Buckley Air Force Base
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| Buckley Air Force Base
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| IATA: BKF – ICAO: KBKF – FAA: BKF | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military: Air Force Base | ||
| Operator | United States Air Force | ||
| Location | Aurora, Colorado | ||
| Built | 1942 | ||
| In use | July 1, 1942 - present | ||
| Commander | Colonel Donald McGee | ||
| Occupants | 460th Space Wing | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 5,662 ft / 1,726 m | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 14/32 | 11,000 | 3,353 | PEM |
| Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] |
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Buckley Air Force Base (IATA: BKF, ICAO: KBKF, FAA LID: BKF) is a United States Air Force base in Aurora, Colorado, that was established in 1943.
The host wing is the 460th Space Wing, a unit of the Air Force Space Command.
Buckley's mission is to provide combatant commanders with global surveillance, worldwide missile warning, homeland defense, and expeditionary forces.
Contents |
[edit] History
- Source: USAF History[2]
[edit] World War II
During the early years of World War II the city of Denver purchased a 5,740-acre (23 km²) 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.
Under the command of the 336th AAF Base Unit (Army Air Forces Technical Training Command), 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. Air National Guard ownership lasted less than one year when in 1947 the Department of the Navy took charge of the base and renamed it Naval Air Station Denver. The renamed base now housed Naval Air Reserve flying squadrons as well as 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 Air National Guard would remain in control of Buckley for the next 40 years, operating it primarily as a fighter base.
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 and the facility was eventually annexed by the city.
The Air 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. There are currently 10,000 active duty and civilian support personnel assigned to the various units located at the base.
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, augmented by the completion of family housing units - the first ever constructed at the installation.
[edit] Current Host Units
- Source: USAF Today[3]
- 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
- Source: USAF Today[4]
The Base hosts the Colorado Air National Guard(CoANG) and the 120th Tactical Fighter Squadron of F-16 Falcons of the 140th Wing. Both the active and reserve forces of the Guard provide services during national emergencies or war, natural disasters, and civil disturbances. The Guard is an integral part of Noble Eagle mission responsible for 24-hour defense of the land, sea and air of the continental United States.[5]
The Colorado Army National Guard operates the Army Aviation Support Facility at Buckley and is responsible for supplying personnel and equipment for special missions the Army CH-47 Chinook, UH-1 Huey, and UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.
The Air Reserve Personnel Center (ARPC) comprises more than 490 personnel to providing personnel to support the strengths of all forces in the continental USA.
Buckley has 77 other tenants located on and off base, some of which are:
- 140th Wing and its CoANG 120th Fighter Squadron (F-16)
- 566th Intelligence Squadron
- 743rd Military Intelligence Battalion
- Aerospace Data Facility
- Air Force Audit Agency
- Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Detachment 801
- Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC), Detachment 45
- Air Reserve Personnel Center
- Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES)
- Army Aviation Support Facility
- Buckley Support Team
- Colorado Air National Guard
- Colorado Army National Guard
- Colorado Civil Air Patrol
- Combined Task Force
- Continental US NORAD Region
- Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA)
- Ground Based Midcourse Defense
- Headquarters, Joint Force Colorado (HQJF-CO)
- Marine Air Control Squadron 23 (MACS-23)
- Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center
- Bravo Company, Intelligence Support Battalion
- Navy Information Operations Center
- US Army Corps of Engineers
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ FAA Airport Master Record for BKF (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-12-20
- ^ Buckley AFB History Factsheet Official site
- ^ Buckley AFB Units Official site
- ^ Buckley AFB Tenant Units Official site
- ^ Colorado Air National Guard Buckley - official site
- "Buckley Air Force Base 2006 Guide". AQP Publishing Inc.
- Footnote
- This article incorporates text from Buckley Air Force Base, a public domain work of the United States Government.
[edit] External links
- Buckley Air Force Base - official site
- Buckley Air Force Base at GlobalSecurity.org
- FAA Airport Diagram(PDF), effective 5 June 2008
- Resources for this U.S. military airport:
- AirNav airport information for KBKF
- ASN accident history for BKF
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KBKF
- Aerial photo at WikiMapia
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