southeast of the airport. If driving from the airport, take Interstate 435 east toward St. Louis. As you approach Interstate 70, stay in the left lane and take Interstate 70 heading east.  The trip takes about 90 minutes, depending on traffic.

Gate and Hours

Spirit Gate Open 24/7
Arnold (Knob Noster) Gate Mon-Sun 0500 – 2200
Lemay (commercial) Gate Mon-Sat 0600 – 1800

Quick Reference

Chapel Office
100 Gray Lane
Whiteman AFB, MO 65305
(660) 687-3652

Ozark Inn Dining Facility
720 Vandenberg Ave,
Whiteman AFB, MO 65305
(660) 687-5469

Education Center
511 Spirit Blvd.
Whiteman AFB, MO 65305
(660) 687-5750

Family Advocacy
331 Sijan Ave
Whiteman AFB, MO 65305
(660) 687-4342

Airman & Family Readiness Center
750 Arnold Ave,
Whiteman AFB, MO 65305
(660) 687-7132

Finance Office
509 Spirit Blvd. Suite 115A
Whiteman AFB, MO 65305
(660) 687-2006

Housing Office
301 Summit Drive
Whiteman AFB, MO 65305
(660) 687-4417

Public Affairs
509 Spirit Blvd. Bldg 509 Suite 116
Whiteman AFB, MO 65305
(660) 687-5727

Legal
509 spirit Blvd. Suite 203
Whiteman AFB, MO 65305
(660) 687-6806

Base Surroundings

Worlds of Fun
4545 Worlds of Fun Ave,
Kansas City, MO 64161
(816) 454-4545

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
4525 Oak St,
Kansas City, MO 64111
(816) 751-1278

Kansas City Zoo
6800 Zoo Dr,
Kansas City, MO 64132
(816) 595-1234

Science City at Union Station
30 W Pershing Rd,
Kansas City, MO 64108
(816) 460-2020

Crown Center
2450 Grand Boulevard,
Kansas City, MO 64108

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
4420 Warwick Blvd,
Kansas City, MO 64111
(816) 753-5784

Coopers Hawk
4686 Broadway Blvd,
Kansas City, MO 64112
(816) 531-1500

The Capital Grille
4740 Jefferson St,
Kansas City, MO 64112
(816) 531-8345

Lidias Kansas City
101 W 22 nd St,
Kansas City, MO 64108
(816) 221-3722

Bluestem
900 Westport Rd,
Kansas City, MO 64111
(816) 561-1101