Bruning Army Airfield

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Bruning Army Airfield was a flight training installation of the United States Army Air Forces used during the Second World War and located in northeast Thayer County, Nebraska, at latitude 40°21'25" North, 97°25'42" West.

The location of the field was approximately six miles east of Bruning and was purchased by the USAAF on September 12, 1942, from local farmers for $73,400. Approximately 1,000 construction workers were used to build the field on 1,720 acres of land, with an additional 2,122 acres south of the base leased for a gunnery range.

[edit] Airfield

The base consisted of three runways of 6,800 feet in length, formed in a triangle, with the main parking apron (600 by 2,135 feet) located on the north-south (17/35) runway. Three hangars and 231 support buildings were constructed. The base was activated on March 18, 1943, and dedicated on August 28, 1943. The first unit arrived for training on August 2, 1943. At its peak of activity Bruning had 3,077 military and 500 civilian personnel assigned.

Bruning Army Air base
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
17/35	6,800		Concrete
13/31	6,800		Concrete
04/22	6,800		Concrete

The following units trained at Bruning AAB:

456th Bomb Group (B-24 Liberator) August 2-October 8, 1943
449th Bomb Group (B-24 Liberator) September 12-December ? 1943
487th Bomb Group (B-24 Liberator) September 20-December 15, 1943
507th Fighter Group (P-47 Thunderbolt) October 20-December 12, 1944
23rd Fighter Squadron (P-47 Thunderbolt)

Local historians record that 23 airmen died in training accidents at the base, and an additional 28 were killed on August 4, 1944, when a C-47 Skytrain carrying a class of recently graduated fighter pilots crashed shortly after takeoff in a thunderstorm.

The base was declared surplus by the USAAF on November 21, 1945 and turned over to the State of Nebraska. It served as a civil airport (Bruning State Airport) until 1969, although gradually all but a small portion of one runway were closed. It is now abandoned and only the large Sub-Depot hangar is still standing. The North-South and SW-NE runways are used as cattle feed lots, and the NW-SE runway is still visible.