Eglin Air Force Base (IATA: VPS, ICAO: KVPS, FAA LID: VPS) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida panhandle, located about three miles (5 km) southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County.

It is named in honor of Lt. Col. Frederick I. Eglin (1891–1937), who was killed in a crash of his Northrop A-17 attack aircraft on a flight from Langley to Maxwell Field, Alabama.

Much of the base was part of a national forest until the outbreak of World War II in Europe when a proving ground for aircraft armament was established at Eglin.

Eglin Air Force Base evolved from the 1933 creation of the Valparaiso Airport, when an arrowhead-shaped parcel of 137 acres (55 ha) was cleared for use as an airdrome.

[4] In 1931, personnel of the Air Corps Tactical School, newly relocated to Maxwell Field, Alabama, sought a location for a bombing and gunnery range.

They saw the potential of the sparsely populated forested areas surrounding Valparaiso and the vast expanse of the adjacent Gulf of Mexico.

The responsibility for development of guns, bombs, rockets, fuses, guided missile warheads and other related equipment in the armament field was transferred from the Dayton, Ohio facility at this time.

The 1st CAG concentrated on testing and evaluation of primarily short-term projects which might improve Air Force counter-insurgency (COIN) operations.

The Armament Division, redesignated Munitions Systems Division on 15 March 1989, placed into production the precision-guided munitions for the laser, television, and infrared guided bombs; two anti-armor weapon systems; and an improved hard target weapon, the GBU-28, used in Operation Desert Storm during the Persian Gulf War.

The Division was also responsible for developing the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), an Air Force-led joint project with the U.S. Navy.

[9] Construction began in 1984 on the Bob Hope Village, the only retirement facility that caters to enlisted military, opening in February 1985.

Originally selected for inactivation in 1997, Air Force officials delayed the decision in recognition of the Nomads' connection with Khobar Towers.

There was one commercial customer served by the line, a lumber pulp yard at Niceville which is now community athletic fields.

The Eglin Gulf Test Range provides approximately 340,000 square kilometres (130,000 sq mi) of over water airspace.

First established as the 33d Pursuit Group, the wing's contribution to tactical airpower during its 50-year history has been significant with participation in campaigns around the world, while flying various fighter aircraft.

Reactivated at Eglin on 1 April 1965 with F-4C Phantom IIs, the wing operated, successively, F-4D and E models into the 1970s before transitioning to the F-15 Eagle.

[18] As the first of its kind in the Department of Defense, the joint wing is responsible for F-35 pilot and maintainer training for the Air Force, Marine Corps and the Navy.

The 53 WG is headquartered at Eglin and serves as the USAF's focal point for operational test and evaluation of armament and avionics, aircrew training devices, chemical defense, aerial reconnaissance improvements, electronic warfare systems, and is responsible for the QF-4 Phantom II Full Scale Aerial Target (FSAT) program and subscale drone programs (located at Tyndall AFB, Florida).

The wing tests every fighter, bomber, unmanned aerial vehicle, and associated weapon system in the Air Force inventory.

The squadron plans, executes and reports ACC's weapon system evaluation programs for bombers (B-52, B-1 and B-2) and nuclear-capable fighters (F-15E Strike Eagle and F-16).

These evaluations include operational effectiveness and suitability, command and control, performance of aircraft hardware and software systems, employment tactics, and accuracy and reliability of associated precision weapons.

The Armament Directorate located at Eglin is responsible for management of air and ground dominance weapon system programs.

In 2011, the United States Army's 7th Special Forces Group relocated to a newly constructed cantonment on the Eglin Air Force Base reservation from Fort Bragg, as part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round realigning Fort Bragg.

6 (Biancur Field) is the site of Camp James E. Rudder and the home of the U.S. Army's 6th Ranger Training Battalion.

The Naval School of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (NAVSCOLEOD) is a Navy-managed command, jointly staffed by Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps personnel.

A number of auxiliary fields were constructed on the Eglin reservation during World War II, many of which are still in service in various roles, either in support of flight operations or special test activities.

The forests and shores of Eglin Air Force Base are at the center of one of the most biodiverse locations in North America.

Over 50 species threatened in Florida are found on the base, including sea turtles that nest on its white-sand beaches and red-cockaded woodpeckers that thrive in its longleaf pine forests.

In the 1940s, captured V-1 flying bombs and American copies, Republic-Ford JB-2 LOONs, were launched out over the Gulf of Mexico from these sites.

[55] The US Code of Federal Regulations specifies that amateur radio operators within 322 kilometers of Eglin must not transmit with more than 50 watts of power on the 70-centimeter band.