Final HISTORICAL RECORDS RESEARCH SOURCES CONTACTED
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Final HISTORICAL RECORDS RESEARCH SOURCES CONTACTED OTIS AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE FALMOUTH, MA Prepared For: United States Air Force Prepared By: United States Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District Innovative Technical Solutions, Inc. 3333 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Suite 220 Lakewood, CO 80227 TLI Solutions, Inc. 560 Golden Ridge Road, Suite 130 Golden, CO 80401 August 2009 Otis Air National Guard Base, MA MMRP Historical Records Research Historical Records Research Sources Contacted Report U.S. Air Force HISTORICAL RECORDS RESEARCH SOURCES CONTACTED OTIS AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE FALMOUTH, MA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Historical Records Research (HRR) was conducted at off-site and non-local information repositories for Otis Air National Guard Base (ANGB) as part of the United States (U.S.) Air Force Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP) HRR at 137 Air Force Installations. Searches at all sources listed in this report were also conducted for previous names identified for, or associated with, Otis ANGB throughout the history of the installation. The HRR evaluated historical documents associated with the historical boundaries of Otis ANGB including areas that may be outside of the current boundaries of the installation. Background on the CSE/MMRP At Otis ANGB and across the country, the U.S. Armed Forces have historically conducted live- firing, weapons testing, and munitions disposal to ensure military readiness. Decades of these munitions-related activities have resulted in the presence of unexploded ordnance (UXO), discarded military munitions (DMM), and Munitions Constituents (MC) on ranges and disposal areas throughout the country. UXO, DMM, and other materials potentially presenting an explosive hazard (MPPEH) are referred to as Munitions and Explosives of Concern (MEC). Due to changes in military structure and locations of installations, the military is currently using many of these ranges and disposal areas in ways that may be incompatible with the presence of MEC or MC contamination. In 1986, Congress created the Defense Environmental Restoration Program to clean up sites owned or used by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). For nearly 20 years, this program has focused on cleanup of hazardous chemicals (e.g., solvents, oils, pesticides) in environmental media. In September 2001, DoD established the MMRP to address hazards associated with MEC and MC within areas that are no longer used for operational range activities. These non- operational range areas are called Munitions Response Areas (MRAs) and may encompass one or more discrete munitions response sites (MRSs). The goal of the Air Force MMRP is to make MRAs safe for reuse while protecting human health and the environment. In December 2001, the Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 that required DoD to develop and maintain an inventory of MRSs. This requirement is codified in Title 10, Section 2710 of the U.S. Code (10 USC 2710). A critical component of the Air Force MMRP is the Comprehensive Site Evaluation (CSE), which serves as the initial assessment of MRAs pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). The Air Force is implementing the CSE in two phases. The CSE Phase I fulfills the requirements of the CERCLA Preliminary Assessment and Phase II fulfills the requirements of the CERCLA Site Investigation. This HRR-SC Report is an initial step to conducting the CSE Phases I and II. Research conducted for this HRR-SC Report TLI Solutions, Inc. ES-i August 2009 Otis Air National Guard Base, MA MMRP Historical Records Research Historical Records Research Sources Contacted Report U.S. Air Force was designed to identify information available from sources external to the installation and local information sources. If potential MRAs are identified as a result of this research, a full CSE Phase I investigation may be performed. The CSE Phase I includes a site inspection, which incorporates a review of on-site data repositories, field reconnaissance of potential MRAs, interviews with appropriate personnel, and a review of local information sources. The 137 Air Force installations included in this HRR search have no identified MRAs, and the purpose of the HRR for these installations is to systematically evaluate each installation to provide assurance that MRAs have not been missed or omitted from the MMRP. The information collected during the HRR will be utilized to make a recommendation that an installation should proceed to a CSE Phase I or that historical documentation indicates potential MMRP sites are not associated with the installation. If evidence of MMRP sites is found, the installation will go through the CSE Phase I/Site Inspection process, at a minimum. Background on Otis ANGB Otis ANGB is an Air National Guard installation located within the Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR), a military training facility, located on the upper western portion of Cape Cod, in Falmouth, Barnstable County, MA. It was previously known as Otis Air Force Base (AFB) prior to its transfer from the active duty Air Force to the Air National Guard. In the community, it is also known as Otis Air Base or more commonly by its old name, Otis AFB. The Air National Guard Resource Book for 2008 listed six Air National Guard Units at the Otis ANGB: 102nd Fighter Wing, 101st Flight Squadron, 202nd Weather Flight, 253rd Combat Communications Group, 267th Combat Communications Squadron, and 567th Band. The host unit on Otis ANGB is the 102nd Intelligence Wing, an Air Combat Command (ACC)- gained unit of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. Part of the facility is also called Cape Cod Air Force Station (Cape Cod AFS), as well Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod (CGAS Cape Cod), operating the HU-25 Guardian and HH-60J Jayhawk. NOTE: The property known as Otis ANGB today has undergone changes to its boundary over time. At one time, it included a much larger portion of the area surrounding its current boundaries. Today Camp Edwards occupies those areas. The area that Camp Edwards occupies today has MMRP sites that were once inside the Otis AFB boundary. As a result, this HRR-SC Report focuses only on that property within the current day Otis ANGB boundary. The following history, taken from the Massachusetts National Guard web site, discusses Camp Edwards, the MMR, and Otis ANGB to assist in understanding the overlap of boundaries and activities. History Pre World War II - The history of Massachusetts National Guard training on Upper Cape Cod extends back to 1908, when soldiers conducted weekend and annual training in the woods to the south and west of present-day MMR. In 1931, the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts appointed a board of six Army National Guard officers to find a new campsite, as Camp Devens was deemed too small for required training. In 1933, Cape Cod was initially identified as a viable area for the new camp, to mixed reaction from the local communities. Feasibility assessments, and letters for and against the proposed military reservation, continued to be presented to the Commonwealth and the War Department through April 1935, when then TLI Solutions, Inc. ES-ii August 2009 Otis Air National Guard Base, MA MMRP Historical Records Research Historical Records Research Sources Contacted Report U.S. Air Force Governor James Curley signed a bill to appropriate funds for the purchase of a campsite and to establish a Military Reservation Commission. In September of that year, the War Department approved acquisition (purchase or lease) of up to 200,000 acres of land in Cape Cod for military training. As early as the summer of 1936, Massachusetts National Guard units began formal training at the new camp, setting up large tent camps just north of the proposed cantonment area. These early troops were generally poorly equipped, often wearing World War I uniforms and using wooden guns or Enfield rifles for training exercises. The Construction Years, 1935 to 1940 - Between 1935 and 1940, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Federal Government, primarily using Works Project Administration (WPA) funds, constructed 63 buildings (all but Buildings 102 and the old Williams Hospital have since been demolished) and two 500-foot wide turf runways at Otis Field. In July 1938, then Governor Charles Hurley dedicated Camp Edwards, naming it in honor of Major General Clarence Edwards, former commander of the 26th (Yankee) Division. Otis Field was named after 1LT Frank J. Otis, 26th (Yankee) Division Aviation, killed while on a cross-country flight. In 1940, the U.S. Army leased Camp Edwards and undertook a major World War II mobilization construction program. The project was completed in a mere 125 days (September 1940 to January 1941) and served as the national prototype for other camps built using the 700 series drawings. Otis Field - In 1941, the 101st Observation Squadron, Massachusetts National Guard, which had been at Jeffries Field, East Boston (now Logan International Airport), was inducted into Federal service and moved to Otis Field. It served the Ninth Air Force as a reconnaissance unit. Otis Field's first concrete runways were laid in 1942, and were lengthened and widened in 1943 in response to technological developments of U.S. aircraft. As the primary reconnaissance efforts from MMR involved sea patrols for enemy vessels, the objective of the MMR mission was to provide offshore submarine patrols. The U.S. Army Air Corps 14th Anti-Submarine Patrol Squadron operated from MMR between 1941 and 1943, and, during 1944, all reconnaissance missions from Otis Field became the responsibility of the U.S. Navy. Deactivated in 1946 and moved to caretaker status by the Army, the MMR was used primarily for training activities by the Army National Guard and Air National Guard. Also in 1946, the runway was extended to 8,000 feet to support larger, heavier aircraft, and the 101st Observation Squadron was reactivated as a National Guard unit.