What you see is the current day view of the Martin Bomber Building at Offutt AFB, Nebraska. Construction started on this building in early 1941 and it was producing B-26 Bombers at a pace of 5O a month by mid 1942. In April of 1944 a new demand arose and all focus turned to building a longer range B-29 bomber. As far as numbers I'll share that with a piece of history I have that you will see later.
This country was backed up against the wall and this facility had a huge part in turning the tide in World Wide II. It's astounding what was accomplished here. It's amazing what can be accomplished when everyone knew what their efforts meant. Who worked here? Just about the whole town of Bellevue, NE and helpers from surrounding towns/cities. It's work force was made up the elderly, high school boys,men who weren't eligible for the service and even women. Most of the women worked as riveters.
I worked in this building from 1994 to 2007. There are many different units and entities that now reside in the building. I've been in the building several times since I stopped working there. Even in the last 30 years this building has changed. As I walk through it and show you, somethings are very much the same as they were towards the end of 1941. Here is a photo of the building along with the two bombers it produced during it early days.
I shot the first photo at a small museum inside another building on base. On the upper left top corner is a B-29 across from it is a B-26. The Martin Bomber building is on the bottom left. The second photo is of a B-29 "Superfortress" which I took last weekend at an Air and Space museum I visited. The third photo is a B-26 "Marauder" which for whatever reason is no where to be found locally, why I had to borrow an imagine.
Over 80 years ago the whole production part of the facility had a floor of the wooden blocks pictured above. The wooden blocks were used to prevent static electricity. Today some of the original floor is in ok shape because it has been treated and painted. While other areas are literally breaking apart because they are in areas not being utilized. When I first started working in the building there weren't too many areas that looked like above. If I had to guess less 10% of the floor now has the wooden blocks.
This is the piece of history that I have. I know these bricks well because I have used my carpenter skills making many like the one I received for others. A total of 1585 B-26 Bombers were produced in this facility from June 1942 to March 1944. A total of 531 B-29 bombers were also produced here including the two aircraft that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan.
This building has a lot of real estate inside. Asides from the many units that reside here it also has a 20 lane bowling alley and 12 classrooms that a handful of universities use to provide college credited courses.
There is both walking and driving traffic. The building actually has cross walks outlined on the floor. Do you know any buildings that have crosswalks inside it? Also there are street signs labeling it's many aisles. There is a good reason for this because a lot of them look identical. When I first starting working here I got lost in this building. They installed the signs about 10 years ago.
Here are some of the aisles and walk ways. There's many of these in this huge facility. Today the building has 12 seperate entrances to enter the building. After World War II this building was still used for some important missions.
There were secret tunnels under ground. I worked in an area that I think contained one, so curiosity overcame this one 28 year old and another who wanted to know why there was a wood cover that was about 6 foot by 6 foot on the the floor. It had two heavy duty metal lift points on it. Well underneath contained a 4 foot depth section completely cemented all around. Our imagination why it was cemented all around with much newer cement drew a picture in our minds,haha. Any tunnels that were used are now filled in and closed off. That wooden cover is no longer there, it's been removed and completely filled in with cement because of safety reasons.
This building has some very unique stairways. Some lead to other larger areas, hallways, and even some to a single locked door. One of my favorites is the one with the hole in the floor. That one leads to rest rooms half way down the stairs and at the bottom the lower level of the facility.
One thing I like about this building is it's many skyline windows. These windows produced a lot of natural light. I'm sure it's been many years since they have been cleaned. They still produce a good source of light but I wonder how much light they would produce if they weren't covered in decades of dust.
Another thing that is neat is the many walkways above and cool ladders to get to them. I didn't climb up any of the ladders today but a 28 year old of the past certainly did at opportune times, haha.
There's still quite a few older entrances to rooms and areas here. Theses entrances and doors have withstood time very well. It's very cool to see history front and center right? Well you see it, I get to touch and feel it, sorry haha.
This location was one of four new locations constructed to start building bombers for the war efforts. At the time Fort Crook had plenty of area,a population in its surrounding area to supply a good work force, and nearby Omaha had plenty of railroad networks. Trains brought a ton of materials and parts into the plant. A lot of the tracks have been removed in the building and leading to it. I worked with a gentleman, now retired, who worked in the building in 1970's. He witnessed the last rail car that dropped off an aircraft tow tractor. It occurred in a nearby area in the second photo.
The third photo looks like a cellar entrance right? It use to have an exposed ladder that extended to the top of the building and also below. That same 28 year old I mentioned above explored the area below. It contained a decent sized area that was just an empty area. It was totally filled with cobwebs though.
There are several old things left above in the rafters. Pulleys and other equipment were probably essential placing things in the shells of these bombers. What isn't in the building anymore are the built in turn tables that were in the floor. They were used to move the partially assembled aircraft down the assembly line.
This facility does not produce any aircraft no more. A few months ago some fuselages of some helicopters came in via truck. I assisted with the offload of some of them. I knew they were in the building somewhere but didn't know exactly where. It was nice finding them so I can share them with you. There going to be museum exhibits for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) which is also located in the facility. I have only seen glimpses of this Agency and will eventually sign up for a tour they offer.
In conclusion, this place is a big part of U.S. military history. I have worked all kind of hours in it and have numerous stories & experiences I have seen and heard. I chose to show you some of the oldier not so touched areas of the building. There are plenty of modernized areas within this building. If you have come this far I hope you enjoyed and learned something. I really appreciate you stopping by and taking the time to read my post. Take care, be safe, and enjoy the rest of the weekend.
