Baer Field Heritage Park

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Darin Hubble
  • 122nd Fighter Wing, Fort Wayne ANGB
Dec 17 2012 --  This private park is open to the public and will showcase all of the aircraft flown at the 122nd Fighter Wing Indiana Air National Guard from 1947. It will be a place to discover the heritage of the 122nd Fighter Wing while enjoying a picnic with your family. Free admission. Adjacent to the Fort Wayne International Airport.

Several years ago a group of individuals from the 122nd Fighter Wing began generating ideas as to the development of a park on the outskirts of the unit grounds. Their vision and desire is to have a one of a kind park that will be open to the public and provide a window to the history of the 122nd and Baer Field. Baer Field Heritage Park located at the 122nd Fighter Wing; Fort Wayne Air National Guard Base is scheduled to open May 1st, 2013.

The park will showcase all of the aircraft flown at the 122nd Fighter Wing from 1947 to the present and upon completion in May the park will be open for the public to visit daily from dawn until dusk and learn about the rich history of the base they so strongly support.

"It will be a place to discover the heritage of the 122nd Fighter Wing while enjoying lunch with your family. We live in a great community that offers our military members tremendous support, and Baer Field Heritage Park is a way that we can thank our community members for standing behind us", said Col. David L. Augustine, Commander, 122nd Fighter Wing. "We are proud of our heritage and are very excited to share this with our community."
 
Some of the aircraft that will be on display are the F-100 Super Sabre, the F-4 Phantom, the F-84F Thunderstreak, the F-16 Fighting Falcon, and the current aircraft flown here, the A-10 Thunderbolt II. A vehicle representing the 338th Quartermaster Unit, a tenant unit at the 122FW, will also be on display.

Military history and heritage play an important role in continuing traditions and remembering legacies.
 
"We should never forget about our heritage, and for this wing to be out here on this main gate, showing the rich history of Baer Air Field is a great thing," said Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger, the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana, during the ground breaking ceremony in July of 2011.