Albuquerque Army Air Base was established on April 1, 1941. Its mission was to train air crews for the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-24 Liberator, and, later, the B-29 Superfortress. In February, 1942, it was renamed Kirtland Army Air Field in honor of Army aviation pioneer Col. Roy Kirtland. Upon the creation of the US Air Force in 1947, Kirtland Field became Kirtland Air Force Base. In 2016 the base celebrated their 75th anniversary with an e Open House and Air Show, which took place June 4-5. The Thunderbirds were to be the headline attraction, but were grounded by a safety stand-down after Thunderbird #6, Maj. Alex Turner, the Opposing Solo, crashed after a flyover at the Air Force Academy graduation ceremony. He ejected safely, but the team did not perform at the Kirtland show. Nevertheless, the show did go on.