HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- Join Hill Air Force Base Saturday, Jan. 18 starting at 10 a.m. for its 80th Anniversary Celebration at the Hill Aerospace Museum. Admission is free and open to the public.
In addition to the museum's numerous displays and exhibits, patrons can check out the cockpit of an RF-4 Phantom and visit the newly added C-130 Experience, an interactive learning space for kids and adults alike.
The 649th Munitions Squadron will also be putting on a demonstration and officials will unveil an 80th Anniversary Commemoration Lithograph.
Throughout the day, featured speakers will include retired Air Force Cols. Jay Hess, a Vietnam veteran and prisoner of war, James Sullivan, world speed record holder from New York to London in an SR-71 Blackbird, and Gail Halvorsen, the famed “Berlin Candy Bomber.”
Event schedule:
9 a.m.
• Museum opens
10 a.m.
• Remarks by base officials and 80th lithograph unveiling
• Presentation by retired Air Force Lt. Col. Jay Hess, a Vietnam veteran and prisoner of war
11 a.m.
• Unit demonstrations/displays
1 p.m.
• Presentation by retired Air Force Col. James Sullivan, an SR-71 Blackbird pilot
2 p.m.
• Presentation by retired Air Force Col. Gail Halvorsen, the Berlin Candy Bomber
Hill AFB traces its roots to 1934 when the operation of a temporary Air Corps depot in Salt Lake City, in place to support airmail operations, brought attention to senior military and civilian leaders, that northern Utah could be a possible site for a permanent air depot.
Later, Congress appropriated $8 million for construction of a base in July 1939 and by December of that year the War Department named the site "Hill Field" in honor of Maj. Ployer P. Hill.
Official groundbreaking for construction of Hill Field occurred Jan. 12, 1940.
Other celebratory activities will take place throughout the year and carry the theme “80 Years of Excellence." For more information, visit www.hill.af.mil/80thAnniversary.