Clark County Museum exhibit details history behind air field that became Nellis Air Force Base

During World War II, Clark County created the Las Vegas Army Air Field to help train pilots how to use machine guns on bombers. In the 75 years since, it was renamed Nellis Air Force Base, which still has portions of the gunnery school air field.

Clark County is honoring that history with its latest exhibit, “Training the Gunners: America’s First Flexible Gunnery School and the Las Vegas Army Air Field.” The exhibit is slated to run through Nov. 20 at the Clark County Museum, 1830 S. Boulder Highway.

Mark Hall-Patton, museum administrator for the Clark County Museum system, said people will be able to learn about the origin of the base. During World War II, a training base was needed to teach pilots how to use the machine guns attached to planes.

“They had to learn to shoot while they kept the bombers safe,” Hall-Patton said.

Las Vegas became the home for that space with the creation of the Las Vegas Army Air Field. While it was open during the war, from 1941-45, more than 40,000 soldiers were trained. Hall-Patton said the base was eventually renamed Nellis Air Force Base in honor of Lt. William Harrell Nellis, a Searchlight resident and World War II fighter pilot.

The exhibit focuses on the different training programs at the base and the men and women who made them work. Hall-Patton said the exhibit is composed mostly of objects the museum has collected over the years. Museum curator Malcolm Vuksich said that includes old leather jackets worn by airmen and photos and newspapers from the era.

“It’s surprising actually,” he said. “For a gunnery school exhibit, we don’t have any weaponry. We have a lot of navigation equipment.”

There is ammunition and information about how the machine guns worked from the planes.

Hall-Patton added it’s nice to have the exhibit open to educate the public on how instrumental Las Vegas was during the war.

“We had a unique part in it,” he said.

Admission to the museum is $1 for children and seniors and $2 for adults. It is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Call 702-455-7955 or visit clarkcountynv.gov.

To reach Henderson View reporter Michael Lyle, email mlyle@viewnews.com or call 702-387-5201. Find him on Twitter: @mjlyle.