List of United States Air Force museums explained

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]
• 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)
• 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)^{[6] [7]}
• Grand Forks Air Force Base Museum – Grand Forks Air Force Base, Emerado, North Dakota
• Lowry Heritage Museum – Lowry Air Force Base, Denver, Colorado^{[8] [9]}
• Minot Air Force Base Museum – Minot Air Force Base, near Minot, North Dakota
• Plattsburgh Air Force Base Museum – Plattsburgh Air Force Base, Plattsburgh, New York (closed in 1995)^[10]
• Randolph Air Force Base Museum – Randolph Air Force Base, Universal City, Texas (consolidated with Lackland museum in 1958)^[11]
• Silver Wings Aviation Museum – Mather Air Force Base, near Sacramento, California^{[12] [13]}
• USAF Security Forces Museum – Lackland AFB, next to San Antonio, Texas (closed in August 2014 to became part of USAF Airman Heritage Museum)^[14]

Former museums

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

• Aerospace Museum of California^[15]
• Castle Air Museum^{[16] [17] [18]}
• Grissom Air Museum^[19]
• March Field Air Museum^[20]
• Minnesota Air National Guard Museum
• Selfridge Military Air Museum
• Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum^[21]

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

See also

• National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force
• Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum
• Pima Air & Space Museum

References

Notes

External links

• Air Force History and Museums
• 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

Notes and References

1. Web site: Other Aviation Museums. National Museum of the US Air Force. 18 October 2016.
2. Web site: Directory: United States Air Force History and Museums Program Including Related Functions . MacDill Air Force Base . 21 November 2023 . 2013.
3. News: Morrissey . David H. . 19 January 1990 . Rescue Museum Needs Rescue . B1 . . Newspapers.com.
4. Book: Leland . John W. . The Chronological History of the C-5 Galaxy . Wilcoxson . Kathryn A. . May 2003 . Office of History, Air Mobility Command . Scott Air Force Base, Illinois . 83–84 . 29 April 2020.
5. News: 2 April 1949 . Fate of Enola Gay Remains Undecided . 1 . The Record-Argus . AP . Newspapers.com.
6. News: Prager . Mike . 12 November 2014 . Salute to History . A5, A8 . . Newspapers.com.
7. News: Ellig . Tracy . 8 March 2001 . Fairchild Museum Faces Deadline . B3 . . Newspapers.com.
8. News: 14 April 1993 . Politicians Want More Time to Plan for Aviation Museum . B8 . . AP . Newspapers.com.
9. News: 14 October 1994 . New Space Museum Has Prototype Station . 12D . . Newspapers.com.
10. News: 8 June 2014 . Plattsburgh base opens museum . 4A . . Newspapers.com.
11. News: 6 March 1958 . Oldest Airman Won't Retire . 15-B . . AP . Newspapers.com.
12. News: Sharrer . Nan Nichols . 11 July 1978 . Air Force Plans Silver Wings Museum . D23 . . Newspapers.com.
13. News: Elliott . Theresa . 2 April 1998 . Base closure may clip wings of air museum . 10 . . Newspapers.com.
14. Web site: About Us. USAF Police Alumni Association. 18 October 2016.
15. Web site: Welcome! . Aerospace Museum of California . 6 August 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060620164128/http://aerospacemuseumofcalifornia.org/about.html . 20 June 2006.
16. News: World War II Air Force Memories Will Abound at Castle Museum . West Side Index . 18 June 1981 . 11.
17. News: Face Lift on Tap for Air Museum's 'Movie Stars' . The Sun . McClatchy . 3 January 1995 . B6.
18. News: Castle Air Museum Struggling to Stay Open . Visalia Times-Delta . 30 November 2002 . 2C.
19. News: Grissom Air Museum Hires New Director/Curator . Mitchell Tribune . 13 September 1995 . 4.
20. Web site: Our History. March Field Air Museum. 6 August 2017.
21. Web site: About Us. Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. 18 October 2016.