However, the Army detachment at the base had managed to construct targets on the Bonneville Salt Flats and had also installed an electrical system for night illumination. At that time, few buildings had been completed and training facilities were scarce. The first bomber unit, the 306th Bombardment Group, arrived in April 1942 and included four squadrons of B-17 bombers. The base would remain idle until March 28, 1942, when the Army activated Wendover as a B-17 and B-24 heavy bombardment training base. Later that month, another 37 men arrived and started setting up targets on the salt desert for training purposes. The first Army unit to be assigned to Wendover moved to the desert post on Augwith a detachment of one officer and ten enlisted men. Nonetheless, life at Wendover was primitive: the drinking water was bad, infrastructure was limited, rats invaded barracks, and sand managed to find its way into everything.
The total site ranged from 18 to 36 miles wide and 86 miles long and was soon hailed as the largest bombing and gunnery range in the world. On July 29, 1941, the installation at Wendover became a subpost of Fort Douglas, Salt Lake City, and additional land acquisitions approved by Congress brought the total area of the base to 1,822,000 acres. There was also a theater and a medical facility located on the airfield. Facilities at Wendover were sparse, with only a few barracks, officer quarters, several warehouses, and a single mess hall. The Army Air Corps began building structures on September 20, 1940, though military personnel would not arrive until August of the following year. The town of Wendover had around 100 citizens when it was selected by the Army as the site for a new bombing range. Wendover was also easily accessible by rail, because the area was serviced by the Western Pacific Railroad, which had three rail lines running west from Salt Lake City to major cities on the West Coast. In addition, the area generally had excellent flying weather and the nearest major city (Salt Lake City) was only 125 miles away. Its isolated location and virtually uninhabited land made Wendover an appealing choice. Wendover Field was initially established in 1940 after Congress appropriated funds for the acquisition of land to meet the Army's need for additional bombing and gunnery ranges.
Nicknamed "Kingman," the site was the initial training ground for the 509th Composite Group and theĀ 216th Army Air Force's Base Unit Special Airfield. Wendover Airfield in Utah was selected as the training and test center for the atomic bomb delivery group as part of Project Alberta.