England Air Force Base is a former

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 ...

base in

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, located northwest of

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

and about northwest of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. Originally known as Alexandria Army Air Base, on 23 June 1955 the facility was renamed England Air Force Base in honor of Lt Col John Brooke England (1923–1954)."Alexandria and Pineville Salute England AFB, Louisiana", BP Industries, Inc.,

Midland, Texas Midland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Midland County with small portions extending into Martin County. The population was 132,524 as of the 2020 census. Located in the Permian Basin in West Texas, Midland is a ...

, 1973, page 7. The base was closed in 1992. The airfield and buildings are now Alexandria International Airport. Three episodes of ''The Crocodile Hunter'' were recorded in this base because the area is an important area for conservation.

History

The base was opened on 21 October 1942 and during the

Second World War 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 ...

performed

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...

aircrew training. It was placed on inactive status on 23 September 1946, although a small cadre of Army and Air Force personnel (331 Composite Squadron) remained assigned to Alexandria Municipal Airport throughout the late 1940s. F-84g-51-733-137thfbw-1952

75th Tactical Fighter Squadron A-7D Corsair II 71-0338

On 10 October 1950, the United States Air Force reopened Alexandria Air Force Base during 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 ...

. The station's primary mission was tactical fighter operations for

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 ...

. Its major operating units were: *

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

: 67th Airdrome Squadron, 1 February 1943 – 25 March 1943 : 471st Bombardment Group, 1 May 1943 – 7 May 1943 : 469th Bombardment Group, 7 May 1943 – 1 April 1944 : 221st AAF Base Unit, 25 March 1944 – 1 March 1945 : 329th AAF Base Unit, 1 March 1945 – 23 September 1946 *

: 4416th Base Complement Sq, 23 October 1950 – 22 December 1950 : 137th Fighter-Bomber Wing, 22 December 1950 – 2 May 1952 :: Composite

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia (United States), militia of each U.S. ...

wing activated to Federal Service due to

:: Flew Republic F-84 "Thunderjets". Three operational squadrons 125th (Oklahoma ANG, F-84B/G, 127th (Kansas ANG F-84C/G), 128th (Georgia ANG, F-84B/G)). ANG personnel trained at Alexandria AFB 1950/51, being replaced by active duty Air Force personnel in 1951/52. Wing reassigned to USAFE at Chaumont-Semoutiers Air Base,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

: 132d Fighter-Bomber Wing, 2 May 1952 – 1 January 1953 :: Iowa ANG Wing activated to Federal Service replacing reassigned 137th FBW :: One operational squadron (124th FIS). Flew Republic straight winged F-84s. Returned to state control.(F-84Fs were not assigned to front line units until January 1954-please see pages 42/3 in POST WORLD WAR TWO FIGHTERS 1945–73 U S Government Printing Office) : 366th Fighter-Bomber Wing, 1 January 1953 – 1 April 1959 :: Active duty Air Force wing activated at Alexandria AFB. Three operational squadrons ( 389th, 390th, 391st) being initially equipped with North American F-51D Mustang, reequipped with North American F-86F "Sabre" jet aircraft by end of 1953. :: Wing became first TAC unit to perform six-month TDY rotations with NATO at Aviano AB,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, with rotations continuing to support NATO in

and Italy. Redesignated 366th Tactical Fighter Wing 1 July 1958. Inactivated 1 April 1959 as part of a general budgetary reduction of USAF wings. Aircraft transferred to

. : 420th Air Refueling Squadron (Tactical), 18 March 1954 – 4 October 1955 :: (Activated at England AFB, equipped with Boeing KB-29P. :: First unit in TAC of its type. Provided TAC with independent air refueling capability. Reassigned to USAFE at RAF Sculthorpe,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. : 622d Air Refueling Squadron (Tactical), 18 July 1955 – 1 April 1964 :: Activated at England AFB, assigned to 4505th Air Refueling Wing,

Langley AFB Langley Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Hampton, Virginia, adjacent to Newport News. It was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the entry of the United States into World War I in April 1 ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

1 July 1958. :: Equipped with Boeing KB-29P (1955–57), later turbojet-augmented Boeing KB-50J (1957–64) aircraft. Aircraft became obsolescent and unit inactivated 1 April 1964. :

401st Tactical Fighter Wing The 401st Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe to be activated or inactivated at any time as needed. It is stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The group (milita ...

, 1 April 1959 – 27 April 1966 :: According to AIR FORCE COMBAT WINGS 1947–1977(GPO) pages 194/5 and 214, the 366th FBW had two FB Groups under it: 366th & 401st. The 366th WING became a TFW in July 1958 and inactivated in April 1959. Meanwhile, the 401st FBG upgraded to a FBW in September 1957 and remained in place with four squadrons of F-100D/Fs. The aircraft and most of the personnel of the 366th Wing were transferred to other units in TAC and overseas. There was no redesignations of any 366th squadrons to 401st squadrons. :: Four tactical fighter squadrons (612th, 613th, 614th, 615th) redesignated from former 366th TFW units. Participated in numerous firepower demonstrations, tactical exercises and maneuvers in the United States and overseas, and deployed its tactical squadrons to bases in Europe and the Middle East in support of NATO. Deployed to

Homestead AFB Homestead Air Reserve Base (Homestead ARB), previously known as Homestead Air Force Base (Homestead AFB) is located in Miami–Dade County, Florida, to the northeast of the city of Homestead. It is home to the 482nd Fighter Wing (482 FW) o ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

during

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

(1962) as tactical airstrike unit. Wing designation along with 613th TFS reassigned to USAFE at Torrejon Air Base,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. : 3d Tactical Fighter Wing, 9 January 1964 – 7 November 1965 :: Reassigned from Yokota AB,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, Equipped with F-100 Super Sabres after arrival at England AFB. :: Four tactical fighter squadrons (90th, 416th, 510th, 531st)., with the 510th coming from Clark AB, RP and the 416th and 531st moving from Misawa AB Japan, each unit with about 25 F-100D/Fs, then trained and rotated its squadrons in detached status to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

for combat duty. Reassigned to Bien Hoa AB,

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

. The 3rd Wing number transferred from Yokota AB Japan along with one squadron number, the 90th "Pair-O-Dice", in the spring of 1964, so the wing had four squadrons assigned. : 834th Air Division, 1 July 1964 – 15 October 1966 :: Assumed command and control over 3d and 401st Tactical Fighter Wings. :: After reassignment of wings, assumed remaining organization and operational squadrons of former 401st TFW. Deployed to South Vietnamese bases (834th AD to Tan Son Nhut AB), (612th, 614th, 615th) TFS to Phan Rang AB, Phu Cat AB). : 1st Air Commando/Special Operations Wing 15 January 1966 – 15 July 1969 :: 317th, 319th, 603rd Air Commando/Special Operations Squadrons :: Reassigned from

Hurlburt Field Hurlburt Field is a United States Air Force installation located in Okaloosa County, Florida, immediately west of the town of Mary Esther. It is part of the greater Eglin Air Force Base reservation and is home to Headquarters Air Force S ...

Florida. Redesignated 1st SOW 8 July 1968. Reassigned to Hurlburt Field, Florida. : 4410th Combat Crew Training Wing/Group 15 July 1969 – 31 July 1973 :: 6th Special Operations Training Squadron, 427th, 4412th, 4532d Combat Crew Training Squadrons :: Wing reassigned from

Florida. Redesignated as Group, 15 September 1970. Inactivated July 1973 due to US withdrawal from South Vietnam. Upon group inactivation, 6th SOTS reassigned to 1st SOW at Hurlburt Field but remained at England AFB until inactivation, January 1974. On 15 September 1970, the 4403d Tactical Fighter Wing, a temporary Major Air Command-Controlled (MAJCOM) unit, activated at England. With its subordinate 416th (activated 28 September 1970) and 431st Tactical Fighter Squadrons,Mueller, 170. it absorbed returning

North American F-100 Super Sabre The North American F-100 Super Sabre is an American supersonic jet fighter aircraft designed and produced by the aircraft manufacturer North American Aviation. The first of the Century Series of American jet fighters, it was the first United ...

aircraft of 31st TFW from

Tuy Hoa Air Base Tuy Hoa Air Base was an air force base in Vietnam, being closed in 1970. It was built by the United States in 1966 and was used by the United States Air Force (USAF) during the Vietnam War in the II Corps (South Vietnam), II Corps Tactical ...

South Vietnam. It transferred aircraft and other assets to the

. Acted as holding unit for arriving LTV A-7D Corsair II aircraft starting April 1972. The 4403d TFW and the 416th TFS both inactivated on 1 July 1972. On 1 July 1972, the 23d Tactical Fighter Wing reactivated at the base, without personnel or equipment, and took over the organization and assets of the temporary 4403d TFW. Three A-7D tactical fighter ( 74th, 75th, 76th) squadrons formed. The wing re-equipped with

Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II The Fairchild Republic A-10 , also infamously known under the nickname , is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 19 ...

aircraft in 1981. Redesignated 23d Fighter Wing 1 October 1991. Inactivated 1 June 1992.Document Detail for IRISNUM= 01113874
airforcehistoryindex.org

Air Defense Command

Alexandria (and later England) AFB was base for

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 ...

interceptor and radar units along the Gulf Coast. In 1959, the 332d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, assigned to the 32d Air Division stationed

F-102 Delta Dagger The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger is an interceptor aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Convair. A member of the Century Series, the F-102 was the first operational supersonic interceptor and delta-wing fighter op ...

interceptors at the base between 1959 and 1960. In addition to the fighter-interceptor squadron, England AFB part of the planned deployment by

of forty-four Mobile radar stations across the United States to support the permanent Radar network established during 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 ...

for air defense of the United States. This deployment had been projected to be operational by mid-1952. Funding, constant site changes, construction, and equipment delivery delayed deployment. On 1 November 1954 the 653d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron began operations at Alexandria AFB with the activation of AN/MPS-14, AN/TPS-1D, and AN/TPS-10D radars. The site was designated as M-125, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and warning station. As a GCI station, the squadron's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes. The AN/MPS-14 continued to operate until site closure in 1963. In 1958 the site was operating an AN/FPS-20 search set. In addition to the main facility, Air Defense Command operated three AN/FPS-18 Gap Filler sites: * Delhi, LA (M-125A): * Weeks Island, LA (M-125C): * Lake Charles GFA, LA (M-125D): England AFB was a planned

Semi Automatic Ground Environment The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was a system of mainframe computer, large computers and associated computer network, networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image ...

(SAGE) Data Center (DC) location, for the also-planned Shreveport Air-Defense Sector. However, in March 1963 Air Defense Command ordered the site to close due to budget reductions and operations ceased on 23 April. The station was picked up by the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

(FAA) after the ADC shut down operations. The site is still in operations using the FPS-20A, being known as Alexandria, Louisiana. Virtually all other parts of this old Air Force radar station have been removed. A golf course now occupies part of the old M-125 site.

Closure

In October 1990, the 1991 Base Realignment and Closure Commission decided that England Air Force Base would be closed by September 1992. Reduction of equipment and personnel began almost immediately. The 23d Fighter Wing's Fairchild A-10 "Thunderbolt II" aircraft were sent to other units, and the base was closed on 15 December 1992. During the period of its military use, Air Force units from England Air Force Base served in combat in World War II, the Vietnam War and

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

Notes

External links

Memories of England Air Force Base

England Air Force Base
: England AFB photos, history, aircraft, map, static aircraft display, and more. {{USAAF 2d Air Force World War II Installations of the United States Air Force in Louisiana Airports in Louisiana Buildings and structures in Rapides Parish, Louisiana Radar stations of the United States Air Force Military installations closed in 1992 1992 disestablishments in Louisiana 1942 establishments in Louisiana

History

Air Defense Command

Closure

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links