MISSION AND HISTORY

Under the Army Signal Corps, he also became involved in designing and building early aircraft for the United States Armed Forces. On September 17, 1908, while conducting trials of the Wright Brothers airplane, he went aloft with Orville Wright. Flying about 150 feet from the ground over Fort Meyer, Virginia, after four circuits around the city, the propellor broke and the engine failed. The subsequent crash hospitalized Orville Wright yet proved fatal for Lt. Selfridge. He was America's first military casualty of powered flight.

Selfridge Air National Guard Base is often referred to as "The Home of Generals" because over 150 generals have spent parts of their careers here over the last 100 years. Over the years, personnel assigned to Selfridge have answered the call time and time again. During World War I, more than 750 pilots and 1,000 aerial gunners trained here and fought. During World War II, the based served as the training base for the Tuskegee Airman. The Michigan Air National Guard trained new pilots for combat in the Korean War. During the Cold War, Selfridge served as the command center for air-to-ground missile defense systems. On July 1, 1971, the base was transferred to the control of the Air National Guard and renamed Selfridge Air National Guard Base. From then on the base continued to serve the needs of this great country by protecting the skies on 9/11, to operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, and most recently operation Odessy Dawn in Libya.

Selfridge Air Nation Guard Base (ANG) was founded on July 19, 1917, as Selfridge Field, named after Lt. Thomas Etholen Selfridge (1883-1908). Lt. Selfridge was a graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point, class of 1903. After receiving his commission, he was assigned to the U.S. Army Signal Corps. During this time, he had an opportunity to explore the potential of military aviation as an assistant of Dr. Alexander Graham Bell for his experiments with kites of great lifting capacity. During his time with Dr. Bell, Lt. Thomas Selfridge was the first person in Canada to successfully pilot a powered aircraft with the completion of his flight in Nova Scotia. Under the Army Signal Corps, he also became involved in designing and building early aircraft for the United States Armed Forces.