Chanute AFB: An abandoned air base today dangerous by an almost invisible enemy

@ElentirENG ES 7·28·2022 · 23:07 0

On May 21, 1917, the airfield in Chanute, Illinois, a place where many pilots trained during the two world wars, was opened.

Inside the ruins of a colossal launch complex of Titan I nuclear missiles
Fort Knox: a tank graveyard next to the site that guards the United States gold reserve

In 1941, one of the most famous airman units that trained at this airfield was the 99th Pursuit Squadron, the first of the famous Tuskegee Airmen squadrons, which was the first Air Force unit US Army Air force made up of black aviators. In 1948, when the United States Air Force was created, the then airfield was renamed Chanute AFB (Air Force Base). The base not only continued to train pilots of different types of aircraft, but also airmen in charge of controlling the launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), for which a storage silo was created in Chanute Minuteman training missiles.

The end of the Cold War marked the end of Chanute AFB. On December 29, 1988, the Department of Defense recommended its closure. Finally, the base closed its doors on September 30, 1993. Some of its facilities passed into civilian hands, but most of the buildings today remain abandoned and increasingly dilapidated. That part of the base, a sad memory of what it was, is condemned and is dangerous due to an almost invisible enemy: asbestos, a mineral widely used in construction throughout the 20th century, until which was found to cause asbestosis and cancer.

A year ago, Scot Clayton posted a nostalgic video of this base. , showing how it was in 1986 and how it is today:

Two years ago, Jack Chapman posted another drone video, showing the now silent buildings of the abandoned part of the base:

You can see below two screenshots from the Clayton video, which show the current dilapidated state of many of the facilities at Chanute AFB: