Hill Air Force Base has enjoyed a long and colorful history. The base traces its origins back to the ill-fated Army Air Mail "experiment" of 1934, during which time the idea originated for a permanent air depot in the Salt Lake City area. In the years that followed, the Army Air Corps searched the region for an ideal location for its permanent western terminus. Several sites in Utah were considered, with the present site near Ogden emerging as the clear favorite.
In July 1939 Congress appropriated $8 million for the establishment and construction of the Ogden Air Depot. In December of that year the War Department named the site "Hill Field," in honor of Major Ployer Peter Hill, Chief of the Flying Branch of the Air Corps Material Division at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. Major Hill had died as a result of injuries received from the crash of the Boeing experimental aircraft Model 299 at Wright Field, the prototype of what would later become the famous B-17 Flying Fortress.
The official groundbreaking ceremonies for Hill Field were held on January 12, 1940, although actual construction of the base had already begun. The first Commander of the Ogden Air Depot, Colonel Morris Berman, arrived at Hill Field on November 7, 1940, marking the beginning of official operations at the field.
During World War II Hill Field was a vital maintenance and supply base, with round-the-clock operations geared to supporting the war effort. Battle weary A-26, B-17, B-24, B-29, P-40, P-47, P-61, and many other types of aircraft depended on the men and women of Hill Field for structural repair, engine overhaul, and spare parts. Peak wartime employment at Hill was reached in 1943 with a total of over 22,000 military and civilian personnel. These dedicated men and women rehabilitated and returned thousands of warbirds to combat.
In 1944 Hill Field became responsible for the long-term storage of surplus aircraft and support equipment. PT-17, B-24, P-40, P-47, B-29, and many other types of aircraft were eventually prepared and stored at the base. By the end of 1947 more than $200 million worth of aircraft had been preserved in near perfect condition for possible future use. During the massive demobilization that followed World War II, Hill Field also reclaimed scores of surplus aircraft, which were disassembled and some parts put back into the supply system.
On September 26, 1947 the Army Air Corps became the United States Air Force, ending an association with the Army that had lasted 40 years. Following an Air Force-wide pattern of renaming "fields" as "bases," Hill Field became Hill Air Force Base on February 5, 1948.
When North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, Hill AFB was assigned a major share of Project Holdoff, the Air Materiel Command's logistical effort to support the war. Hill personnel quickly removed needed B-26s and B-29s from storage, renovated, and added them to the active Air Force inventory.
Also in the 1950s, the Ogden Air Materiel Area (shortened as OOAMA; renamed from Ogden Air Depot), the ranking activity at Hill, began support of jet aircraft, such as the F-84F Thunderstreak, F-84G Thunderjet, RF-84J Thunderflash, F-89 Scorpion, F/RF-101 Voodoo, F-102 Delta Dagger, B-47 Stratojet, and B-57 Night Intruder. Made possible by Hill AFB’s acquisition of the neighboring Ogden Arsenal’s land and real property in 1955, OOAMA also assumed prime maintenance responsibilities for the SM-62 Snark, IM-99 Bomarc, SM-73 Goose, and SM-64 Navaho missile systems, as well as the MB-1 Genie rocket system. OOAMA entered into ballistic missile support with the SM-65 Atlas ICBM in 1958 and the SM-80 Minuteman ICBM in 1959. Additionally, the Boeing Corporation began operating Air Force Plant 77 at Hill AFB, where Boeing technicians assembled Minuteman ICBMs.
In the 1960s, OOAMA was assigned support and system management duties for the USAF F-4 Phantom II, Titan II/Titan III missiles, and the AGM-65A Maverick missile. Hill AFB also supported the war in Southeast Asia by direct airlifts of hundreds of tons of air munitions via C-124, C-130, C-133, and C-141 aircraft. The base also picked up maintenance responsibilities for B-58 Hustler and F/RF/FB-111A Aardvark landing gear components.
Hill began managing certain components of the F-15 Eagle in 1971. That same year field testing began at Hill on the UH-1H Iroquois helicopter. The following year saw the production of the first version of the Short Range Attack Missile (SRAM), delivered from Boeing Air Force Plant 77 at Hill AFB.
The Ogden Air Logistics Center (or OO-ALC; renamed from Ogden Air Materiel Area) also became system manager of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the Advanced Intercontinental Ballistic Missile System, and the A-10 Thunderbolt II in the 1970s. This coincided with the arrival of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing to Hill AFB from Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base in 1975, from which it had supported combat operations in the Indochina area and Vietnam since 1966. The 388 TFW became the first fully operational F-16 fighter wing in 1979 (a precedent the wing repeated decades later when it became the U.S. Air Force’s first fully operational F-35 wing in 2015).
The 1980s saw the assignment of repair responsibilities for the BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile to Hill AFB. During Fiscal Year 1980, Hill AFB also had the busiest single runway of any airfield in the free world. Airfield traffic totaled 145,243 takeoffs and landings. The OO-ALC Directorate of Distribution then managed an inventory valued at $2,039,195,215. The base was also assigned repair projects for the OV-10A Bronco and C-130 Hercules aircraft. A long-time denizen of Hill AFB, the Air Force Reserve 508th Fighter Group reorganized into the 419th Tactical Fighter Wing in 1982. With the distinction of serving as the last operational F-105 flying unit in the U.S. Air Force, 419 TFW followed the 388 TFW in converting to flying the F-16 in 1984.
In August 1990, OO-ALC and Hill AFB began support of Operation Desert Shield by helping to sustain the U.S. deployment to Southwest Asia. All shifts and work hours were extended to support the various aircraft involved in the mission. The 388th Fighter Wing deployed its 4th and 421st Fighter Squadrons to Southwest Asia.
When Desert Shield became Desert Storm in 1991, Hill AFB personnel at home and abroad continued to support the mission in Southwest Asia. In 1993, Hill AFB was awarded contracts for the modification, corrosion control, and painting of 244 Navy F/A-18 Hornet fighters and the maintenance and repair of landing gear on various USAF, DoD, and allied aircraft.
During the 2000s, depot operations continued at Hill AFB, focusing on sustaining the U.S. Air Force’s air power. The decade saw air power projected across the globe. Hill AFB’s host unit, the 75th Air Base Wing, and its tenant units such as the 388 and 419 FWs and the 729th Air Control Squadron, supported myriad named operations throughout the decade and into the next in support of the Global War on Terrorism. Following the attack on September 11, 2001, the Hill AFB-assigned fighter wings flew combat air patrols to provide security for the 2002 Olympics Games, hosted in Salt Lake City, Utah. OO-ALC assumed support responsibility for the F-22 Raptor in 2006. Sadly, three Team Hill Explosive Ordinance Disposal Airmen and then an Office of Special Investigation agent lost their lives while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2007. OO-ALC began a series of A-10 Warthog modernization projects during this decade that continued through most of the next, as the A-10 continued vital close air support during Operations Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Iraqi Freedom (Iraq). Hill AFB itself began a modernization effort, led by the 75 ABW, called the Enhanced Use Lease program, bringing new growth to the west side of the installation.
Hill AFB experienced much of the same high operational tempo throughout the 2010s, as support to GWOT continued. Tragically, another Team Hill EOD Airman was killed in 2011 while serving in Afghanistan. The F-35A Lightning II found a home at Hill AFB in the mid-2010s, as the 388 and 419 FWs became operational with the aircraft and the OO-ALC began depot support of the system. As part of the EUL program, Hill AFB officials broke ground for the Falcon Hill National Aerospace Research Park near the installation’s west gate in 2016. In September 2017, Hill AFB held a ceremony to mark the departure of the last operational F-16 from the installation after a 38-year tenure of dominating the skies of Northern Utah. The OO-ALC continues its support to the F-16 program, however, and F-16s may still be seen as aircraft come for and depart from programmed depot maintenance and modification work, along with operational F-16s that come with visiting units for training at the Utah Test and Training Range.