Badlands Bombing Range
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c. 1946-59: North Dakota National Guard
1960–1968: Strategic Air Command
1968–present: United States Air Force
| Badlands Bombing Range | |
|---|---|
| Near Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in United States | |
 Controlled explosion of unexploded ordnance at the Air Force Retained Area (October 3, 2011) | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Bombing range |
| Operator | 1942–1945: United States Army c. 1946-59: North Dakota National Guard 1960–1968: Strategic Air Command 1968–present: United States Air Force |
| Status | Closed |
| Location | |
  Badlands Bombing Range | |
| Coordinates | 43°40′55″N 102°17′55″W / 43.68194°N 102.29861°W |
| Site history | |
| In use | 1942–1968 |
| Test information | |
| Other tests | Bombing range Gunnery range Bomb Plot Retained Area |
The Badlands Bombing Range (BBR) refers to Rapid City Army Air Base target ranges for World War II which included the current Air Force Retained Area, an inactive 2,486-acre (10.06 km2) United States Air Force site "20 miles southeast"[specify] of Scenic, South Dakota.[1] The retained area is the remainder of 341,726 acres (1,382.92 km2) federally acquired in 1942 under eminent domain at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (Oglala Sioux).[2] In addition to use by World War II aircraft, BBR was used for a post-war Army National Guard gunnery range and a Cold War Radar Bomb Scoring site.
Rapid City AAB aircraft (e.g., for Bombardier training used the Butte County #1 Precision Bombing Range (Newell Bombing Range) 37 mi (60 km) North of the base, Rapid City #2 Precision Bombing Range (Pierre Bombing Range) 129 mi (208 km) East, the Air to Ground Range of 11,532 acres (46.67 km2)[3] & 33 mi (53 km) East-Northeast, and the Air to Air Range 33 mi (53 km) Southeast.[4] The "air-to-air and air-to-ground gunnery ranges" were on 337 acres (1.36 km2) of the Badlands National Monument.[2]
Badlands gunnery range
Post-war the South Dakota National Guard "used portions of the bombing range as an artillery range".[2] Firing took place within most of the present day Badlands National Park with old car bodies and 55 gallon drums painted bright yellow for targets.[citation needed] By 2008 the National Park Service had placed an interpretive sign for "The Badlands Gunnery Range".[5]
