[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 21]
[Senate]
[Page 29158]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AIR FORCE AND NELLIS AIR FORCE 
                                  BASE

  Mr. REID. Madam President, I rise today to commemorate the 60th 
anniversary of the U.S. Air Force. As you are well aware, the Air Force 
was created by the National Security Act of 1947, the very same law 
that established the Department of Defense, the National Security 
Council, and the Central Intelligence Agency.
  Like many of my colleagues in this distinguished Chamber, I represent 
a State with a rich history of involvement with and support for the 
U.S. Air Force. Less than 6 months after the Air Force was officially 
founded on September 18, 1947, the Las Vegas Air Force Base was 
reactivated to host a pilot training wing. With the onset of the Korean 
war, its mission changed from an advanced single-engine school to one 
of training jet fighter pilots for the then Far East Air Forces. And 
thus began a long tradition of air combat training programs held at 
this site that has earned this Air Force base the proud nickname ``Home 
of the Fighter Pilot.''
  No single airman in Nevada history exemplified the meaning behind 
this slogan more than LT William H. Nellis. Born in Santa Rita, NM, in 
1916, as a young man Lieutenant Nellis moved to my hometown of 
Searchlight, Nevada, where his father--like so many other respectable 
Nevadans--worked as a hard rock miner. When World War II began, 
Lieutenant Nellis was already married with 2 children, but this 
passionate young man knew he could not remain uninvolved in America's 
effort to rid the world of foreign oppression. After seeing a newsreel 
about the Army Air Corps, the precursor to the U.S. Air Force, he 
decided to enlist.
  During the course of his valiant service, Lieutenant Nellis flew 69 
missions over Europe and was shot down twice, surviving each crash and 
making his way back to Allied lines. Unwavering in his patriotism, he 
continued to volunteer to fly, doing what he saw as his duty for the 
great cause. Sadly, Lieutenant Nellis' last flight would come on 
December 27, 1944. During the Battle of the Bulge, an engagement that 
would cost the lives of nearly 20,000 Americans, Lieutenant Nellis was 
killed in action while flying with the 513th Fighter Squadron, 406 
Fighter Group over Bastogne.
  To honor this great Nevadan and a true American hero, the Las Vegas 
Air Force Base was renamed in his honor on May 20, 1950. Ever since, 
Nellis Air Force Base has been a stalwart of Nevada's military 
infrastructure and has provided U.S. airmen with the very best aerial 
combat training in the world.
  As the pinnacle of advanced air combat aviation training, Nellis Air 
Force Base has provided invaluable service to the United States and its 
efforts in the global war on terror. The mission statement at Nellis 
sums it up best, ``The crews do not come to learn how to fly, but 
instead how to be the best combat aviators in the world.''
  As we celebrate this historic occasion, we must never forget the 
importance of places like Nellis Air Force Base. I know many of my 
colleagues here in the U.S. Senate share my belief that America's 
ability to project its military might in the skies around the world is 
a direct result of the expert training programs at facilities like 
Nellis. Today we honor all of the men and women who have served proudly 
in the U.S. Air Force over the past 60 years. We owe them a tremendous 
amount of gratitude for their courageous sacrifices in defending the 
nation that we all work so hard to preserve.

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