wheeLUS in the independence era

Post WWII Contraction of US Army Activities

During the period immediately following World War II, Wheelus air base was running on a skeleton staff and seemed fated to be vacated by the American Air Force. By 1947, the remaining ten staff, headed by Lt. Jack.R.Volin, were tasked with salvaging any leftover equipment and preparing the dismantling of the airbase. This was also the case with other bases across North Africa and Europe, as the U.S government withdrew their military from many strategic WW2 sites, as at the time, there was no strong impetus to keep the amount of sites it operated during the war¹.

Expansion Activities and Hurdles

While the primary aim was to build an established air base, the expansion of Wheelus was also strategic in proving the importance of the U.S military budget to the local Libyan economy, through employment, training of individuals and purchase of materials.This was a successful plan, with people arriving from as far away as Benghazi in the hope of finding work⁴. The plan however, was not without its problems, with the U.S Air Force having to be continuously coaxed into meeting their financial responsibilities towards the project, resulting in delays in construction.

Another problem encountered in the expansion of Wheelus was the sheer volume of U.S Cargo vessels arriving at Tripoli Harbour, the frequency of which overwhelmed the limited facilities, which were not equipped to receive such volume of equipment and supplies. This led to a party of Transport Corps Specialists being sent from the U.S. to Tripoli to aid operations.

The ambitious expansion of Wheelus was also affected by frequent changes in the airbase’s building plans: the continuous introduction of new criteria greatly delayed construction. It is recorded that during the period spanning from 18 January 1951 through the end of August 1951, construction was affected by no less than 37 base plan changes. Such changes in building plans, together with a shortage of local professionals and long shipping delays affecting access to construction materials, led to a difficult and often stressful project for the engineers involved⁵.

Protracted Negotiations

On 24 December 1951, Libya declared its independence before the United Nations. Formally leaving its past as an Italian colony behind, it became the United Kingdom of Libya, a constitutional and hereditary monarchy under the leadership of King Idris.

By August of 1952, only 60% of the 1951 program for Wheelus’ expansion had been completed, along with 25% of the 1952 program. These extreme delays were, in part due to the technical issues and slow delivery of the building materials discussed above, but were also exacerbated by funding issues and problems with the acquisition of 150 new land leases from the newly formed, post-independence, Libyan Government. These new land leases were required to expand the base area from 1264 to 3400 acres. However, the post-independence Libyan government was extremely slow in processing the requests, partly due to failure to reach agreement with U.S. officials on the formal terms on which Wheelus would be let out to the U.S. military, which in turn delayed the expansion schedule⁶.

In the lead-up to 1954, U.S officials visited Tripoli on many occasions to negotiate with the post-independence Libyan government, in the hope of securing an agreement for the long term lease of Wheelus air base. After many failed attempts at negotiation after independence, a final agreement was reached in 1954 in which the U.S government guaranteed to pay USD 40 million over 20 years to lease the airbase in its expanded form. However, during the late 1950’s the Libyans sought a renegotiation on the base agreement and extra payments were made to the Libyan government.

Wheelus: Ready for Action

By August 1953, as negotiations between the governments of the US and Libya were drawing to a successful close, confidence in the project again surged and construction had once again picked up. Wheelus underwent a period of intense employment with the workforce surging to between 3700-4500 ⁷. By the end of 1953, Wheelus air base was nearly ready to receive the thousands of crew and their families who would be shortly relocating to Wheelus.

Construction continued throughout the early 1950’s to improve quality of life for the thousands of service men and their families, with the building of barracks, the communication centre, family homes, schools, shops, clubs and a new, 150 bed, air-conditioned hospital.

By 1958, there was a U.S. plane taking off from Wheelus every 45 seconds, and the base had become home to thousands of military personnel, contractors and administrative staff.

Footnotes

1. Heefner, G. (2015). “a slice of their sovereignty”: Negotiating the U.S. Empire of bases, Wheelus Field, Libya, 1950-1954. Diplomatic History, 41(1), 50–77. https://doi.org/10.1093/dh/dhv058
2. Ibid page 57
3. Ibid page 63
4. Ibid page 66
5. Bricks, Sand and Marble. U.S. Army Center of Military History - bricks, sand, and marble. (n.d.). Retrieved May 30, 2022, from https://history.army.mil/html/books/bricks_sand_and_marble/index.html. pages 59-62
6. Ibid p.107-108
7. Ibid p. 113