History of Eglin Air Force Base

In May 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt transmitted to congress a letter, with his approval, from Budget Director Harold D. Smith, asking an appropriation of US$76,750 (equivalent to $1,669,176 in 2023) to purchase 24,111 acres (9,757 ha) of private land within the Choctawhatchee National Forest boundary.

[52] From March 1944, the Wright Field, Ohio, Weight Reduction Committee, working to improve performance and crew accommodations in the B-24 Liberator, proposed mating a B-17 Flying Fortress nose to a B-24, with the Air Materiel Command assigning the experiment a First Priority Project rating on 25 May 1944.

Dropped at low altitude (~10 feet), the weapon skipped back into the aircraft, completely knocking off the tail unit causing the bomber to nose over instantly and crash into the bay 3 miles (4.8 km) NE of Fort Walton, Florida.

In 1949, the 2nd GMS tallied 3,052 flight hours without mishap and secured the green and white pennant denoting safety supremacy for USAF B-17 type aircraft for the fourth straight time, gaining permanent possession of the three-starred flag.

[97] The Fledgling's Roost nursery opened on base on 30 June 1950, staffed by a practical or registered nurse and volunteers, and offered military and civilian families assigned to the Air Proving Ground space for up to 80–90 children, 8 a.m. to midnight, and 3 a.m. on special occasions.

[128] In February 2004, while a guest at Eglin Air Force Base, No Kum-Sok was offered the opportunity to fly in a MiG-15UTI operated by the Red Star Aviation Museum during the annual convention of the Classic Jet Aircraft Association.

A seven-man RCAF team, headed by Flight Lieutenant B. D. Darling, which had previously conducted tests at Namao Air Base, Alberta, are part of the climatic detachment of Central Experimental and Proving Establishment.

"[187] An F-102A Delta Dagger downed a remotely controlled QB-17 Flying Fortress over the Eglin water ranges with a Hughes GAR-1 Falcon on 30 June 1956, announced Air Proving Ground Commander Maj. Gen. Robert W. Burns, the second drone to fall prey to the air-to-air missile within a week at the APGC.

"[197] Bids for a new control tower to be located near the southwest end of the old abandoned NE-SW runway at Eglin AFB were announced by Col. Walter W. Woodward, Deputy Chief of Staff for Material, Air Proving Ground Command, to be received by the Mobile District Office, Corps of Engineers, by 15 January 1957.

While the military moved to continue the operation in Florida with conventional rounds, Public Health Service officials contacted their state-level counterparts, informed them of the nuclear test halt, expressed appreciation for 'complete cooperation,' and asked them to 'forget our activities in the area.

"[252] On 16 December 1960, the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) facility at Gunter AFS, Alabama, controlled two BOMARC-B missiles launched from Eglin AFB, and directed their interception of a QB-47 drone flying at 500 mph (800 km/h) at 30,000 feet (9,100 m).

Between 22 January and 2 March 1962, the U.S. Army Quartermaster Research and Engineering Command conducted a human factors study of QMC clothing and equipment during cold weather tests of the Pershing missile in the Climatic Laboratory at Eglin AFB.

"The AIM-4D's disappointing performance in terms of MiG kills – only five in Vietnam (the first of which, a MiG-17, was claimed on 26 October 1967 by Capts Larry D. Cobb and Alan A. Lavoy flying F-4D 66-7565) – was largely attributed to the missile's inherent design features, which had been chosen with strategic air defence in mind.

[296] Ground-breaking was held on 25 June 1965, attended by Congressman Bob Sikes; Lewis Turner, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force; Maj. Gen. Richard L. Bohannon, USAF Surgeon General; and Col. Robert C. Marshall, commander of the Mobile District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, among others.

It was subsequently tested by Eglin personnel at a site set up at Cape San Blas, Florida, where it was found to be very ruggedly built, using old style World War II circuitry, and was very reliable, designed to be maintained by people with very little technical knowledge.

[311] Beginning in 1965, Project Black Spot was a test program designed to give the Air Force a self-contained night attack capability to seek out and destroy targets along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

[320] Specially selected raiders for Operation Ivory Coast, the attempted POW rescue from Son Tay prison in North Vietnam, were extensively trained and rehearsed at Eglin Air Force Base, while planning and intelligence gathering continued from 25 May to 20 November 1970.

Concurrently, the Air Force delivered the Cat II test airframe, 53-3906, to Westinghouse Electronic Systems in Maryland for modification under Project Pave Gat to house a special bomb bay installation of one Emerson TAT-161 turret with a single M61 20mm cannon as a gunship.

Delays occurred in testing at Eglin AFB, due to competition for mission time from the Tropic Moon III B-57Gs as the airframe was also used in the radar remedial program, coupled with a spare parts shortage for mandatory maintenance keeping it grounded from 9 April to 16 May.

[329] In May 1971, the Aeronautical Systems Division at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, initiated the program Credible Chase to evaluate the potential use of armed light utility short takeoff and landing aircraft in Southeast Asia.

Specific problems identified included a slow combat speed (135 knots), a low working altitude, no capability for "zoom" escapes after delivering ordnance and a complete lack of armor protection for the crew and vital aircraft systems.

[277] The Ryan AQM-34V, an electronic countermeasures update of the AQM-34H leaflet-dropping RPV used in the conflict in Southeast Asia (and known as "bullshit bombers"), was thoroughly tested by TAC in an exercise named "Gallant Eagle", conducted at Eglin AFB, during the week of 30 October through 3 November 1978.

"At the firing range near Ramstein in southern Germany, western technical experts looked on as the radar operators endeavored to track German, British, French, and US tactical aircraft flying jamming runs against their systems.

Unfortunately, on 20 July, this airframe crashed at MCAS Quantico, Virginia, after a flight from Eglin, killing 5 crew members in front of an audience of high-ranking US government officials, the first of a series of fatal accidents involving the controversial tiltrotor aircraft.

Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal (NAVSCOLEOD), a Navy-managed command, jointly staffed by Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps personnel, had its official ribbon cutting on a new consolidated training facility in April 1999.

[129] Textron Systems announced on 13 September 2004 that its BLU-108 Sensor Fuzed Submunition was successfully dropped at Eglin Air Force Base from the DRS Sentry HP Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), resulting in multiple target hits.

The U.S. Air Force's UAV Battle Lab sponsored the Sentry HP UAV/BLU-108 drop test, with participation by the USAF Sensor Fuzed Weapon (SFW) Project Office at Eglin AFB, Florida and the U.S. Army's Aviation & Missile Research Development & Engineering Center (AMRDEC) at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.

Lt. Col. Richard Mountain, the Sensor Fuzed Weapon Squadron Commander at Eglin AFB, stated, "The cooperation between the various Air Force organizations and Army Lab at Redstone Arsenal, along with the BLU-108 submunition's adaptability to other carriers, ensured the UAV demonstration would be a success.

[395] Lockheed-Martin announced on 27 September 2006 that successful guided test flights of its Compact Kinetic Energy Missile (CKEM) against a reinforced urban structure (RUS) were recently conducted at Eglin Air Force Base.

[400] The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) announced that a test of a U.S. Navy Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile was conducted on 17 January 2007, from USS Donald Cook, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer underway in the Gulf of Mexico sea ranges off the coast of the Florida panhandle.