While a number of Army Air Force bases existed in and around Las Vegas, Nevada during World War II, the base that would be named for 1st Lieutenant William H. Nellis (a P-47 Thunderbolt pilot killed during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944) was originally a dirt strip operated by Western Air Express for airmail and was used throughout the 1930s for training flights. The land near Tonopah that would eventually be called the Nevada Test & Training Range was actually acquired six months before McCarran Field* was purchased by the City of Las Vegas and leased to the War Department. Construction of permanent facilities began in 1941, and in December 1941 flight training began concurrently with the official opening of Las Vegas Army Airfield. Gunnery training began the following month, and B-17 Flying Fortresses arrived later in 1942. B-24 Liberators arrived in 1944, and B-29 Superfortress bombers the following year.
Gunnery training ended in September 1945, and the base became an outprocessing depot for demobilizing troops. The base was briefly closed for two years effective January 1946, but was reopened as Las Vegas Air Force Base in 1948 for flight and gunnery training. The base was renamed for Lt. Nellis in April of 1950, and the emphasis shifted to training replacement pilots for the Korean War with F-51 Mustang and F-80 Shooting Star jets. Expansion of base facilities (runways, ramps, and replacing temporary wooden structures with permanent brick & concrete buildings) began in 1951 and continued through 1954. Wherry family housing was built for base personnel in 1954, and Capehart housing in 1960.
Training continued at Nellis, updating as the Air Force fighter inventory continued to modernize. The Thunderbirds moved to Nellis from Arizona in 1956, and the Air Force Tactical Weapons Center activated in 1966. The TWC supervised Red Flag training as well as other continuing air exercises. Red Flag training ended in 1990 but was reactivated in 2003 under the Air Combat Command (formerly Tactical Air Command) and continues to this day.
Nellis AFB is located on Las Vegas Boulevard and Cheyenne Avenue, several miles north of the Las Vegas Strip, directly east of North Las Vegas, and a mile southeast of the Las Vegas Dune national Recreation Area.
*Not to be confused with the civilian airport south and east of the Las Vegas Strip, which was also named for Senator McCarran.