While you are reading this background information, an indexed image map is being loaded at the bottom of this page. When the page has finished loading, you can click on various points on the map to take a guided tour of Wheeler's historical past.
Aloha and Welcome to Wheeler Army Airfield. This former Air Force base, which was returned to the Department of the
Army on Nov. 1, 1991, is comprised of approximately 1,389 acres of land adjacent to Schofield Barracks. Wheeler AAF is
home to a variety of Department of Defense activities including the Defense Communications Agency, the Air Force’s 6010th
Aerospace Defense Group, the Hawaii Army National Guard’s Aviation Support Facility, and the 25th Infantry Division (Light)
Aviation Brigade.
Soldiers from Schofield Barracks began clearing an area to make a landing strip in February 1922. The airfield was named in honor of Major Sheldon H. Wheeler on Nov. 11 1922. Maj. Wheeler, former commander of Luke Field on Ford Island, died when his plane crashed during a demonstration on July 13, 1921. Wheeler Field became a separate permanent military post on August 31, 1939. The first commander of the field was Maj. George E. Straterneyer, later to be chief of the Army Air Corps during World War 2.
In August 1987, the Secretary of the Interior designated Wheeler Air Force Base, now Wheeler Army Airfield, a National Historic Landmark, recognizing it as a site of national significance in the history of the United States and in particular, World War II in the Pacific.
| 1. Kunia Tunnel | 2. Abandoned Runway | 3. Fire House |
| 4. Hangar 1 | 5. Hangar 3 | 6. Hangar 4 |
| 7. Base Headquarters | 8. Front Gate | 9. 636 Sperry Loop |
| 10. Consolidated Open Mess | 11. Quarters No. 652 | 12. Quarters No. 540 |
