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HISTORY of NELLIS <br> A Western Air Express Dirt road, a water well and a small operations Shack located 8 miles north of Las Vegas was the original site of today's bustling a Western Air Express dirt runway a water well and a small operations shack located at 8 miles north of Las Vegas was the original site of today's bustling Nellis Air Force Base. <br> <br> <br> On January 25, 1941, Las Vegas Mayor John L. Russell signed over the property to the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps for the development of a flexible gunnery school for the Army Air Corps. Mission of the new school was defined as “the training of aerial gunners to a degree of proficiency that will qualify them for combat duty.” Originally known as the Las Vegas Air Corp. Gunnery School, the base later acquired the name of Las Vegas Army Air Field. <br> <br> <br> From this humble beginning, Las Vegas Army Air Field grew rapidly until in 1942, the first B-17s arrived giving gunnery students their first chance to train in the gun turret of an actual combat plane and providing aircraft to train co-pilots in ground and transition school. During the height of World War II, there were 600 gunnery students and 215 co-pilots graduated from Las Vegas Army Air Force Field every five weeks. <br> <br> <br> In March 1945, the base converted from B17s to B-29 Gunnery School. An inactivation order closed the base on July 31, 1945. The base was reactivated in 1949 at the Las Vegas Air Force Base and became a pilot training wing. <br> <br> <br> With the advent of the Korean War, the mission of Nellis changed from an advanced single-engine school to the training of jet fighter pilots for the Far East Air Force. Virtually every fighter pilot and every “ace” who stalked a claim to a corner of Korean air space, called “MIG Alley,” and helped establish a kill of 14 to 1, received final combat training at Nellis. Today, Nellis continues to meet the challenges facing the Tactical Air Command throughout the world by training the best fighter pilots in the world. <br> <br> <br> The base is named in honor of first Lieutenant William Harrell Nellis who was killed in action over Luxembourg on December 27, 1944. A fighter pilot with 60 missions to his credit he was 28 years old when he died. <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Thank you for choosing to dine with us this evening. We hope you will enjoy your dinner and we welcome your comments and suggestions. <br> This menu is a result of recommendations made by the people we serve; by our waiters and waitresses who know and understand our best members desires; by our chef and kitchen staff who know what they are able to do best. <br>