Base to be named after Creech

Jeff Donaldson

Tuesday, June 14, 2005 | 10:52 a.m.

The air base at Indian Springs will get a new name on June 20 -- a sign of the auxiliary field's growing role in the Air Force's mission, officials at Nellis Air Force Base announced Monday.

Indian Springs Auxiliary Field, located about 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas, will become Creech Air Force Base during a morning ceremony on Monday. The new name honors retired four-star Gen. W.L. "Bill" Creech, a Korean War and Vietnam-era pilot who also was known as "Father of the Thunderbirds."

The ceremony will be attended by Gen. John P. Jumper, the Air Force chief of staff, officials said.

Creech, a longtime Henderson resident who died on Aug. 26, 2003, was credited with vast changes in Air Force tactics from 1978 to 1984. He served as a Thunderbirds pilot in the 1950s, and played a pivotal role in saving the Air Force's Aerial Demonstration Team from congressional cuts after a crash killed four Thunderbird pilots near Indian Springs in 1982.

Creech flew more than 100 combat missions in Korea and more than 170 in Vietnam . It was there he learned the tactics that would make him famous - using high-flying, sophisticated striking and jamming equipment to defeat the enemy.

At that time, the Air Force had been using low-flying tactics, which made pilots susceptible to ground fire.

Creech commanded the Air Force's European Aerial Demonstration Team in 1956, then came to Nellis Air Force Base to lead the "Top Gun" Fighter Weapons School. He took over the Tactical Air Command until 1984, where he oversaw the development of many of today's modern aircraft, including the F-117 stealth fighter.

"No single officer has had greater influence on the Air Force in recent times than Gen. Bill Creech," Jumper said following Creech's death in 2003. "He transformed the way the Air Force conducts warfare."

Creech was decorated 39 times. He eventually retired, becoming a best-selling author and recognized authority on business management.

Indian Springs currently has 2,500 personnel assigned to it, with more than 500 airmen overseeing the MQ-1 Predator squadron. The base eventually will be home to all three of the Air Force's Predator squadrons and will have a tactical battle lab facility dedicated to that mission.

"Indian Springs is growing and playing an important part in our national defense," said Capt. Steven Rolenc, chief of media relations for the Air Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base. "This (change to air base status) is definitely a testament to the importance of the base."

Congress has earmarked more than $60 million for expanding the Predator drone operation, which deploys from Indian Springs.