Last week, the social media accounts for Nellis Air Force Base (AFB), NV, announced the facility located in the northeast Las Vegas Valley would be rebranded to the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center.
“Same mission. Expanded focus,” a post on Facebook explained.
“This account will now represent the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center—the Air Force’s premier war-fighting enterprise,” the post stated. “We’ll continue bringing you stories, mission highlights and behind-the-scenes looks from across Nellis AFB and USAFWC wings while better connecting our audience to the mission, vision and priorities that drive us.”
However, the base’s official name isn’t actually changing. This is rather about its online rebranding.
“Since the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center (USAFWC) is a Numbered Air Force equivalent and serves as the higher headquarters for our wings, the website’s branding was updated to better reflect that command structure. Nellis Air Force Base itself, along with the wings and day-to-day mission, remains the same,” the base said in a statement to local media in the Las Vegas area to clarify the its official name.
“To reiterate, the base name is not changing; this is a Nellis AFB website rebrand. The U.S. Air Force Warfare Center has been an integral part of Nellis AFB since 1966, when it was founded as the U.S. Air Force Tactical Fighter Weapons Center,” the statement added. “It was renamed the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center in October 2005.”
As of this week, the online address (URL) for Nellis also remained unchanged, but visitors were greeted with it identifying the site as the “U.S. Air Force Warfare Center. The Air Force’s Premier Warfighting Laboratory. Developing, Testing, & Training For The High-End Fight.”
A Massive Facility
Nellis AFB may be the home of the USAFWC, which reports directly to the Air Combat Command, but it is also much more. The base was founded in 1941as the Las Vegas Army Air Field, which hosted the Army Air Corps Flexible Gunnery School. During World War II, more than 600 gunners and 215 co-pilots graduated from the school every five weeks.
Following the end of the conflict, the base was used as a separation center and closed in January 1947.
Just two years later, it was reopened and renamed in honor of Lt. William Harrell Nellis, a P-47 pilot from southern Nevada, who was killed in action while on his 70th combat mission during the Battle of the Bulge in Europe.
Today, the main base covers more than 14,000 acres, but it is also connected to the Nevada Test and Training Range, which creates a massive sprawling complex that spans roughly 5,000 square miles – making it the largest Air Force base in the world by area.
It employs more than 14,000 military personnel and civilians, also making it the largest single employer in Southern Nevada. Nellis AFB further provides support to a community of over 300,000 people in the Las Vegas Valley, including families and military retirees.
The base hosts 36 squadrons with more than 180 aircraft, and it is home to the highest concentration of advanced combat schools and training wings in the U.S. Air Force, including the prestigious USAF Weapons School.
About the USAFWC
Founded on September 1, 1966, as the U.S. Air Force Tactical Fighter Weapons Center, the USAFWC was rebranded to its current name in October 2005.
According to the U.S. Air Force, its mission is to conduct “warfighter-centric live and virtual operational test and evaluation, tactics development, and advanced training to optimize Air Force capabilities and prepare Airmen for joint, all-domain combat operations.”
Its staff and units work for all Major Commands (MAJCOMs) and Air Component Commanders, as well as all USAF warfighters.
USAFWC currently oversees the operations of five wings and two named units, including: the 57th Wing, 99th Air Base Wing, the Nevada Test and Training Range, and the Air Force Joint Test Program Office at Nellis AFB, NV; the 53rd Wing and the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing at Eglin AFB, FL; and the 505th Command and Control Wing at Hurlburt Field, FL. The USAFWC is further comprised of approximately 13,000 personnel, active duty, guard, reserve, DOW civilians, and DOW contractors, located across 21 states.
The USAFWC has its own Inspector General, Staff Judge Advocate, Safety Office, Protocol Office, Financial Manager, and Historian.
