Wyoming
Wyoming History: Casper Air Base Was Last Stop For WWII Bomber Crews Heading To War
The day Casper Army Air Base activated Sept. 1, 1942, the banner headline in the Casper Tribune-Herald read “Rommel Launches Offensive.”
The World War II German general nicknamed the “Desert Fox” had launched his North Africa campaign in an escalation of World War II.
But in Casper, the first of nearly 1,800 10-man bomber crews would soon be arriving to cycle through the base’s 10- to 12-week training. They were preparing to head for Europe, Africa and the Pacific in B-17s to challenge Rommel and other forces of German-Japan Axis.
Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum Director John Woodward said the central Wyoming air base located where Casper/Natrona International Airport now sits was the last stop for World War II Army air crews headed overseas.
The base was built quickly that year to train the bomber crews for combat, and it became the training ground for a dominant part of America’s fight for freedom from the air. By the end of the war, an estimated 16,000 to 18,000 had trained there.
The Role
Plans developed by the Army Air Force called for the base to house an entire bombardment group that would typically house four squadrons of 18 heavy bombers in each squadron.
“Think of it as this is where the band got together,” Woodward said. “They had learned their instruments elsewhere, but this is where they were learning to work and fight as a team.”
Initially, the base operated as an operational training unit (OTU), and the 331st Bombardment Group trained pilots on B-17s and other members of the crew worked to keep their skills sharp. Crews would get assigned at the base and together would be sent overseas to fly as a team.
In early 1943, as the war progressed and air groups suffered heavy losses, the air base mission changed to being a replacement training unit (RTU). The base also transitioned to B-24 aircraft in April 1943. As an RTU, the needs overseas dictated whether the crews would stay together once deployed overseas or be assigned individually to existing crews that had lost men.
Bomber crews consisted of 10 that included the pilot, co-pilot, navigator, bombardier, flight engineer, radioman and gunners.
Creating the base was no easy task. As the summer of 1942 approached, the Army Corps of Engineers was given a budget of $10 million to get the base operational by Sept. 15, 1942. That figure in today’s dollars would be more than $191 million.
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A B-24 combat crew in training at the Casper Army Air Base, ca. 1944. Enlisted man Ernest Reynolds, of Thermopolis, Wyo., top left. One hundred forty Casper Army Air Base aviators perished in 90 plane crashes in training. Many more died later in combat. (Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum via Wyohistory.org) -
A B-24 flies over the Casper Army Air Base in 1944. (Wyohistory.org) -
A view of downtown Casper during World War II, when the city was home to an air base that trained thousands of bomber crews. (Courtesy Western History Center at Casper College)
Infrastructure
In addition to runways and associated road infrastructure for the base, needs called for a railroad spur, warehouses, hangars, administration building, base chapel, barracks, dining hall and more.
With the need to build a base quickly, troops stationed there soon learned their barracks did not do well coping with the dust driven by Wyoming’s famous wind. The structures also didn’t optimally handle the snow and frigid temperatures of the winter.
“Soldiers regularly found thick layers of dust on their clothes, blankets and bunks,” a display at the museum relates. “Snow replaced dust during the rest of the year. … Some soldiers called the conditions ‘fighting the Battle of Casper.’”
Visitors to the Veteran’s Museum will learn that the base used specially trained civilian firefighters to deal with aircraft mishaps, and there were many. There were 90 crashes that occurred while the base was in operation.
“Those are major crashes that resulted in a fatality or near fatality,” Woodward said. “Smaller incidents that would have happened, like a crushed nose gear along the flight line or (an accident that) wasn’t significant, we do not have records of those. Just the ones that resulted in the loss of aircraft or the loss of life.”
Among the crashes was one in Mills and another on Casper Mountain.
In all, 140 men died in 90 crashes while training in Casper.
Female Mechanics
Members of the base fire department were not the only non-military personnel who worked on the base. A repair facility at the air base employed 800 civilians, mostly women, and they performed basic as well as more complex repairs to the aircraft, included replacing wings or tails.
As a training base, there also was a need for places where aircraft gunners and bombardiers could keep their skills sharp.
An air-to-ground gunnery range near the border of Fremont and Natrona counties gave crews about 55 square miles of space to send down painted ammunition that allowed trainers to help crews gain expertise.
The air base also had four bombing ranges that offered bombardiers big bullseyes for a target.
“Each practice bomb was a thin metal shell filled with sand and included a small explosive ‘flash’ charge in the nose,” according to a museum display. “Bombardiers relied on their specialized Norden Bombsights during training. These specialized, mechanical computers allowed crews to be very precise in dropping their bombs.”
Bob Hope Visit
Newspaper accounts show that after only a few months of operation, a special visitor arrived at the base. Comedian Bob Hope stepped out of a B-17 as part of a morale tour for troops stationed at the base.
An army air base newspaper called Slip Stream quoted Hope quipping about the B-17s: “It’s a Flying Fortress and that should be saying enough about that. They are as good as their reputation. I rode in every position on the plane and I like the ball turret best. It’s good for a hangover.”
As the war progressed, in March 1944, the 211th Army Air Force Base unit assumed command of the air base and training needs. The base’s last training class graduated Feb. 23, 1945.
Woodward said there are still an estimated 85 buildings from the time that remain standing in their original location. The museum building was once a club for enlisted men. All of the four hangars that once housed the heavy bombers still are in use at the airport.
“There are more (buildings from the base) that exist in Casper that were moved in the 1950s,” Woodward said. “And there are others that are scattered about central Wyoming that were sold to ranchers and farmers.”
Casper Army Air Base was officially deactivated March 7, 1945, just two months before Germany and its allies in Europe surrendered May 8, 1945. Personnel at the base were transferred to other military facilities. Victory over Japan would come Aug. 14, 1945.
“The county assumed operational control for the air base grounds in 1949,” Woodward said. “The base was officially deeded over in 1952, and before that was done the federal government did a sale and donation to different groups around Casper.”
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
Since moving to Wyoming many years ago, and having lived in a few towns around the state, I find that some town and city rivalries must be addressed. Some are based on past conflicts that still cause pain to this day. Some are unexplained.
For example, to this day, all of Johnson County still does not trust Cheyenne after the Johnson County War of 1892. Cattlemen in Cheyenne sent a hit squad hired by the barons to invade Johnson County to eliminate alleged rustlers. A shootout that lasted several days ensued.
Other town rivalries include:
Green River vs. Rock Springs: The two towns are close together and share one of the most intense and oldest community, cultural, and athletic rivalries in the state.
Lander vs. Riverton: Located in Fremont County, this rivalry dates back to 1922 and divides the area over high school football bragging rights. They talk a lot of smack about each other.
Cheyenne vs Casper: The towns just HATE each other. I’ve lived in both, and I can tell you that there is nothing wrong with either town. But I’ve come across people in both towns who talk about their hatred of the other.
There is not a lot of love across Wyoming for Jackson, mostly because of the mega-rich liberals who live there. Many of those mega-rich liberals look down on the rest of Wyoming.
Folks talk smack about Laramie, but in a very different way than people talk smack about Gillette.
Having traveled around Wyoming, I can tell you that most of this hate is just nonsense and a waste of time. In the end, we are all Wyomingites. Just one big bickering family who still have each other’s backs when it comes down to it.
The Charmingly Odd Town Of La Grange Wyoming
It is well worth the long drive to see one of the most interesting and quirky little towns in Wyoming.
Stay for lunch. You won’t regret it.
Gallery Credit: Glenn Woods
Jay Em, Wyoming, Frozen In Time
Jay Em, what an unusual name for a town.The few people who live there are proud of what their spot on earth once was, and they work to preserve it. They keep this little community frozen in time.
Gallery Credit: Glenn Woods
Wyoming
Hoping to draw Colorado interest, construction begins at $80M betting facility in Laramie County
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Foundation work is beginning this week on Wyoming’s next horse betting and gaming house.
The $80 million Wyoming Downs facility in Laramie County, one of two the company is investing in over the next couple of years, is poised to be one of the largest facilities of its kind in the state. The company is aiming for a spring 2027 opening.
The facility will host upwards of 600 historic horse racing machines, Wyoming’s largest TV wall, multiple dining options and more across 58,000 square feet. More land was bought for future hotel development. Commuters driving between Cheyenne and the Colorado border can see clearly from Interstate 25 the expansive development.
That placement along the travel corridor is purposeful, Wyoming Downs and 307 Horse Racing President Kyle Ridgeway said.
“I think that the targeted consumer for this is from Colorado or from the Front Range,” Ridgeway said. “I anticipate we’re going to have plenty of people from Cheyenne come down here to play and enjoy the amenities, but when you look at 600,000 people within a 30-minute drive, that’s what justifies this investment and brings all that tax revenue in from another state, which is fantastic.
“We don’t get the opportunity to do that in Wyoming very often.”
There is still plenty to offer Cheyenne residents besides the facility’s amenities. Ridgeway said in a speech to attendees at the project’s groundbreaking Tuesday, June 2, that more than 150 permanent jobs will be supported by the facility on top of the dozens supported by the companies’ corporate offices and the 400-plus involved in the project’s construction.
Groathouse Construction, a Wyoming business, is the project’s general contractor. Wyoming Downs said it believes putting the project in local hands also helps keep the project uniquely Wyoming-focused.
Ridgeway added the facilities have already proven themselves to be effective tax revenue generators for the local governments. The Wyoming Gaming Commission’s 2025 report, released in late May, shows bettors wagered $2.49 billion on historic horse racing machines last year, a jump from the $2.11 billion wagered in 2024.
Wyoming Downs facilities generate roughly $25 million in taxes annually across the state, and Ridgeway estimated after the ceremony that the upcoming $80 million facility alone will generate an additional $3 million for Laramie County once the property has been in operation for a few years.
Horse betting sites have been increasingly popping up across Wyoming this decade. The Wyoming Downs location will be Cheyenne’s second large-scale horse betting facility since 2024, when the 30,000-square-foot Horse Palace at Swan Ranch opened. Ridgeway said Wyoming Downs is still offering something fresh for tourists and residents.
“This’ll have amenities that Swan Ranch doesn’t have, including the largest TV wall in Wyoming and a pretty super-cool sports viewing area with a restaurant and just a level of finish and class that I don’t think Wyoming has quite seen yet with these types of properties,” he said.
Ridgeway said he thinks resident fatigue with these facilities isn’t as strong as it appears, especially given the tourism benefits of off-track betting.
“Wyoming’s been built on mineral extraction and tourism, and what this is is a touristic facility. I’m not aware of any particular pushback about this specific facility outside of — you see random social media comments where people say, ‘Oh, another gambling facility.’ But where this is located, I think people in Cheyenne have generally been supportive of,” he said.
The Laramie County facility will be just one part of a larger project Wyoming Downs is working on over the next few years. Construction will begin in early 2027 on a similar facility in Evanston looking to draw in Utah and western Colorado crowds.
Some of the company’s current facilities, notably in Casper, Cheyenne and Rock Springs, will see millions poured into renovations as well. New smaller-scale parlors will also go up in Gillette and Green River this year, according to an information packet provided by the company.
More details will come as the construction process develops, Ridgeway said. Details about amenities, such as what the complex’s dining options will look like, remain undisclosed, though Ridgeway promised that options will be “excellent.”
“We haven’t made final selections on what the options are, but we have a number of different options on the table that we’re considering for what we want to offer for the customers,” Ridgeway said. “You have to have something that’s high quality for where this is located. If somebody’s going to drive 25 or 35, or even 45 minutes to come here, they got to be able to sit down and have a quality meal.”
For more information as it becomes available and to learn more about Wyoming Downs facilities and 307 Horse Racing‘s events and offerings, see the companies’ websites. Renderings for the upcoming Cheyenne facility commissioned by the company are available for viewing below.
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