Dover Air Force Base or Dover AFB is a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

(USAF) base under the operational control of

Air Mobility Command The Air Mobility Command (AMC) is a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, U.S. Air Force. It is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, east of St. Louis, Missouri, ...

(AMC), located southeast of the city of

Dover, Delaware Dover ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and the List of municipalities in Delaware, second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, Delaware, Kent County and the princ ...

. The 436th Airlift Wing is the host wing, and runs the busiest and largest air freight terminal in the Department of Defense.

History

20th century

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 The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

. 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

(USAF) on September 18, 1947, the facility was renamed Dover Air Force Base on January 13, 1948.

World War II

In March 1941, Dover Air Force Base was founded during

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 ...

to meet the need of the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

(USAAC) for an airfield that could be used as a training center. USAAC obtained jurisdiction over the municipal airport at

. Once the airport came under military control, an immediate construction program began to turn the civil airport into a military facility. Construction involved runways and airplane hangars, with three concrete runways, several taxiways, 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 intended for long-term use, were constructed with 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, and 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 the 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 The Ohio National Guard comprises the Ohio Army National Guard and the Ohio Air National Guard. The commander-in-chief of the Ohio Army National Guard is the List of governors of Ohio, governor of the U.S. state of Ohio. If the Ohio Army Nation ...

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 Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force (USAF). In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form J ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. Full operational capability was restored to Dover in September, and seven

P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

squadrons arrived for training in preparation for eventual involvement in the

European Theater The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main Theater (warfare), theatres of combat during World War II, taking place from September 1939 to May 1945. The Allies of World War II, Allied powers (including the United Kingdom, the ...

, while the 83d Fighter Group was assigned to Dover as the Operational Training Unit, The 83rd was redesignated the 125th Base Unit on 10 April 1944, with very 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 The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

combat theaters. On 1 September 1946, as a result of the drawdown of United States forces after the war, 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.

Cold War and Vietnam

Dover Airfield was reactivated on 1 August 1950 as a result of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

and the expansion of the USAF in response to the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

threat in the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. On February 1, 1951, the 148th Fighter Interceptor Squadron of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard arrived with

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed ...

fighter aircraft. During the 1950s problems developed with many of the facilities in Dover, which had been hastily constructed to support its World War II mission. As a result, a massive engineering project was undertaken to modernize the base. On April 1, 1952, Dover was transferred to the

Military Air Transport Service The Military Air Transport Service (MATS) is an inactive United States Department of Defense, Department of Defense Unified Command. Activated on 1 June 1948, MATS was a consolidation of the United States Navy's Naval Air Transport Service (NA ...

(MATS) and became home to 1607th Air Transport Wing (Heavy). A full function hospital was completed in 1958 and base housing was expanded to handle 1,200 families in 1961. On January 1, 1966, the Military Air Transport Service was redesignated the Military Airlift Command (MAC). Along with the reorganization, the 1607th was discontinued and the 436th Military Airlift Wing (436 MAW) activated and assumed the mission at Dover. The 436 MAW started replacing C-141 Starlifters and C-133 Cargomasters with the new C-5 Galaxy in 1971. Two years later Dover became the first all C-5 equipped wing in the USAF, trading the last of its C-141 to Charleston AFB, South Carolina. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, the bodies of more than 20,000 American soldiers were brought back to the United States via Dover. The Vietnam War dead account for over 90% of all the remains processed at Dover before 1988. When the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

broke out between

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and the combined forces of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

on October 13, 1973, the 436 MAW responded with a 32-day airlift that delivered 22,305 tons of munitions and military equipment to Israel. The 436 MAW also assisted in the evacuation of Americans from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

on December 9, 1978, following the

Islamic Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Im ...

. That year, Dover AFB was also used to store hundreds of bodies from the mass murder and suicide of the

Jonestown The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, better known by its informal name "Jonestown", was a remote settlement in Guyana established by the Peoples Temple, an American religious movement under the leadership of Jim Jones. Jonestown became in ...

community in

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

. Some of the more memorable flights during the post-war period included the airdrop and test firing of a Minuteman I

intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...

and the delivery of a 40-ton

superconducting magnet A superconducting magnet is an electromagnet made from coils of superconducting wire. They must be cooled to cryogenic temperatures during operation. In its superconducting state the wire has no electrical resistance and therefore can conduct much ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

during the Cold War, for which the crew received the Mackay Trophy. After the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster, the remains of the seven astronauts were transferred to Dover AFB. It is one of only seven airports in the country that served as launch abort facilities for the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

. In March 1989, C-5s from Dover delivered special equipment used to clean up the ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska. On June 7, 1989, while attending the Airlift Rodeo, a 436 MAW C-5 set a world record when it airdropped 190,346 pounds and 73 paratroopers. In October 1983, the wing flew 24 missions in support of Operation Urgent Fury, the

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

rescue operation and later flew 16 missions to support Operation Just Cause, the invasion of

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, in December 1989 – January 1990. During Desert Shield, the wing flew approximately 17,000 flying hours and airlifted a total of 131,275 tons of cargo in support of combat operations after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. In 1992, with the disestablishment of Military Airlift Command, Dover AFB was transferred to the newly established

(AMC) and the 436 MAW and 512 MAW (Associate) were redesignated as the 436th Airlift Wing (436 AW) and the 512th Airlift Wing (512 AW), respectively. Dover also served as a major port of entry and exit for the conflicts in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

and

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

during the latter half of the 1990s.

21st century

September 11 attacks

Following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, the 436 AW and 512 AW became major participants in Operation Enduring Freedom and

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

. An aircrew from Dover's 3rd Airlift Squadron landed the first C-5 in Iraq in late 2003 when they landed at Baghdad International Airport and the two wings continue to support operations in the region. Also following September 11, 2001, U.S. Army mortuary specialists organized support for

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

recovery efforts out of the base. This effort evolved into the Joint Personal Effects Depot, which supports recovery and redistribution of the personal effects of wounded and killed personnel from all arms of the military. In 2003, the Depot was transferred to

Aberdeen Proving Ground Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland, United States. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work at APG. There are 11 major commands among the tenant units, ...

in Maryland. Dover AFB is also where service members from all six branches of service killed in combat are repatriated. Their remains are processed, inspected for unexploded ordnance, cleaned, and prepared for burial before being escorted to the point of interment decided by the family. The Depot returned to Dover in 2011, when in April a new $14 million custom-built facility officially opened. On April 3, 2006, a C-5 Galaxy crashed short of a runway, skidding into a farm field. There were no fatalities. By 2008, the air traffic tower serving the airfield, built in 1955, was the oldest such tower in use in the USAF. In 2009 the base received a new 128-foot tall tower, overlapping the original 103-foot one which was donated to the Air Mobility Command Museum, accessible to visitors. Dover AFB is the first air force base to receive the new C-5M "Super Galaxy", receiving the aircraft on February 9, 2009 (named "The Spirit of Global Reach"). On February 2, 2015, the 9,600 foot runway 01-19 was closed for repairs. The runway was re-opened for operation on September 23, 2016. During the repair, the 12,900 foot runway 14–32 was temporarily cut in half so that the intersection of the two runways could be repaired. C-17 Globemasters could land on either half of runway 14–32.

Facilities and aircraft

The airport has two

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

s. Runway 14/32 measures 12903 x 150 ft (3933 x 46 m) and is paved with asphalt and

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

. Runway 1/19 measures 9602 x 150 ft (2927 x 46 m) and is paved with concrete. The airport averages 123,735 aircraft operations per year, an average of 339 per day. It is entirely

military aviation Military aviation is the design, development and use of military aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling aerial warfare, including national airlift (air cargo) capacity to provide military logistics, logist ...

Airlines and destinations

Cargo

Role and operations

Dover AFB is home to the 436th Airlift Wing (436 AW) of the

(AMC), known as the "Eagle Wing", and the AMC-gained 512th Airlift Wing (512 AW) of the

Air Force Reserve Command The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a MAJCOM, major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of ...

(AFRC), referred to as the "Liberty Wing". It was previously the only base to solely operate the massive C-5 Galaxy and now operates both that aircraft plus the C-17 Globemaster III. The 436 AW has two active flying squadrons (the 3rd Airlift Squadron, which now operates the C-17, and 9th Airlift Squadron), and the 512 AW has two AFRC flying squadrons (the 326th Airlift Squadron and the 709th Airlift Squadron). Dover AFB is also the home for the largest military mortuary in the Department of Defense, and has been used for processing military personnel killed in both war and peacetime; the remains of those killed overseas are traditionally brought to Dover AFB before being transferred to family. The Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs has also been used to identify remains of civilians in certain exceptional circumstances: in 1978 for the victims of the

mass murder/suicide, in 1986 for identifying the remains of the crew of the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'', and in 2003 for the crew of the Space Shuttle ''Columbia''. It was also a major site for identifying the remains of military personnel killed in the 9/11 attacks. During the night of October 28, 2009, before making a decision on the committal of further troops to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

visited the base to receive the bodies of several American soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Two sections of the 436th Aerial Port Squadron warehouse collapsed on February 18, 2003, as a result of a record snow storm. No one was injured in the collapse that caused more than an estimated $1 million in damages. The damage covered two of the six cargo processing bays in the facility. Dover Air Force Base is also home to the Air Mobility Command Museum.

Air Show

Dover Air Force Base holds an annual

air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are trade fair, exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without which they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The ...

, with the most recent occurring in May 2022. The show includes static displays of military aircraft and equipment, and flight demonstrations of the United States Air Force Thunderbirds or

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Blue Angels The Blue Angels, formally named the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, are a Aerobatics, flight demonstration squadron of the United States Navy.. Blue Angels official site. Formed in 1946, the unit is the second oldest formal aerobatics ...

demonstration teams.

Based units

Flying and notable non-flying units based at Dover Air Force Base:

United States Air Force

(AMC) * Eighteenth Air Force ** 436th Comptroller Squadron ** 436th Airlift Wing (Host wing) *** 436th Operations Group **** 3rd Airlift Squadron – C-17A Globemaster III **** 9th Airlift Squadron – C-5M Super Galaxy **** 436th Operations Support Squadron *** 436th Maintenance Group **** 436th Aerial Port Squadron **** 436th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron **** 736th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron **** 436th Maintenance Operations Squadron **** 436th Maintenance Squadron **** *** 436th Mission Support Group **** **** 436th Civil Engineer Squadron **** 436th Communications Squadron **** 436th Contracting Squadron **** 436th Force Support Squadron **** 436th Logistics Readiness Squadron **** 436th Security Forces Squadron *** 436th Medical Group **** 436th Aerospace Medicine Squadron **** 436th Medical Operations Squadron **** 436th Medical Support Squadron

(AFRC) *

Fourth Air Force The Fourth Air Force (4 AF) is a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California. 4 AF directs the activities and supervises the training of more than 30,000 Air Force Reserv ...

** 512th Airlift Wing *** 512th Operations Group **** 326th Airlift Squadron – C-17A Globemaster III **** 512th Airlift Control Flight **** 512th Operations Support Squadron **** 709th Airlift Squadron – C-5M Super Galaxy *** 512th Maintenance Group **** 512th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron **** 512th Maintenance Squadron **** 712th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron *** 512th Mission Support Group **** 46th Aerial Port Squadron **** 71st Aerial Port Squadron **** 512th Civil Engineer Squadron **** 512th Force Support Squadron **** 512th Logistics Readiness Squadron **** 512th Memorial Affairs Squadron **** 512th Security Forces Squadron **** 512th Aerospace Medicine Squadron

United States Army

US Army Human Resources Command * The Adjutant General Directorate ** Casualty & Mortuary Affairs Operations Center *** Joint Personal Effects Depot

Department of Defense

Defense Health Agency The Defense Health Agency (DHA) is a joint, integrated combat support agency that enables the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force medical services to provide a medically ready force and ready medical force to Combatant Commands in both pea ...

* Research and Innovation Directorate ** Armed Forces Medical Examiner System

Department of the Air Force

Field Operating Agencies * Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations (AFMAO) ** Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs (Port Mortuary)

Major assigned commands

* First Air Force, December 17, 1941 * Air Service Command, December 19, 1942 * First Air Force, March 17, 1943 * Continental Air Forces, June 6, 1945 : Redesignated:

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...

, March 21, 1946 *

Tactical Air Command Tactical Air Command (TAC) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Lang ...

, April 1, 1946 * Continental Air Command, December 1, 1948 *

Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for air defense of the continental United States. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air De ...

, January 1, 1951 *

, April 1, 1952 : Redesignated: Military Airlift Command, January 1, 1966 *

, June 1, 1992 – present

Major units assigned

* 45th Bombardment Group, May 16 – August 30, 1942 * 312th Air Base and HQ Sq, August 31, 1942 – April 10, 1944 * 365th Fighter Group, August 12 – November 19, 1943 * 83d Fighter Group, November 22, 1943 – April 10, 1944 : Redesignated: 125th Base Unit, April 10, 1944 – September 15, 1944 : Redesignated: 125th AAF Base Unit, September 15, 1944 – March 31, 1946 * 320th AAF Base Unit, April 1, 1946 – August 23, 1948 : Redesignated 4404th Standby Base Sq, August 23, 1948 – November 27, 1949 * 336th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, August 13 – November 10, 1950 * 46th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, November 1, 1952 – July 1, 1958 * 80th Air Base Sq, February 1, 1952 – August 1, 1953 * 1607th Air Base Group, 1 August 1953 : Redesignated 1607th Air Transport Wing, 9 November 1953 – January 8, 1966 * Aerial Port of Embarkation, May 1, 1954 – February 15, 1978 * 98th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, March 8, 1956 – June 20, 1963 * 4728th Air Defense Group, February 8, 1957 – July 1, 1958 * 95th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, July 1, 1963 – January 31, 1973 * 436th Military Airlift (later Airlift) Wing, November 8, 1966 – present * 912th Military Airlift Group, September 25, 1968 – July 1, 1973 * 512th Military Airlift (later Airlift) Wing, July 1, 1973 – present Mueller, Robert (1989). Volume 1: Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982. USAF Reference Series, Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force, Washington, D.C. ,

Geography

A section of the base is treated as a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

named "Dover Base Housing." It is part of the Dover metropolitan area. Dover Base Housing had a population of 3,450 at the 2010 census. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, Dover Base Housing has a total area of 0.7 square miles (1.7 km²), all land. Other portions of the base are in the city limits of Dover. Dover Base Housing consists of a development called Eagle Heights Family Housing, which is made up of 980 homes in single-family, duplex, triplex, and fourplex configurations. The development features a community center, multiple neighborhood centers, picnic areas, fitness center, and golf course. Eagle Heights Family Housing contains a total of of greenbelt paths for walking, jogging, and biking. Students in the development attend public schools in the Caesar Rodney School District. Since 1997, the base has been served by three highway exits with

Delaware Route 1 Delaware Route 1 (DE 1) is the longest numbered state highway in the U.S. state of Delaware. The route runs from the Maryland state line in Fenwick Island, Delaware, Fenwick Island, Sussex County, Delaware, Sussex County, where the ...

, allowing quick access to Dover and to southern Delaware from the complex. Dover AFB provides almost $470 million a year in revenue to the city of Dover, making it the third largest industry in Delaware.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 3,394 people, 1,032 households, and 1,017 families residing in the base. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 5,061.6 people per square mile (1,955.9/km²). There were 1,245 housing units at an average density of 1,856.7 per square mile (717.5/km²). The racial makeup of the base was 72.57%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 16.59%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.77% Native American, 1.86% Asian, 0.12%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 2.80% from other races, and 5.30% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 7.75% of the population. There were 6,032 households, out of which 76.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 90.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 5.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 1.4% were non-families. 1.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 0.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.29 and the average family size was 3.30. In the base the population was spread out, with 40.2% under the age of 18, 16.5% from 18 to 24, 41.5% from 25 to 44, 1.7% from 45 to 64, and 0.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 23 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.5 males. The median income for a household in the base was $34,318, and the median income for a family was $34,659. Males had a median income of $26,322 versus $20,444 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the base was $12,119. About 5.2% of families and 4.2% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 3.5% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Air Mobility Command Museum

Hangar 1301 at Dover Air Force Base is home to the Air Mobility Command Museum. The museum is dedicated to military airlift and air refueling aircraft and the people who maintain them. It has a large collection of fully restored cargo and tanker aircraft. Tours are conducted during the day by volunteers, many of whom are retired pilots, navigators, flight engineers and loadmasters who provide first-person narratives of actual events. The hangar encloses over of aircraft display gallery plus of exhibit rooms. An attached building houses a theater, museum store, exhibit workshop, and various offices. A aircraft parking area allows close-up inspection of the outside aircraft. The museum also maintains archives related to the history of the Air Mobility Command and Dover AFB. Building 1301, Dover Air Force Base was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1994. There are 33 airframes in the collection in 2015, and a staff of more than 170 volunteers. A single battered Douglas C-47A Skytrain, salvaged in 1986 off of a dump at Olmsted Air Force Base, near

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, after being used for target practice, was the museum's modest beginning. Airlifted to Dover AFB by a Pennsylvania National Guard helicopter, "It was the first aircraft restored for the newly conceptualized museum that would form here." Founded as the Dover AFB Historical Center on 13 October 1986, it originally was housed in three hangars within the main area of the base. It was officially recognized with museum status in 1995 and moved to its current location in 1996. On 5 February 1997, Air Mobility Command officially named the Dover AFB Museum as the AMC Museum.

Education

The Dover Base Housing is located in the Caesar Rodney School District. It is assigned to the Dover Air Base schools for grades K-8: Major George S. Welch Elementary School and Dover Air Force Base Middle School. Caesar Rodney High School in Camden is the comprehensive high school for the entire district. Wilmington University has a center on Dover AFB.

Accidents and incidents

* On January 13, 2013, a Piper PA-28 was substantially damaged during a forced landing following a total loss of engine power while on approach to Dover Air Force Base. The aircraft was flying an

instrument approach In aviation, an instrument approach or instrument approach procedure (IAP) is a series of predetermined maneuvers for the orderly transfer of an aircraft operating under instrument flight rules from the beginning of the initial approach to a lan ...

into the airport while on an instrument flight plan bound for the Summit Airport in Middletown. The aircraft was completely fueled before the accident flight. During flight, the pilot was advised that previous traffic had been unable to land at the Summit Airport due to weather, and the accident pilot requested an approach into Salisbury Regional Airport in

, which ultimately didn't work out. The pilot subsequently tried to land at the Sussex County Airport, then expressed interest in landing at the Delaware Airpark in Dover. The pilot requested to land at Dover Air Force Base but was subsequently told he only could in an emergency. The pilot eventually declared a fuel emergency and tried an instrument approach into DOV, but the aircraft crashed before landing. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the pilot's failure to land the airplane at multiple airports that were equipped with adequate instrument approach procedures while operating in low instrument meteorological conditions and his delay in declaring a fuel-related emergency, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

References

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External links

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Air Mobility Command Museum

Civil Air Terminal at Dover AFB (Delaware River and Bay Authority)
* * {{authority control 1941 establishments in Delaware Bases of the United States Air Force Airports in Delaware Census-designated places in Kent County, Delaware Military installations in Delaware Military Superfund sites Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Delaware Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Delaware Superfund sites in Delaware Historic American Buildings Survey in Delaware Census-designated places in Delaware National Register of Historic Places in Dover, Delaware Space Shuttle Emergency Landing Sites