Editing Nevada Test and Training Range (section)

===Tonopah Bombing Range===
{{Redirect|Las Vegas Bombing and Gunnery Range|the nearby WWII base named for the city|Nellis Air Force Base#Las Vegas Army Air Field{{!}}Las Vegas Army Air Field}}
The [[Tonopah General Range|Tonopah Bombing Range]] was designated on federal land "withdrawn ... October 29, 1940, from the public domain"{{r|"Valliant"}} and in June 1941, the "Tonopah Gunnery and Bombing Range" was split at "37 degrees and 30 minutes" latitude into the "'''Tonopah General Range'''" and "'''Las Vegas General Range'''".{{r|"USACE2001"}} On October 28, 1941, "United States v. 1,855,720 Acres of land ..." (US Fifth District) was initiated to [[eminent domain|seize private land]],{{r|"Mullery"}} and in July 1942 the [[Fourth Air Force]] Bombing and Gunnery Range Detachment from "[[Muroc Lake]]" arrived as the 1st unit. Several [[Nevada World War II Army Airfields]] were established, e.g., the August 1942 [[Tonopah Army Air Field]] in the north area and in the south, [[Indian Springs Auxiliary Army Airfield]] and its additional fields, e.g., at [[Area 18 (NTS)|Area 18]] ([[Pahute Mesa Airstrip|Aux. Field#4]]) and [[Area 51]] ([[Area 51|Aux. Field#1]]). In February 1943, Indian Springs AAF was being used for the [[82d Flying Training Wing]] for air-to-air gunnery training, and Indian Springs AAF closed in January 1947.{{Citation needed|date=February 2013}}  In June 1947 Tonopah AAF was declared excess along with its 3 auxiliary areas ([[Mizpah Hill|Mizpah]] and [[James L. Butler|Butler]] housing terraces and [http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=132:3:1452348038857405::NO::P3_FID,P3_TITLE:851885%2CColumbia%20Junction%20(historical) Columbia Junction] gasoline unloading station).{{r|"McMullen"}} The Indian Springs main facility{{Specify|Did it reopen in 1948 as a USAF installation or still an Army post, e.g., what was its name since it wasn't an AFB until 1951?|date=February 2013}} re-opened in January 1948 and on June 13, 1949, Air Training Command merged the Las Vegas Bombing and Gunnery Range and the Tonopah Bombing and Gunnery Range.{{r|"Harper"}} On June 28, 1949, the "Gunnery Range of the [[Tonopah Air Force Base]]" had about {{Convert|30|sqmi|abbr=on}}{{r|"Chaffin"}} and after the 1949 [[Las Vegas Air Force Base]] was renamed on April 30, 1950, a [[United States Atomic Energy Commission]] (AEC) committee selected the {{sic|"[[Las Vegas Bombing and Gunnery Range]]"}} for a nuclear test site on December 12, 1950.<ref>{{Cite report |url=http://www.nv.energy.gov/library/factsheets/DOENV_705.pdf |title=DOE Fact Sheet |access-date=February 14, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218132345/http://www.nv.energy.gov/library/factsheets/DOENV_705.pdf |archive-date=February 18, 2013 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The land was ideal for training aerial gunners because the land was far from people and contained dry lake beds, which worked perfectly for target practices.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jacobsen|first=Annie|title=Area 51|year=2011|publisher=Little Brown and Company|location=New York|isbn=978-0-316-13294-7|page=107}}</ref>