Grissom Air Reserve Base

Grissom Air Reserve Base is a United States Air Force base, located about 12mi north of Kokomo in Cass County, Indiana and Miami County, Indiana. The facility was established as Naval Air Station Bunker Hill in 1942 and an active Air Force installation from 1954 to 1994. Since then it is a joint-use civil airport/military base with the Grissom Aeroplex providing general aviation and charter service.The base is named in memory of astronaut and Indiana native Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, who, along with fellow astronauts Ed White and Roger Chaffee, perished in the Apollo 1 fire at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 34 in 1967.OverviewGrissom Air Reserve Base is located in North Central Indiana and is home to the largest KC-135R Stratotanker wing in the Air Force Reserve Command, units from the US Army Reserve and also the US Marine Corps Reserve. The host unit is the 434th Air Refueling Wing, the "Hoosier Wing", which consists of three major groups and a variety of squadrons and flights. The wing develops and maintains the operational capability of its units and train reservists for worldwide duty. Training consists of flight operations, deployments, and weekday and weekend training. Colonel Larry H. Shaw commands the 434th Operations Group. Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Wes Marion.