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Walker Air Force Base
Walker Air Force Base Roswell Army Airfield | |
|---|---|
| Part of Strategic Air Command | |
| Roswell, New Mexico | |
 2006 United States Geological Survey aerial photo | |
  Walker AFB | |
| Coordinates | 33°18′06″N 104°31′50″W / 33.30167°N 104.53056°W |
| Type | Air Force base |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1941 |
| In use | 1941–1967 |
Walker Air Force Base is a closed United States Air Force base located three miles (5 km) south of the central business district of Roswell, New Mexico. It was opened in 1941 as an Army Air Corps flying school and was active during World War II and the postwar era as Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF). During the early years of the Cold War, it became the largest base of the Strategic Air Command. It is also known for the Roswell UFO incident, an event that occurred on 4 July 1947. It is alleged that a "flying disc" crashed during a severe thunderstorm near the base at Corona, New Mexico.
Walker AFB was named after General Kenneth Newton Walker, a native of Los Cerrillos, New Mexico who was killed during a bombing mission over Rabaul, New Britain, Papua New Guinea on 5 January 1943. His group scored direct hits on nine Japanese ships before being intercepted by enemy fighters. Walker was last seen leaving the target area with one engine on fire and several fighters on his tail, and he was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1943. The base was renamed in his honor on 13 January 1948.[1] Funding cutbacks during the Vietnam War led to the closure of the base in 1967.
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