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Basecamp Airfield is an auxiliary airstrip and support facilities adjacent
to Route US-6 about 10 miles northeast of Warm Springs. This is a
secret facility in plain sight: signs on the fence state only the "U. S.
Government" owns the facility, and personnel will not divulge any further
information. Circumstantial evidence indicate this facility is operated
by a government contractor on behalf of the Air Force Flight Test Center,
probably a support for testing programs at Area 51. Basecamp is in
line with the runway at Groom Lake, making it a possible emergency field
for aborted take-offs of test aircraft from there.
The official description from the Special Nevada
Report:
Base Camp and Halligan Mesa are withdrawn by the
Air Force and occupy approximately 600 acres in Hot Creek Valley in north
central Nye County. Base Camp is located 60 miles east of Tonopah
on US6. A county road passes through Base Camp land. Halligan
Mesa is located approx 15 miles northeast of Base Camp along US6 and then
3 miles northwest along a dirt road. There are no proposed changes
in ownership, mission, boundaries or use of Base Camp and Halligan Mesa
through the year 2000.
An electronics and communications facility on Halligan
Mesa, and an associated support area at Base Camp, are used for collecting
data for Air Force testing programs conducted in the vicinity of the Tonopah
Test Range and the Nellis
North Range. Base Camp is used as a staging and support area
for field personnel and as a recreation area for military and contractor
personnel. Base Camp had recently extended and improved the airstrip,
several buildings for sleeping quarters, shop and maintenance buildings,
and a recreation building. Base Camp is manned by three to six people.
Halligan Mesa is unmanned and a helicopter pad is located near the facility.
Basecamp was once controlled by the Atomic Energy
Commision as the base camp for the Project Faultless underground nuclear
test to the north. It was later taken over by the Air Force, which
built a modern 7300 foot runway. The runway, equipped with modern
navigation aids, is shown as closed on air charts and is marked with an
X painted on either end. Adjacent to the southwest end of the runway
is a compound of housing a support buildings. The base employs no
more than a dozen people, and facilities for aircraft are minimal.
There is a well-equipped fire station, and many fire extinguishers are
positioned along the runway, but there are no hangers or other places to
store aircraft. There appear to be no aircraft at all stationed at
this facility.
The support compound is divided in two by a public
road, Tybo Road. North of the road is a residential area with several
double-wide mobile homes and what look like administrative buildings.
Here there is a playground set and a gazebo, indicating that children have
lived here. South of Tybo Road is a maintenance compound consisting
of the fire station and several large metal buildings. There are
about two dozen vehicles parked here, including a treaded vehicle reminiscent
of those used on ski slopes. Electricity for the facility is provided
by an adjacent transformer substation, fed by power lines along the road.
Measured in the field by GPS, the heading of the
airstrip is 29 degrees NNE, and the length of pavement is 1.38 miles.
The airstrip is freshly paved, and just to the west of the mid point of
the runway is a VORTAC navigation beacon. At the south end of the
runway, nearest the compound, there is a small trmac area with a small
cinder block shack and several parked vehicles. The vehicles include
a fuel truck labeled as "Jet Fuel JP-8." There were two portable
aviation generators, as would be attached to aircraft after landing.
Basecamp's location is on open ground adjacent to
US6, so all avtivities there could be easily observed by motorists.
There are a few motorists on this remote road, however, so in practice
occasional landings there would go unnoticed. The nearest habitation
to the south is a hay farm about two miles southwest. The nearest
to the north is a Nevada highway maintenance station at Bluejay about 5
miles northeast. No other civilian residence is anywhere close, and
the nearest town, Tonopah, is 60 miles away by road.
The runway lines up with a radar dome on a mountaintop
about 13 miles northeast, near Sandy Summit on US6. The land for
the radar dome was withdrawn at the same time as the land for Basecamp,
in April 1985. The right of way for the road from US6 to the radar
site is closed to the public but not the road to it.
The scanner transmission for the VOR station.
Its identifier is AEC, in morse code, transmitted three times every 30
seconds. This indicates the station also has DME, distance measuring
equipment. The frequency of the VOR is 113.9 megahertz.
The Public Land Order 6591, effective April 12, 1985,
withdraws Basecamp and the radar site as a communications site and support
facilities until April 11, 2005. Public access is excluded except
for Tybo Road.
Two BLM rights of way were granted for the roadway
leading from US6 to the radar site. The rights of way grant the Air
Force and AFFTC the right to build and use the road, but not the right
to exclude the public on this road. As of 8/5/96, this road was incorrectly
marked with "US Government No Trespassing Signs." The rights of way
are N-35951 and N-42984. N-35951 covers the northern half of raod
from US6 to radar site. Applicant: Air Force, Headquarters, Eashington,
DC 20332. Apparently granted at the same time as PLO 6591.
N-42984 covers southern half of road from US6 to radar site. Applicant:
Air Force, DET 3 AFFTC, Box 52B, Henderson, NV 89044. DET 3 AFFTC
is the likely operator for Groom
Lake, and 89044 is the zip code for the now-defunct Pittman Station
post office commonly associated with Area 51. Length: 7920 feet.
Width: 50 feet. Granted 3/11/86.
Sources:
http://www.psispy.com/area51/org/basecamp/
