Editing Nellis Air Force Base (section)

===Las Vegas Army Airfield===
[[File:Las Vegas Army Airfield - 1942 - USAAF.jpg|thumb|The Las Vegas Army Airfield had three runways in 1942, the year [[Tonopah Army Airfield]] opened in August (the [[Tonopah General Range|Tonopah Bombing Range]] had been divided in 1941 into the Tonopah and [[Las Vegas General Range]]s).]]

'''Las Vegas Army Airfield''' was both activated and began flying training on 20 December 1941.{{r|Training}} Gunnery training began in January 1942, with guntruck platforms being used in January and February.{{r|USACE2010}}.{{rp|2–3}}<ref name=Rininger>{{Cite book |last=Rininger |first=Tyson V. |year=2006 |chapter=History of Nellis Air Force Base |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lAlIaNJMlgkC&pg=PA9 |access-date=10 June 2013 |title=Red Flag: Air Combat for the 21st Century|publisher=MBI Publishing Company LLC |isbn=978-0760325308 }}</ref> Many pieces of the destroyed aerial drone targets litter the hillside north of the gunnery range, and can be seen in town when the sun reflects off them.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

The first [[B-17 Flying Fortress]]es arrived in 1942 and allowed training of 600 gunnery students and 215 co-pilots from the field every five weeks at the height of the war. More than 45,000 B-17 gunners were trained; the USAAF training movie ''The Rear Gunner'' was filmed at the airfield in 1943.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036293 |publisher=[[IMDb|Internet Movie Database]] |title=The Rear Gunner |date=10 April 1943 }}</ref> The 82d Flying Training Wing (Flexible Gunnery) was activated at the base as one of ten [[Army Air Forces Flying Training Command]] wings on 23 August 1943.{{r|Manning}}{{rp|18}} By 1944, gunnery students utilized B-17, [[B-24 Liberator]] and [[B-40 Flying Fortress]] gunship aircraft (for example by firing at aircraft-towed targets).{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

In March 1945, the base switched to [[B-29]] gunnery training which included the manipulation trainer on the ground with camera guns.{{Citation needed|date=June 2013}} The subsequent population peaked with nearly 11,000 officers and enlisted personnel including more than 4,700 students. Flexible gunnery training ended in September 1945,{{r|USACE2010}}{{rp|2–3}} and the base became a demobilization center for soldiers' separation physicals and final pay. A course of navigator, bombardier, and radar operator training planned for LVAAF was instead begun at [[Mather Army Airfield]] in June 1946.{{r|Training}}{{rp|43}} [[AAF Training Command]] closed LVAAF which went on caretaker status 28 August 1946 ("officially deactivated in January 1947").{{r|USACE2010}}{{rp|2–3}} During the planning for a separate air force, the Las Vegas AAF was reactivated "30 Aug 47 as a subinstallation of Mather",{{r|AppendixC}}{{rp|350}} and it transferred to the USAF after the branch was created in September.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

[[File:3595th Pilot Training Wing - North American P-51D-20-NA Mustang 44-72192.jpg|thumb|3595th PTW F-51D {{circa|lk=no|1950}} at a Nellis hangar|alt=|left]]