Mountain Home Air Force Base

Mountain Home Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation in the western United States. Located in southwestern Idaho in Elmore County, the base is southwest of Mountain Home, which is southeast of Boise via Interstate 84. The base is also used by the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), which has a detachment of F-15SG combat aircraft on long term assignment to the base and a squadron composed of RSAF and USAF personnel. Constructed in the early 1940s during World War II as a training base for bombers, after the war it briefly had transports, then was a bomber and missile base. It became a fighter base in 1966. The host unit at Mountain Home since 1972 has been the 366th Fighter Wing (366 FW) of Air Combat Command (ACC), nicknamed the "Gunfighters." The base's primary mission is to provide combat airpower and combat support capabilities to respond to and sustain worldwide contingency operations. Part of the base is a census-designated place (CDP); the population was 3,238 at the 2010 census. History Crews started building the base in November 1942 and the new field officially opened on 7 August 1943. Shortly thereafter, airmen at the field began training U.S. Army Air Forces crews for World War II. The 396th Bombardment Group (Heavy) was the first unit assigned and its planned mission was to train crews for the B-17 Flying Fortress. However, before the first B-17s arrived, plans for the field changed and the 396th was transferred to Moses Lake AAF, Washington.