Piccolo Field, (Formerly: Eglin Air Force Auxiliary Field #5), is a closed United States Air Force field. It is located 9.3 miles northwest of
Valparaiso, Florida
Valparaiso is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Crestview, Florida, Crestview–Destin, Florida, Fort Walton Beach–Destin, Florida Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin, Florida ...
.
Overview
Auxiliary Field 5 is named Piccolo Field for Capt. Anthony D. Piccolo, who died in the crash of
AT-6A-NT Texan, ''41-16372'',
[USAAF/USAF Accidents for Florida](_blank)
. Accident-Report.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-31. on 6 October 1942. Piccolo was the commanding officer of the 386th Single Engine Gunnery Training Squadron at Eglin.
History
With the onset of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the Eglin Field military reservation was greatly expanded when the
Choctawhatchee National Forest was turned over to the
War Department by the
U.S. Forestry Service on 18 October 1940, and a series of auxiliary airfields were constructed from January 1941.
The history of Piccolo Field is largely unknown, however in March 1942, the airfield was utilized for training by the
Doolittle Raiders in preparation for their raid on Japan.
The airfield was apparently used during the late 1950s and early 1960s as part of the
CIM-10 Bomarc
The Boeing CIM-10 Bomarc ("Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center") (IM-99 Weapon System prior to September 1962) was a supersonic ramjet powered long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) used during the Cold War for the air defense of No ...
program. Just north of the airfield are approximately 40 BOMARC Launch shelters, along with several support buildings, large lighting poles and the remains of a security fence (). It is unknown if any missiles were located at the facility. It was likely abandoned in the early 1960s when BOMARC funding was ended.
Current status
The airfield was incorporated into Eglin AFB on 9 October 1959 and was inactivated. However, the airfield remains under the jurisdiction of the
96th Air Base Wing (96 ABW) as part of the active Eglin base and is not accessible to the public. Today, it serves as a microwave station. A 60-foot radar antenna and some support buildings was installed on the north-south (36/18) runway in April 1961. A secondary site is located on the northeast end of the 05/23 runway. On most base maps, it is identified as Site C-4. A secure storage area is also located on the site.
See also
*
Florida World War II Army Airfields
During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) established numerous airfields in Florida for antisubmarine defense in the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico and for training pilots and aircrews of USAAF fighters, attack planes, an ...
References
{{Reflist
Abandoned Airfields: Piccolo Field / Eglin Air Force Aux #5
Fields of the United States Air Force
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Florida
Airports in Walton County, Florida