Buckley Air Force Base
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| Buckley Air Force Base | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: BKF - ICAO: KBKF | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military | ||
| Operator | USAF | ||
| Serves | Aurora, Colorado | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 5,662 ft (1,725.8 m) | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 14/32 | 11,000 | 3,353 | PEM |
Buckley Air Force Base (IATA: BKF, ICAO: KBKF) is a United States Air Force base located in Aurora, Colorado. The host wing is the 460th Space Wing, a unit of Air Force Space Command.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] World War II
During the early years of World War II the city of Denver purchased a 5,740-acre parcel of land several miles east of the city and donated it to the Department of the Army. The site was named Buckley Field after 1st Lt. John Harold Buckley, a Longmont, Colorado native, who lost his life while on a strafing mission behind enemy lines on September 17, 1918.
Construction on the base began in early 1942 and would result in the construction of over 700 structures plus associated infrastructure. On 1 July 1942, the Army Air Corps Technical Training School opened. It consisted of bombardier and armorer training for aircrews on the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bombers. During the war, Buckley Field would accept and train over 50,000 airmen in initial basic training.
[edit] The Cold War Years
With the war over, Buckley's military role quickly diminished and in 1946 it became an auxiliary field of nearby Lowry Air Force Base. Lowry in turn transferred control of the base to the Colorado Air National Guard that same year. Their ownership lasted less than one year. In 1947 the Department of the Navy took charge of the base and renamed it Naval Air Station-Denver. The renamed base now housed veterans and their families waiting to return to civilian life. Thousands of veterans transitioned back to civilian life over the next four years. The Navy would remain for 12 years before decommissioning the base on June 30, 1959 and returning it to the Air Force.
Buckley once again became Buckley Air National Guard Base on April 18, 1960. At the same time, it became the first stand-alone Air National Guard base. The National Guard would remain in control of Buckley for the next 40 years.
During the Cold War era, the Colorado Air National Guard mobilized the Buckley-based 120th Tactical Fighter Squadron for such historical events as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Pueblo Crisis and the Vietnam Conflict.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the growth of Aurora, Denver's eastern neighbor, edged toward Buckley. The facility was eventually annexed by the city.
The National Guard was not the only tenant of Buckley during this time. In the early 1970s the Air Force built six large geodesic domes to house the communications and sensors arrays used by the 2nd Space Warning Squadron (2 SWS). Their mission over the past 30 plus years has been to monitor the globe to provide early warning of ballistic missile launches. These domes, which look like huge golf balls, can be seen prominently from many parts of Aurora.
Other tenant units during the Cold War era included the:
- 154th Tactical Air Support Group, an ANG unit trained to provide close air support for Army ground operations. The 154th had their own truck-mounted tactical radars and radar-control vans, but no aircraft were directly assigned to the group. (circa 1970s & 1980s)
[edit] Recent and Current Activities
Although the Cold War ended in the early 1990s, the 120th did not see any decrease in responsibilities. The fighter unit deployed from Buckley numerous times during the decade to take part in various military operations such as Desert Storm, Northern Watch and Iraqi Freedom.
In October 2000, Buckley Air National Guard base was transferred back to Air Force control and renamed Buckley Air Force Base. This change was in support of the planned consolidation of space warning missions to Buckley.
Since the return of Buckley to the Air Force in 2000, the base has seen an unprecedented amount of new construction and modernization. Enlisted dormitories, commissary, base exchange and fitness center have all been completed. Currently scheduled to open in late 2006 are the first of 351 planned family housing units currently under construction. This is the first military family housing to be located at Buckley.
[edit] Current Host Units
- 460th Space Wing
- 460th Operations Group
- 2nd Space Warning Squadron
- 8th Space Warning Squadron
- 137th Space Warning Squadron
- 460th Space Communications Squadron
- 460th Operations Support Group
- 460th Medical Group
- 460th Medica Operations Division
- 460th Aerospace Medicine Division
- 460th Mission Support Group
- 460th Civil Engineer Squadron
- 460th Contracting Squadron
- 460th Logistics Readiness Squadron
- 460th Mission Support Squadron
- 460th Security Forces Squadron
- 460th Services Division
- 460th Comptroller Squadron
- 460th Operations Group
[edit] Current Tenant Units
- Headquarters, Joint Force Colorado (HQJF-CO)
- 140th Wing, Colorado Air National Guard
- 566th Information Operations Squadron
- Air Force Audit Agency
- Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES)
- Air Force Operational Testing and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC), Detachment 4
- Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Detachment 801
- Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC), Detachment 45
- Buckley Support Team
- Colorado Army National Guard
- Colorado Civil Air Patrol
- Continental US NORAD Region
- Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA)
- Ground Based Midcourse Defense
- Marine Air Control Squadron 23 (MACS-23)
- Aerospace Data Facility
- Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center
- Combined Task Force
- US Army Corps of Engineers
- 743rd Military Intelligence Battalion
- Navy Information Operations Center
[edit] References
- "Buckley Air Force Base 2006 Guide". AQP Publishing Inc.
- Airport Master Record (FAA Form 5010), also available as a printable form (PDF)
[edit] External links
- Buckley Air Force Base (official web site)
- Colorado Air National Guard Buckley
- Buckley AFB History updated link
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF)
- Resources for this U.S. military airport:
- AirNav airport information for KBKF
- ASN Accident history for KBKF
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KBKF
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or MapQuest
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth, or WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
