The area near the town of Wendover was well-suited to these needs the land was virtually uninhabited, had generally excellent flying weather, and the nearest large city ( Salt Lake City) was 100 miles (160 km) away (Wendover had around 100 citizens at the time). Wendover Air Force Base's history began in 1940, when the United States Army began looking for additional bombing ranges. A portion of the original bombing range is now the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) which is used extensively by the Air Force with live fire targets on the range. Tooele County, Utah, assumed ownership of the airport and base buildings in 1998, and the County continues to operate the airfield as a public airport. It was closed by the Air Force in 1969, and the base was given to Wendover City in 1977. It was the training site of the 509th Composite Group, the B-29 unit that carried out the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.Īfter the war, Wendover was used for training exercises, gunnery range and as a research facility. During World War II, it was a training base for B-17 and B-24 bomber crews.

Wendover Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base in Utah now known as Wendover Airport.