Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range

The area of the Lowry range was initially part of the 1937 Buckley Field's {{Convert|102.4|sqmi|abbr=on}} that became an Army Airfield in 1942. In World War II, bombing with "practice and HE bombs", training in "fixed and flexible gunnery", and rifle training were conducted at the range. The 1st of the Army Air Forces Bombardier Schools was at Lowry from July 1940 through March 14, 1941,{{Cite web|title=Bombardier Training: …Overview |url=http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hfhm/Training/Map.htm |format=transcribed text from various sources, including St. John |publisher=Ancestry.com |access-date=2012-07-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614225102/http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hfhm/Training/Map.htm |archive-date=2012-06-14 }} used the Buckley range and graduated 3 instructor classes of graduates who opened the bombardier school at Barksdale Field.{{Cite book |last=St. John |first=Philip A |date=April 15, 1998 |title=Bombardiers in WWII |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9c6Lc3CA0wUC&q=midland&pg=PA13|volume=II|page=13|publisher=Turner Publishing Company |quote=Fifty instructors arrived [at Barksdale] from the first three classes at Lowry Field, in February 1941.}} (from Volume I{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419160255/http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hfhm/Training/barksdale.htm |date=2012-04-19 }}

Camp Bizerte at the range{{Citation |type=photo caption |title=Camp Bizerte… |location=Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum }} was a World War II training facility for simulating an overseas Army field camp.{{Cite news |date=July 25, 1943 |title=Camp Bizerte Prepares Soldiers For Duty at the Front |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2506&dat=19430725&id=U4pJAAAAIBAJ&pg=1100,5190892 |newspaper=The News and Courier |access-date=2013-03-24 |quote=…you may come, quite suddenly, on Bizerte. Not the North African outpost to be sure--but Camp Bizerte, an army training post designed to give soldiers, battle-bound, a taste of life in Tunisia or some overseas war area.}} Part of the 12-week AAF Photography Course at Lowry Field in 1943 was conducted at Camp Bizerte.{{Cite web | url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/34076827@N00/4439159715/ | title=Camp Bizerte photo class| date=2010-03-16}}

Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range was designated after the "Tech-Division Air Training Command" on September 20, 1946, transferred {{Convert|93.5|sqmi|abbr=on}} to the custody of Lowry Field, and the 9800th Technical Service Unit cleared the 1st site at LBGR--{{Convert|1920|acres|sqmi|abbr=on}}—of munitions, and the site was certified along with the "BT1" site as clear on November 16, 1948. Post-war the west end of LBGR was used as an explosives demolition site.

The "Air-to-Ground Bombing and Gunnery Mission" at LBGR terminated in 1956,{{Rp|2-1}} and RBS by the redesignated (1955) Detachment 1, 11th RBS Sq, continued until it moved to the former La Junta Army Airfield (La Junta Bomb Plot, 1959-1990).{{Cite news |date=February 21, 1995 |title=Townsfolk Hope to Shoot Down Military's Bombing-Range Plans |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/405724/TOWNSFOLK-HOPE-TO-SHOOT-DOWN-MILITARYS-BOMBING-RANGE-PLANS.html?pg=all |newspaper=Deseret News |access-date=2012-07-06 |archive-date=2013-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202223449/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/405724/TOWNSFOLK-HOPE-TO-SHOOT-DOWN-MILITARYS-BOMBING-RANGE-PLANS.html?pg=all |url-status=dead }} In 1963, a portion of LBGR (Lowry Missile Site No. 1) had been "cleared of surface MEC"—munitions and explosives of concern). From 1960 and 1980, ~{{Convert|63600|acres|sqmi|abbr=on}} of the LBGR were transferred to various other state and federal agencies and private owners.{{Cite report |title=1995 US Army Corps of Engineers report |location=St. Louis}} cited throughout the Five-Year Review Plan

File:Lowry AFB Titan I ICBMs.png's -B and -C complexes were not within the area of the Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range. The urban regions (yellow) are shown in their 21st century size, not the actual area when the approximate 18 Titan missiles were constructed and operational (1958-1965).]]

{{For|the two Titan 1 complexes not on the bombing range|725th Strategic Missile Squadron}}

Lowry Missile Site No. 1 ("Lowry Air Force Missile Site" before being renamed in 1960) of {{Convert|85.1|sqmi|abbr=on}} included a large portion of the LBGR and began in September 1958 with the start of construction prior to excavation for the eventual 4 complexes (1 off of LBGR,--additional Site No. 2 also had a complex on the former range). Construction on the 1st operational complex, Titan I Missile Complex 1A, began in April 1959, mining excavation of 1/2 million cubic yards of rock{{Cite report |last=Lauber |first=John F; research by Hess, Jeffrey A.; both of Hess, Roise and Company |date=December 1993 |title=Titan Missile Test Facilities |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/co/co0300/co0348/data/co0348data.pdf |type=HAER No. CO-75 |publisher=Martin Marietta |access-date=2012-07-23 |quote=Newsweek...1955...the IBM [Intercontinental Ballistic Missile] }}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} was completed by 4 June 1961, and the site was finished in December 1961 (the dedication was on April 18, 1962). Complex 1A was on {{Convert|442.42|acres|ha|abbr=on}} with ~{{Convert|36|acres|ha|abbr=on}} "bounded by a chain-link fence". Missiles were assembled at the Glenn L. Martin plant southwest of Denver (the co-located test site with 4 stands had been transferred to the Air Force),{{Rp|48}} and Lowry AFB's 724th Strategic Missile Squadron (April 26, 1961 – June 25, 1965) commanded the Site No. 1 complexes. Site No. 1 was adjacent to the Lowry Landfill on the west and Complex 1A was privatized on January 31, 1969.

In January 1964 the Secretary of Defense informed congress the Titan 1 bases would be closed in 1965, and the last Lowry missile was taken off alert status March 26, 1965 (all Titan 1s were in storage by April 18). (Titan 1s were stored at Mira Loma Air Force Station, California, until being scrapped in Spring 1966.){{cite web |url=http://www.astronautix.com/fam/titan.htm |title= Encyclopedia Astronautica Index: 1|website=www.astronautix.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100914113632/http://www.astronautix.com/fam/titan.htm |archive-date=2010-09-14}} Titan I Missile Complex 2A on the former LBGR was transferred to the Department of the Army on October 12, 1977.{{Cite report |title=Summary of LAFB Activities since 1937, Lowry Area History 29 September 1958 to 16 December 1961, as-built drawings. |type=Word document |location=asuwlink.uwyo.edu/~jimkirk/Lowry1A.doc |quote=A portion of the FLBGR, then known as the Lowry Missile Site No. 1 and covering 54,446 acres, was cleared of surface MEC in 1963.}}

A total of six missile complex sites operated in the Denver area from 1960 – 1965.

:On the Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range

:: 724-A, SW of Watkins, Colorado {{Coord|39|38|52.57|N|104|41|24.54|W|display=inline|name=724-A}}{{Cite web | url=http://www.themilitarystandard.com/missile/titan1/silo/724-a.php |title = Titan I 724-A Missile Silo Lowry AFB Colorado}}

:: 724-B, SSW of Watkins, Colorado {{Coord|39|36|16.89|N|104|34|46.64|W|display=inline|name=724-B}}{{Cite web | url=http://www.themilitarystandard.com/missile/titan1/silo/724-b.php |title = Titan I 724-B Missile Silo Lowry AFB Colorado}}

:: 724-C, S of Bennett, Colorado {{Coord|39|39|55.30|N|104|29|34.58|W|display=inline|name=724-C}}{{Cite web | url=http://www.themilitarystandard.com/missile/titan1/silo/724-c.php |title = Titan I 724-C Missile Silo Lowry AFB Colorado}}

:: 725-A, 14 miles SE of Watkins, Colorado {{Coord|39|35|15|N|104|27|42|W|display=inline|name=725-A}}

:Outside the LBGR

:: 725-B, 4 miles NNE of Deer Trail, Colorado {{Coord|39|40|06|N|104|01|41|W|display=inline|name=725-B}}

:: 725-C, 5 miles SSE of Elisabeth, Colorado {{Coord|39|18|54|N|104|33|43|W|display=inline|name=725-C}}

In 1969, Lowry Training Annex adjacent to the former LBGR area was established after the Department of the Navy transferred ~{{Convert|3,700|acres|sqmi}} to the U.S. Air Force (the Navy had nearby land as early as July 30, 1948, and used the bombing range in 1952 for training).

The Bennett Army National Guard facility of {{Convert|242|acres|sqmi|abbr=on}} at the former Complex 2A (southeast corner of LBGR) was a Colorado Army National Guard military installation used for training. In 2006 the Bennett facility was excessed by the government and was the "last federal property transferred"{{Rp|2-1}} of the former Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range.

In 2012, oil was struck on the Former Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range.{{Cite web | url=http://www.denverpost.com/ci_20755667/anadarko-hits-oil-old-lowry-bombing-range-denver |title = Anadarko hits oil on old Lowry bombing range in Denver area|date = 2012-05-31}}

{{Reflist}}

Category:Bombing ranges

Category:Cold War military installations of the United States

Category:Colorado National Guard

Category:Former installations of the United States Army

Category:Military history of Colorado