The Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range (LBGR) was a World War II and Cold War facility that included 4 of the 6 HGM-25A Titan I missile launch complexes southeast of Denver, Colorado.[1]
The area of the Lowry range was initially part of the 1937 Buckley Field's 102.4 sq mi (265 km2) that became an Army Airfield in 1942.[1]InWorld War II, bombing with "practice and HE bombs", training in "fixed and flexible gunnery", and rifle training were conducted at the range.[1] The 1st of the Army Air Forces Bombardier Schools was at Lowry from July 1940 through March 14, 1941,[2] used the Buckley range and graduated 3 instructor classes of graduates who opened the bombardier school at Barksdale Field.[3]
Camp Bizerte at the range[4] was a World War II training facility for simulating an overseas Army field camp.[5] Part of the 12-week AAF Photography Course at Lowry Field in 1943 was conducted at Camp Bizerte.[6]
Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range was designated after the "Tech-Division Air Training Command" on September 20, 1946, transferred[7] 93.5 sq mi (242 km2) to the custody of Lowry Field, and the 9800th Technical Service Unit cleared the 1st site at LBGR--1,920 acres (3.00 sq mi)—of munitions, and the site was certified along with the "BT1" site as clear on November 16, 1948.[1] Post-war the west end of LBGR was used as an explosives demolition site.[1]
The "Air-to-Ground Bombing and Gunnery Mission" at LBGR terminated in 1956,[1]: 2–1 and RBS by the redesignated (1955) Detachment 1, 11th RBS Sq, continued until it moved to the former La Junta Army Airfield (La Junta Bomb Plot, 1959-1990).[8] In 1963, a portion of LBGR (Lowry Missile Site No. 1) had been "cleared of surface MEC"—munitions and explosives of concern).[1] From 1960 and 1980, ~63,600 acres (99.4 sq mi) of the LBGR were transferred to various other state and federal agencies and private owners.[9]
Lowry Missile Site No. 1 ("Lowry Air Force Missile Site" before being renamed in 1960) of 85.1 sq mi (220 km2) included a large portion of the LBGR[1] and began in September 1958 with the start of construction prior to excavation[7] for the eventual 4 complexes (1 off of LBGR,--additional Site No. 2 also had a complex on the former range). Construction on the 1st operational complex, Titan I Missile Complex 1A, began in April 1959, mining excavation of 1/2 million cubic yards of rock[10] was completed by 4 June 1961, and the site was finished in December 1961[7] (the dedication was on April 18, 1962). Complex 1A was on 442.42 acres (179.04 ha) with ~36 acres (15 ha) "bounded by a chain-link fence".[7] Missiles were assembled at the Glenn L. Martin plant southwest of Denver (the co-located test site with 4 stands had been transferred to the Air Force),[10]: 48 and Lowry AFB's 724th Strategic Missile Squadron (April 26, 1961 – June 25, 1965) commanded the Site No. 1 complexes. Site No. 1 was adjacent to the Lowry Landfill on the west and Complex 1A was privatized on January 31, 1969.[7]
In January 1964 the Secretary of Defense informed congress the Titan 1 bases would be closed in 1965,[10] and the last Lowry missile was taken off alert status March 26, 1965 (all Titan 1s were in storage by April 18).[11] (Titan 1s were stored at Mira Loma Air Force Station, California, until being scrapped in Spring 1966.)[11] Titan I Missile Complex 2A on the former LBGR was transferred to the Department of the Army on October 12, 1977.[7]
A total of six missile complex sites operated in the Denver area from 1960 – 1965.
In 1969, Lowry Training Annex adjacent to the former LBGR area was established after the Department of the Navy transferred ~3,700 acres (5.8 sq mi) to the U.S. Air Force[9] (the Navy had nearby land as early as July 30, 1948, and used the bombing range in 1952 for training).[7]
The Bennett Army National Guard facility of 242 acres (0.378 sq mi) at the former Complex 2A (southeast corner of LBGR) was a Colorado Army National Guard military installation used for training.[1] In 2006 the Bennett facility was excessed by the government and was the "last federal property transferred"[1]: 2–1 of the former Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range.
In 2012, oil was struck on the Former Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range.[15]
Fifty instructors arrived [at Barksdale] from the first three classes at Lowry Field, in February 1941.(from Volume IArchived 2012-04-19 at the Wayback Machine
…you may come, quite suddenly, on Bizerte. Not the North African outpost to be sure--but Camp Bizerte, an army training post designed to give soldiers, battle-bound, a taste of life in Tunisia or some overseas war area.
A portion of the FLBGR, then known as the Lowry Missile Site No. 1 and covering 54,446 acres, was cleared of surface MEC in 1963.
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Newsweek...1955...the IBM [Intercontinental Ballistic Missile]
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