Petersen AFB, CO Installation Guide

Location:  Peterson Air Force Base is located on the east side of Colorado Springs, south of Platte Ave, near the junction of highways US 24 and Colorado 94. Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station is located southwest of Colorado Springs and west of Fort Carson, west of Colorado Highway 115.

Major Command:  U.S. Northern Command, North American Aerospace Defense Command, Air Force Space Command and SMDC/Army Strategic Command.

Mission:  The 21st Space Wing, headquartered at Peterson AFB, Colo., is the Air Force's only organization providing missile warning and space control to unified commanders and combat forces worldwide.  The 21st SW provides missile warning and space control to NORAD and U.S. Strategic Command through a network of command and control units and ground and space-based sensors operated by geographically separated units around the world.  As the host wing for Peterson AFB, it provides operating support to NORAD/NORTHCOM, AFSPC, SMDC/ARSTRAT, Cheyenne Mountain AFS, and the 302nd Airlift Wing and Air Force Reserve C-130 unit.  The 21st SW also provides certain support functions for nearby Schriever AFB.

History:  Once the site of the Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, Peterson AFB was originally established as the Colorado Springs Army Air Base in 1942.  In December 1942, it became the Army Support Command Base and was renamed Peterson Army Air Field as a tribute to 1st Lt Edward J. Peterson, an operations officer with the 14th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron, who was killed after the left engine of his twin engine F4 (a reconnaissance variant of the P-38 Lightning) failed while attempting to take off from the airfield on 8 August, 1942.

  In 1948, the US government negotiated with the city to provide flying facilities at the airport in support of the 15th Air Force, then headquartered near downtown Colorado Springs at Ent AFB.  On 8 January 1951, the Air Force established the Air Defense Command at Peterson Field, which was renamed Peterson AFB in October 1976.  Three years later, the jurisdiction of the installation was once again transferred, this time to the Strategic Air Command.  Peterson AFB remained under the control of SAC until the activation of Air Force Space Command on 1 September 1982.

Cheyenne Mountain AFS is the home of North American Aerospace Defense Command.  The inside of the 100 million-year-old mountain was excavated in the early 1960s to make room for the 15 steel buildings that house the computers, communications equipment, display screens, aerospace operations analysts and technicians, and everything needed to keep track of missiles, air and space vehicles approaching North America or our allies.  The facility was moved in the mid-60s from an above-ground, vulnerable building in Colorado Springs to the granite-shielded security of Cheyenne Mountain, where it is provided increased survivability from all but a direct hit.BASE ACCESS: Peterson AFB has three entrances.  The North Gate, located on Peterson Blvd at Highway 94, is open 0500-1900 everyday.  The West Gate, located east of Powers Blvd approximately one half mile south of Highway 24, is open everyday, 24 hours a day.  The East Gate, open from 0500-0900 and 1500-1800 M-F, is off Marksheffel Road, about two miles south of Highway 94.