List of United States Air Force museums

The United States Air Force maintains a number of Field Museums and Heritage Centers.^[1]

Current museums

• National Museum of the United States Air Force – Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio
• Air Force Armament Museum – Eglin AFB, near Valparaiso, Florida
• Air Force Flight Test Center Museum – Edwards AFB, near North Edwards and Rosamond, California
• Air Mobility Command Museum – Dover AFB, near Dover, Delaware
• Barksdale Global Power Museum – Barksdale AFB, near Bossier City, Louisiana
• Enlisted Heritage Research Institute – Maxwell AFB, Alabama
• Hill Aerospace Museum – northwest of Hill AFB, near Ogden, Utah
• Malmstrom Museum – Malmstrom AFB, Montana
• McChord Air Museum – McChord AFB, near Tacoma, Washington
• Museum of Aviation – near Robins AFB, Warner Robins, Georgia
• Peterson Air and Space Museum – Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado
• Sheppard AFB Heritage Center – Sheppard AFB, Texas
• South Dakota Air and Space Museum – Box Elder, South Dakota (outside the main gate of Ellsworth AFB)
• Thunderbirds Museum – Nellis AFB, near Las Vegas, Nevada
• Travis Air Force Base Aviation Museum – Travis AFB, near Fairfield, California
• USAF Airman Heritage Museum – Lackland AFB, near San Antonio, Texas
• Warren ICBM and Heritage Museum – F.E. Warren AFB, near Cheyenne, Wyoming

Closed museums

• 509th Bomb Wing Museum, Whiteman Air Force Base, Knob Noster, Missouri^{[2][failed verification]}
• Air Force Rescue Memorial Museum – Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico (closed January 1990)^[3]
• Beale Air Force Base Museum – Beale Air Force Base, east of Marysville, California (closed in February 1995)^[4]
• Davis-Monthan Air Force Base Museum – Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona (closed 1949)^[5]
• Dyess Air Force Base Museum – Dyess Air Force Base, Abilene, Texas (now exists as Dyess Linear Air Park)^{[6][failed verification]}
• Edward H. White II Museum of Aerospace Medicine – Brooks City-Base, San Antonio, Texas (closed in 2011)
• Fairchild Heritage Museum – Fairchild Air Force Base, Spokane, Washington (closed 2002)^[7][8][a]
• Grand Forks Air Force Base Museum – Grand Forks Air Force Base, Emerado, North Dakota^{[6][failed verification]}
• Lowry Heritage Museum – Lowry Air Force Base, Denver, Colorado^[10][11][b]
• Minot Air Force Base Museum – Minot Air Force Base, near Minot, North Dakota^{[6][failed verification]}
• Plattsburgh Air Force Base Museum – Plattsburgh Air Force Base, Plattsburgh, New York (closed in 1995)^[12]
• Randolph Air Force Base Museum – Randolph Air Force Base, Universal City, Texas (consolidated with Lackland museum in 1958)^[13]
• Silver Wings Aviation Museum – Mather Air Force Base, near Sacramento, California^[14][15][16]
• USAF Security Forces Museum – Lackland AFB, next to San Antonio, Texas (closed in August 2014 to became part of USAF Airman Heritage Museum)^{[17][failed verification]}

Former museums

These museums were once part of the Air Force museum system, but have since become private:

• Aerospace Museum of California^[18]
• Castle Air Museum^[19][20][21]
• Grissom Air Museum^[22]
• March Field Air Museum^[23]
• Minnesota Air National Guard Museum^{[citation needed]}
• Selfridge Military Air Museum^{[citation needed]}
• Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum^[24]

This museum was once part of the Air Force museum system, but was renamed and transferred to the Space Force when it became an independent branch:

• Air Force Space and Missile Museum^{[citation needed]}

See also

• National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force
• Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum^[c]
• Pima Air & Space Museum

References

Footnotes

1. Museum collection granted to the Armed Forces and Aerospace Museum Society by an act of congress in 2002.^[9]
2. The Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum was developed to replace the museum when it closed.
3. Established after the closure of the base.

Notes

1. "Other Aviation Museums". National Museum of the US Air Force. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
2. "Directory: United States Air Force History and Museums Program Including Related Functions" (PDF). MacDill Air Force Base. 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
3. Morrissey, David H. (19 January 1990). "Rescue Museum Needs Rescue". Albuquerque Journal. p. B1 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Leland, John W.; Wilcoxson, Kathryn A. (May 2003). The Chronological History of the C-5 Galaxy (PDF). Scott Air Force Base, Illinois: Office of History, Air Mobility Command. pp. 83–84. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
5. "Fate of Enola Gay Remains Undecided". The Record-Argus. AP. 2 April 1949. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Uppstrom, Richard L. (Fall 1990), "Director's Log", Friends Journal, vol. 13, no. 3, p. 2
7. Prager, Mike (12 November 2014). "Salute to History". Spokesman-Review. pp. A5, A8 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Ellig, Tracy (8 March 2001). "Fairchild Museum Faces Deadline". Spokesman-Review. p. B3 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Prager, Mike (8 October 2012). "Group Aims to Build Museum at Felts Field". Spokesman-Review. pp. A1, A6. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
10. "Politicians Want More Time to Plan for Aviation Museum". Rapid City Journal. AP. 14 April 1993. p. B8 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "New Space Museum Has Prototype Station". Press-Journal. 14 October 1994. p. 12D – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Plattsburgh base opens museum". Press & Sun-Bulletin. 8 June 2014. p. 4A – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Oldest Airman Won't Retire". Abilene Reporter-News. AP. 6 March 1958. p. 15-B – via Newspapers.com.
14. Sharrer, Nan Nichols (11 July 1978). "Air Force Plans Silver Wings Museum". Sacramento Bee. p. D23 – via Newspapers.com.
15. Elliott, Theresa (2 April 1998). "Base closure may clip wings of air museum". The Sacramento Bee. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
16. Nondiscrimination in Programs and Activities Assisted or Conducted by the Department of the Air Force (PDF), 1 May 1998, pp. 15–16, retrieved 3 May 2022
17. "About Us". USAF Police Alumni Association. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
18. . Aerospace Museum of California. Archived from the original on 20 June 2006. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
19. "World War II Air Force Memories Will Abound at Castle Museum". West Side Index. 18 June 1981. p. 11.
20. "Face Lift on Tap for Air Museum's 'Movie Stars'". The Sun. McClatchy. 3 January 1995. p. B6.
21. "Castle Air Museum Struggling to Stay Open". Visalia Times-Delta. 30 November 2002. p. 2C.
22. "Grissom Air Museum Hires New Director/Curator". Mitchell Tribune. 13 September 1995. p. 4.
23. "Our History". March Field Air Museum. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
24. "About Us". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 18 October 2016.

External links

• Air Force Museums and their Civilian Counterparts: Improving Both Sides of the Challenge Coin
• Department of the Air Force Heritage Program
• Museums and Money
• The History of the Air Force History and Museums Program