Nellis
Air Force Base Area II
Area II, once known as the Lake Mead Base, is a separate facility about
a mile northeast of the main Nellis air base on the northern outskirts
of Las Vegas. Area II is a munitions storage facility for both conventional
and non-conventional munitions which reportedly include two-hundred nuclear
warheads. Area II is dominated by a high security triple-fenced compound
encompassing several dozen earthen bunkers. Because the fence is
well-lit at night, it can easily be seen from Interstate 15 and by
passenger jets approaching Las Vegas. A lower security area outside
this compound includes support buildings and a federal minimum security
prison. Conventional weapons used in military excercises are stored
in a separate area from the nuclear compound and are transported to the
main Nellis air base via a secured roadway. During the years of nuclear
testing at the Nevada Test Site, Lake Mead Base was a storage and transfer
area for atomic devices to be detonated at the Test Site.
The Nellis Federal Prison Camp is a federal minimum
security prison occupying former Air Force dorms. This facility was
said to have housed financier Michael Milken (unconfirmed). Prisoners
can mix freely with Air Force personnel and could easily leave the facility
through the main gate.
The conventional munitions facility stores bombs
and other munition for Nellis air excercises. Bombs are transported
to the base over a secure roadway within Nellis property.
There is a separate and much larger non-conventional
munitions facility presumably housing nuclear weapons. The facility
appears as several dozen bunkers on a hillside, surrounded by a massive
triple-fence reminiscent of the border that once existed between East and
West Germany. The fence is well lit and visible from I-15.
A depot of the 820th Red Horse Engineering Squadron
is here as well.
In 1994 this site was enrolled in the Defense Environmental Restoration
Program for Formerly Used Defense Sites (DERP-FUDS).
The project number is J09NV044200. An INPR (Inventory Project Report)
was released by the Department of Defense stating that Area II required
an Ordinance and Explosive Waste (OEW) Engineering Evaluation and Cost
Analysis (EE/CA). It was submitted for further action by the "Huntsville
Division." It was recommended that CEHND determine the need for further
investigation and action at this site. It said that CESPL has computed
a RAC 4 on this project.
A total of 15,014.13 acres were aquired for Lake
Mead Base as follows: 6,192.94 acres in transfer from the Department of
Interior (DOI) by Public Land Order (PLO) on 19 June 1952 (includes 320
acres also covered by Special Land Use Permit effective 1 January 1952
to 31 December 1954); 997.95 acres in transfer from DOI by PLO dated May
21, 1958 (formerly acquired by Use Permits dated March 18, 1958 and March
12, 1953, and Use Permit dated July 6, 1953); 480 acres in transfer from
DOI by PLO dated December 10, 1952; 1,879.23 acres in transfer from DOI
by Use Permit dated July 6, 1953; 18.56 acres in transfer from DOI by Use
Permit on March 12, 1953; 5,120 acres in transfer from DOI by Use Permit
dated April 6, 1953; and 325.45 acres in fee from various private parties,
the City of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Clark County, Nevada, bewtween February
5, 1953 and May 1, 1957. The property was aquired by the Army Corps
of Engineers, carried on Department of Navy inventory, and used by the
Defense Atomic Support Agency (DASA). DASA was a Department of Defense
(DOD) entity and was renamed the Defense Nuclear Agency in 1971.
It was not allowed to hold real property. In 1969 accountability
for Lake Mead Base was transferred from the Navy to the Army and then permitted
to the Air Force, for use near by Nellis
Air Force Base.
The subject property was used primarily for munitions
storage by DASA, employing forces of the Navy and Marine Corps. Other
uses of this site include explosive ordnance and demolition training, munitions
maintenance, a military education center, and a federal prison. Improvements
consist of approximately 238 buildings which includes primarily storage
facilities in addition to housing, administrative, recreational, and training
facilities. Property acquired specifically for sand and gravel removal
consists of 5,120 acres. Much of the site remains active and continues
to be used for munitions storage by the Air Force. No improvements
are known to have been constructed on the disposed portions of the property.
Area II currently consists of 8,014.9 acres.
A total of 6,299.23 acres of the subject site were disposed of as follows:
19.79 acres relinquished to DOI on July 20, 1954; 5,120 acres retransferred
to DOI on April 5, 1955; and 1,859.44 acres retranferred to DOI on September
21, 1956. No improvements are known to have been constructed by DOD
on the disposed property. Disposed parcels remain undeveloped and
are located in two areas. A 5,120 acre parcel is located entirely
within National Park Service property known as Lake Mead NAtional Recreation
Area and a 1,879.23 acre parcel is located entirely within Bureasu of Land
Management property known as the Las Vegas Dunes Recreation Area.
