Editor's note: This feature is part of a Hill Air Force Base 80th anniversary series. These articles will feature the base’s historical innovations and achievements, and will highlight mission platforms that have been operated and supported throughout the decades.
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- As part of a program established to improve the survivability of the nation’s Cold War nuclear air fleet, Air Force officials announced in December 1971 the selection of six “satellite alert” bases for Strategic Air Command (SAC) operations. Hill Air Force Base was on the list.
This resulted in a $2 million construction project at the installation. The project consisted of creating aircraft parking areas required to support four B-52 bombers and two KC-15 aerial refuelers, as well as building the living quarters for the 90 personnel required to crew and support a heavy bombardment wing detachment.
Hill AFB completed construction of the SAC satellite alert facility during 1972 and on Jan. 1, 1973, Detachment 1 of the 456th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) activated at the installation.
Following the detachment’s activation, its bomber crews stood alert at the facility 24/7. New crews rotated to the alert facility every six weeks from the 456th BW’s headquarters at Beale AFB, California.
While at Hill AFB, the unit received “outstanding” and “excellent” ratings on numerous Operations Readiness Inspections and Security Program Tests. For their sustained superior performance, the SAC security police personnel at Hill AFB received recognition as the “Most Outstanding Security Police Unit” in 15th Air Force.
Hill AFB was the only SAC satellite alert facility actually completed out of the six originally announced in 1971. However, the Hill AFB facility did not host the B-52 crews for long.
The 456th BW’s mission at Hill AFB ended when Detachment 1 inactivated July 1, 1975, due to an organizational realignment.
Shortly before the detachment’s departure from Hill AFB, Lt. Col. Robert N. Millhaem, the detachment commander, credited the unit’s success to the support it received from those at Hill AFB.
“I’ve served with four major flying commands – Tactical Air Command, Military Airlift Command, Aerospace Defense Command, and SAC – and I have never seen better support provided to a tenant unit from the installation host than that provided by all Ogden ALC and HAFB organizations,” Millhaem said in a June 1975 Hilltop Times article.