Dover Air Force Base
| Dover Air Force Base | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dover, Delaware in United States of America | |||||||||
A C-5M Super Galaxy sits on the flight line at Dover AFB during April 2014.
| |||||||||
 | |||||||||
 
Dover AFB
Shown in United States
| |||||||||
| Coordinates | 39°07′42″N 075°27′53″WCoordinates: 39°07′42″N 075°27′53″W | ||||||||
| Type | US Air Force base | ||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||
| Owner | Department of Defense | ||||||||
| Operator | US Air Force | ||||||||
| Controlled by | Air Mobility Command (AMC) | ||||||||
| Condition | Operational | ||||||||
| Website | www.dover.af.mil/ | ||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||
| Built | 1941 | ||||||||
| In use | 1948 – present | ||||||||
| Garrison information | |||||||||
| Current commander | Colonel Matthew Jones | ||||||||
| Garrison | |||||||||
| Occupants | See Based units section for full list. | ||||||||
| Designations | National Register of Historic Places (Building 1301) | ||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||
| Identifiers | IATA: DOV, ICAO: KDOV, FAA LID: DOV, WMO: 724088 | ||||||||
| Elevation | 8.8 metres (29 ft) AMSL | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||||||||
Dover Air Force Base or Dover AFB (IATA: DOV, ICAO: KDOV, FAA LID: DOV) is a United States Air Force base located 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of the city of Dover, Delaware.
Contents
History[edit]
Construction of Municipal Airport, Dover Airdrome began in March 1941 and the facility was opened on December 17, 1941. It was converted to a U.S. Army Air Corps airfield just weeks after the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. It was renamed Dover Army Airbase on April 8, 1943; *Dover Subbase on June 6, 1943, and Dover Army Airfield on February 2, 1944. With the establishment of the United States Air Force on September 18, 1947, the facility was renamed Dover Air Force Base on January 13, 1948.
* Was a subbase of Camp Springs AAF, Maryland, June 6, 1943 – April 15, 1944.
World War II[edit]
The origins of Dover Air Force Base begin in March 1941 when the United States Army Air Corps indicated a need for the airfield as a training airfield and assumed jurisdiction over the municipal airport at Dover, Delaware.
Once the airport came under military control an immediate construction program began to turn the civil airport into a military airfield. Construction involved runways and airplane hangars, with three concrete runways, several taxiways and a large parking apron and a control tower. Several large hangars were also constructed. Buildings were ultimately utilitarian and quickly assembled. Most base buildings, not meant for long-term use, were constructed of temporary or semi-permanent materials. Although some hangars had steel frames and the occasional brick or tile brick building could be seen, most support buildings sat on concrete foundations but were of frame construction clad in little more than plywood and tarpaper. Initially under USAAC, the name of the facility was Municipal Airport, Dover Airdrome and the airfield opened on 17 December 1941. The airfield was assigned to First Air Force.
On 20 December the first military unit arrived at Dover's new airfield: the 112th Observation Squadron of the Ohio National Guard which flew anti-submarine patrols off the Delaware Coast. In early 1942 three B-25 Mitchell bomber squadrons arrived with the 45th Bombardment Group from I Bomber Command, later part of Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command, assumed the anti-submarine mission.
On 8 April 1943, the name of the airfield was changed to Dover Army Air Base. The antisubmarine mission ended on 6 June and construction crews moved back to the base for a major upgrading project that lengthened the main runway to 7,000 feet. During the construction period and continuing into June 1944, Dover AAB became a sub-base of Camp Springs Army Airfield, Maryland.
Full operational capability was restored to Dover in September, and seven P-47 Thunderbolt squadrons arrived for training in preparation for eventual involvement in the European Theater. The 83d Fighter Group was assigned to Dover as the Operational Training Unit. The 83d was redesignated the 125th Base Unit on 10 April 1944 with little change in its mission. It was further redesignated as the 125th Army Air Force base Unit on 15 September 1944.
In 1944 the Air Technical Service Command chose Dover as a site to engineer, develop, and conduct classified air-launched rocket tests. The information collected during these experiments resulted in the effective deployment of air-to-surface rockets in both the European and Pacific combat theaters.
On 1 September 1946 as a result of the drawdown of United States forces after World War II, Dover Army Airfield, was placed on temporary inactive status. A small housekeeping unit, the 4404th Base Standby Squadron, remained on the airfield for care and maintenance of the facility.
No comments:
Post a Comment