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{{Infobox Airport
{{Infobox military structure
| name = Buckley Air Force Base
|name=Buckley Air Force Base
| nativename = {{small|Part of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC)}}
[[File:Air Force Space Command.png|70px]]
[[File:Air Force Space Command.png|75px|center]]
|partof= Air Force Space Command (AFSPC)
|location= Located near: [[Aurora, Colorado]]
| image = Buckley AFB.png
|coordinates={{coord|39|42|06|N|104|45|06|W|display=inline|name=Buckley AFB}}
| image-width = 250
|image= [[File:Buckley AFB.png|300px]]
| caption = Buckley AFB, facing west into the Rocky Mountains.
|caption= Buckley AFB, looking west with the Colorado Rockies in background. Denver is in foreground.
|code=
|built=1942
|builder=
|materials=
|height=
|used=1948-Present
|demolished=
|condition=
|ownership=
|controlledby={{air force|USA}}
|garrison= [[File:460th Space Wing.png|60px]]<BR>[[460th Space Wing]]
|commanders=
|occupants=
|battles=
|events=
}}

{{Infobox airport
| name = Airfield information
| IATA = BKF
| IATA = BKF
| ICAO = KBKF
| ICAO = KBKF
| FAA = BKF
| FAA = BKF
| type = Military: [[Air Force Base]]
| operator = [[United States Air Force]]
| location = [[Aurora, Colorado]]
| built = 1942
| used = July 1, 1942 - present
| commander = [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] [http://www.buckley.af.mil/library/biographies/bio.asp?id=12437 Clinton Crosier]
| occupants = [[460th Space Wing]]<br/>[[140th Wing]]
| elevation-f = 5,662
| elevation-f = 5,662
| elevation-m = 1,726
| elevation-m = 1,726
| coordinates = {{coord|39|42|06|N|104|45|06|W|type:airport_region:US|display=inline}}
| website = [http://www.buckley.af.mil/ www.buckley.af.mil]
| website = [http://www.buckley.af.mil/ www.buckley.af.mil]
| r1-number = 14/32
| r1-number = 14/32
Line 27: Line 39:
}}
}}


{{Location map|Colorado|label=Buckley AFB
[[File:NAS Denver NAN2-48.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the Naval Air Station Denver in the late 1940s]]
|marksize=6|mark=Red_pog.svg
|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=39|lat_min=42|lat_sec=06
|lon_dir=W|lon_deg=104|lon_min=45|lon_sec=06
|position=right|width=230|float=right
|caption=Location of Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado}}


'''Buckley Air Force Base''' {{Airport codes|BKF|KBKF|BKF}} is a [[United States Air Force]] base in [[Aurora, Colorado]], that was established by the [[U.S. Army]] in 1943. The base was named in honor of the [[World War I]] Army pilot [[United States Army officer rank insignia|1LT]] John Harold Buckley.
'''Buckley Air Force Base''' {{Airport codes|BKF|KBKF|BKF}} is a [[United States Air Force]] base in [[Aurora, Colorado]], that was established by the [[U.S. Army]] in 1943. The base was named in honor of the [[World War I]] Army pilot [[United States Army officer rank insignia|1LT]] John Harold Buckley.


==Overview==
The host wing of Buckley Air Force Base is the [[460th Space Wing]], a unit of the U.S. [[Air Force Space Command]].
Buckley Air Force Base is an [[Air Force Space Command]] base that serves more than 92,000 active duty, National Guard, Reserve and retired personnel throughout the Front Range community. Buckley AFB defends America through its air operations, space-based missile warning capabilities, space surveillance operations, space communications operations and support functions.<ref name="BAFB">[http://www.buckley.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=4455 Buckley AFB Tenant Units] Official site</ref>


==History==
==Units==
The mission of Buckley Air Force Base's host unit, the [[460th Space Wing]] is to deliver global infrared surveillance, tracking missile warning for theater and homeland defense and provide combatant commanders with expeditionary warrior Airmen. The 460th Space Wing is broken into three groups, each responsible for a distinct part of the Buckley Air Force Base mission.<ref name="BAFB"/>


* 460th Operations Group
:''Source: USAF History''<ref>[http://www.buckley.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=4421 Buckley AFB History Factsheet] Official site</ref>
: Provides missile warning, missile defense, technical intelligence, satellite command and control, battlespace characterization and robust communications. The group's team of space professionals operates the Defense Support Program satellite, which provides continuous global surveillance, tracking and targeting.<ref name="BAFB"/>


* 460th Mission Support Group
: Provides trained personnel to support the Air Expeditionary Forces and Homeland Defense. The group is responsible for force protection, quality of life, human resources, contracting, logistics, base infrastructure and environmental stewardship support to the 460th SW, its customers and the base operational missions.<ref name="BAFB"/>

* 460th Medical Group
: Supports military readiness to the Air Expeditionary Forces and Homeland Defense missions by ensuring base personnel are medically qualified for deployments and providing health care, life skills support, family advocacy, aerospace medicine, public health, bioenvironmental engineering, optometry, ancillary services health and wellness services and dental care.<ref name="BAFB"/>

The base also hosts the [[Colorado Air National Guard]] [[120th Fighter Squadron]] and its [[F-16 Fighting Falcon|F-16C]] fighters, the 140th Wing also includes the [[Air Mobility Command]]'s 200th Airlift Squadron, operating the [[C-21]] Learjet; the [[Air Force Space Command]]'s 137th Space Warning Squadron; and the [[Pacific Air Forces]]'s 240th Civil Engineering Flight. Air National Guardsmen of the Colorado Air National Guard provide services during national emergencies or wartime and natural disasters. The Colorado Air National Guard is an integral part of the Operation Noble Eagle mission responsible for the 24-hour-a-day defense of the land, sea, and air of the [[United States]].<ref>[http://www.cobuck.ang.af.mil/ Colorado Air National Guard Buckley] - official site</ref>

The ANG's state and federal mission is to provide trained, well-equipped men and women who can augment the active force during national emergencies or war, and provide assistance during natural disasters and civil disturbances. The guard plays a significant role in the Noble Eagle mission responsible for 24-hour defense of the land, sea and air of the continental United States.<ref name="BAFB"/>

The [[Colorado Army National Guard]] operates the Army Aviation Support Facility at Buckley AFB and is responsible for supplying personnel and equipment for [[CH-47]] Chinook, [[UH-1]] Huey, and [[UH-60]] Blackhawk helicopters.<ref name="BAFB"/>

==Tenant Units==
77 tenant units call Buckley AFB "Home".

* On-base units include:
: The Aerospace Data Facility, the 140th Wing, 566th Information Operations Squadron, Air Force Office of Special Investigation, Det. 801, Marine Air Control Squadron 23, Navy Marine Corps Reserve Center, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Civil Air Patrol, Army Air Force Exchange Service, Air Force Audit Agency, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, Air Force Technical Applications Center Det. 45, Defense Commissary Agency, Defense Contract Manager Agency, Army Aviation Support Facility and Battery A, 1st Battalion, 14th Marines.<ref name="BAFB"/>

* Off-base tenant units supported by Buckley Air Force Base include:
: The [[Air Reserve Personnel Center]] (ARPC), which is physically located off Buckley at the former [[Lowry AFB]] in Denver. ARPC manages personnel records for the [[Air National Guard]] and [[Air Force Reserve Command]] and maintains the virtual Personnel Center - Guard and Reserve, a Web-based portal for Air Guardsmen and Air Force Reservists. With over 490 military and civilian personnel, ARPC also performs other personnel services and transactions in support Air Reserve Component forces in the continental United States, as well as Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. <ref name="BAFB"/>

: The 4th Manpower Requirements Squadron, Air Force Accounting and Finance Office, Defense Information Service Agency, Air Force Institute of Technology, Air Force Office of Special Investigation, Det. 110, Air Reserve Personnel Center, Defense Automated Printing Service, Defense Security Cooperation Agency (FMS), SBIRS Combine Task Force, HQ Air Force Weather Agency, ROTC Det. 105, Department of Defense Inspector General, Military Entrance Processing Station, Naval Reserve Recruiting Area West 7, Rocky Mountain Arsenal and the U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion.<ref name="BAFB"/>

==History==
===World War II===
===World War II===
[[File:NAS Denver NAN2-48.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the Naval Air Station Denver in the late 1940s]]
During the early years of [[World War II]] the city of [[Denver, Colorado|Denver]] purchased a {{convert|5740|acre|km2|0|sing=on}} 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 [[First Lieutenant|1st Lt.]] John Harold Buckley, a [[Longmont, Colorado]], native, who was killed while on a combat strafing mission behind enemy lines in [[France]] on September 17, 1918.
During the early years of [[World War II]] the city of [[Denver, Colorado|Denver]] purchased a {{convert|5740|acre|km2|0|sing=on}} 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 [[First Lieutenant|1st Lt.]] John Harold Buckley, a [[Longmont, Colorado]], native, who was killed while on a combat strafing mission behind enemy lines in [[France]] on September 17, 1918.


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===The Cold War years===
===The Cold War years===

With World War II over, Buckley Field's military role quickly diminished, and in 1946 it became an auxiliary field of the 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, and then in 1947 the [[Department of the Navy]] took charge of the base and renamed it Naval Air Station Denver. The renamed base was the location of Naval Air Reserve aviation squadrons, as well as for veterans and their families waiting to return to civilian life. Thousands of veterans returned to civilian life here over the next four years, while Naval Air Reservists concurrently conducted operational training. The Navy remained here for 12 years before decommissioning its base on June 30, 1959, and transferring it back to the U.S. Air Force (which had not existed before 1947), which renamed the facility Buckley Air Force Base. However, the Naval Reserve remained at Buckley as tenant activity known as Naval Air Reserve Center Denver, the predecessor of the present day Navy Operational Support Center Denver.
With World War II over, Buckley Field's military role quickly diminished, and in 1946 it became an auxiliary field of the 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, and then in 1947 the [[Department of the Navy]] took charge of the base and renamed it Naval Air Station Denver. The renamed base was the location of Naval Air Reserve aviation squadrons, as well as for veterans and their families waiting to return to civilian life. Thousands of veterans returned to civilian life here over the next four years, while Naval Air Reservists concurrently conducted operational training. The Navy remained here for 12 years before decommissioning its base on June 30, 1959, and transferring it back to the U.S. Air Force (which had not existed before 1947), which renamed the facility Buckley Air Force Base. However, the Naval Reserve remained at Buckley as tenant activity known as Naval Air Reserve Center Denver, the predecessor of the present day Navy Operational Support Center Denver.


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* ''154th Tactical Air Support Group'', an [[Air National Guard]] (ANG) unit trained to provide [[close air support]] for [[United States Army]] ground operations. The 154th Group had its own truck-mounted tactical [[radar]] units and radar-control vans, but no aircraft were assigned to the [[Group (air force unit)|Group]]. (circa 1970 through 1989)
* ''154th Tactical Air Support Group'', an [[Air National Guard]] (ANG) unit trained to provide [[close air support]] for [[United States Army]] ground operations. The 154th Group had its own truck-mounted tactical [[radar]] units and radar-control vans, but no aircraft were assigned to the [[Group (air force unit)|Group]]. (circa 1970 through 1989)


===Modern era===
===Recent and current activities===
[[File:Air Force Space Command.png|thumb|Buckley AFB, 9 October 1999]]

Although the Cold War ended in the early 1990s, the 120th Tactical Fighter Wing did not see any decrease in its responsibilities. This Fighter Wing deployed from Buckley Field numerous times during the decade of the 1990s to take part in various military operations such as [[Operation Desert Storm]], [[Operation Northern Watch]], and [[Operation Iraqi Freedom]].
Although the Cold War ended in the early 1990s, the 120th Tactical Fighter Wing did not see any decrease in its responsibilities. This Fighter Wing deployed from Buckley Field numerous times during the decade of the 1990s to take part in various military operations such as [[Operation Desert Storm]], [[Operation Northern Watch]], and [[Operation Iraqi Freedom]].


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Since the return of Buckley Field to the Air Force in 2000, the air base has seen an unprecedented amount of new construction and modernization. New enlisted airmen's dormitories, the commissary, the base exchange, and the fitness center have all been completed, augmented by the completion of family housing units - the first ones ever constructed at Buckley Field.
Since the return of Buckley Field to the Air Force in 2000, the air base has seen an unprecedented amount of new construction and modernization. New enlisted airmen's dormitories, the commissary, the base exchange, and the fitness center have all been completed, augmented by the completion of family housing units - the first ones ever constructed at Buckley Field.

==Current host units==
:''Source: USAF Today''<ref>[http://www.buckley.af.mil/units/ Buckley AFB Units] Official site</ref>
*[[460th Space Wing]]
**460th Operations Group
***[[2d Space Warning Squadron]]
***460th Space Communications Squadron
***460th Operations Support Squadron
**460th Medical Group
***460th Medical Operations Division
***460th Aerospace Medicine Division
**460th Mission Support Group
***460th Civil Engineer Squadron
***460th Contracting Squadron
***460th Logistics Readiness Squadron
***460th Force Support Squadron
***460th Security Forces Squadron
***460th Services Division
**460th Comptroller Squadron

==Current tenant units==
:''Source: USAF Today''<ref>[http://www.buckley.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=4455 Buckley AFB Tenant Units] Official site</ref>

[[File:Air Combat Command.png|100px|right]][[File:Air Mobility Command.png|100px|right]][[File:Air Force Space Command.png|100px|right]][[File:Pacific Air Forces.png|100px|right]][[File:Air National Guard.png|100px|right]] The largest tenant unit at Buckley AFB is the [[140th Wing]] (140 WG) of the [[Colorado Air National Guard]] (CoANG), which formerly functioned as host unit when Buckley was under [[Air National Guard]] (ANG) control as '''Buckley ANGB'''.

Primarily focused around the [[Air Combat Command]]'s [[120th Fighter Squadron]] and its [[F-16 Fighting Falcon|F-16C]] fighters, the 140th Wing also includes the [[Air Mobility Command]]'s 200th Airlift Squadron, operating the [[C-21]] Learjet; the [[Air Force Space Command]]'s 137th Space Warning Squadron; and the [[Pacific Air Forces]]'s 240th Civil Engineering Flight. Air National Guardsmen of the Colorado Air National Guard provide services during national emergencies or wartime and natural disasters. The Colorado Air National Guard is an integral part of the Operation Noble Eagle mission responsible for the 24-hour-a-day defense of the land, sea, and air of the [[United States]].<ref>[http://www.cobuck.ang.af.mil/ Colorado Air National Guard Buckley] - official site</ref>

The [[Colorado Army National Guard]] operates the Army Aviation Support Facility at Buckley AFB and is responsible for supplying personnel and equipment for [[CH-47]] Chinook, [[UH-1]] Huey, and [[UH-60]] Blackhawk helicopters.

Buckley AFB also supports the [[Air Reserve Personnel Center]] (ARPC), which is physically located off Buckley at the former [[Lowry AFB]] in Denver. ARPC manages personnel records for the [[Air National Guard]] and [[Air Force Reserve Command]] and maintains the virtual Personnel Center - Guard and Reserve, a Web-based portal for Air Guardsmen and Air Force Reservists. With over 490 military and civilian personnel, ARPC also performs other personnel services and transactions in support Air Reserve Component forces in the continental United States, as well as Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

Buckley has 77 other tenants located on and off base, some of which are:

*[[140th Wing]] (140 WG), and its [[120th Fighter Squadron]] ([[F-16]])
*[[566th Intelligence Squadron]]
*743rd Military Intelligence Battalion
*8th Civil Support Team (CST/WMD)
*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 Headquarters
*Colorado Army National Guard Headquarters
*<!--[[Colorado Wing Civil Air Patrol|-->Headquarters, Colorado Wing, Civil Air Patrol
*Combined Task Force
*Continental US NORAD Region
*Denver Security Operations Center (Formerly the Denver Regional SIGINT Operations Center)
*[[Defense Commissary Agency]] (DeCA)
*Ground Based Midcourse Defense
*Headquarters, Joint Force Colorado (HQJF-CO)
*Company A, Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion
*[[Marine Air Control Squadron 23]] (MACS-23)
*Navy Operational Support Center Denver
*Marine Corps Reserve Center Denver
*Bravo Company, Intelligence Support Battalion
*Navy Information Operations Center
*US Army Corps of Engineers
*Financial Management Center of Expertise (Based at the former Lowry AFB)
*710 Security Forces Sq. (Formerly based at Lowry AFB annex)


==See also==
==See also==
{{portal box | Military of the United States | United States Air Force}}
* [[NORAD]]
* [[NORAD]]
* [[Colorado World War II Army Airfields]]
* [[Colorado World War II Army Airfields]]


==References==
==References==
{{portal box | Military of the United States | United States Air Force}}
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

==Other sources==
{{refbegin}}
{{refbegin}}
* Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC, 2004.
* Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC, 2004.

Revision as of 13:01, 18 July 2011

Buckley Air Force Base
Part of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC)
Located near: Aurora, Colorado
Buckley AFB, looking west with the Colorado Rockies in background. Denver is in foreground.
Coordinates39°42′06″N 104°45′06″W / 39.70167°N 104.75167°W / 39.70167; -104.75167 (Buckley AFB)
Site information
Controlled by United States Air Force
Site history
Built1942
In use1948-Present
Garrison information
Garrison
460th Space Wing
Airfield information
Summary
Elevation AMSL5,662 ft / 1,726 m
Websitewww.buckley.af.mil
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
14/32 11,000 3,353 PEM
Buckley AFB is located in Colorado
Buckley AFB
Buckley AFB
class=notpageimage|
Location of Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado

Buckley Air Force Base (IATA: BKF, ICAO: KBKF, FAA LID: BKF) is a United States Air Force base in Aurora, Colorado, that was established by the U.S. Army in 1943. The base was named in honor of the World War I Army pilot 1LT John Harold Buckley.

Overview

Buckley Air Force Base is an Air Force Space Command base that serves more than 92,000 active duty, National Guard, Reserve and retired personnel throughout the Front Range community. Buckley AFB defends America through its air operations, space-based missile warning capabilities, space surveillance operations, space communications operations and support functions.[2]

Units

The mission of Buckley Air Force Base's host unit, the 460th Space Wing is to deliver global infrared surveillance, tracking missile warning for theater and homeland defense and provide combatant commanders with expeditionary warrior Airmen. The 460th Space Wing is broken into three groups, each responsible for a distinct part of the Buckley Air Force Base mission.[2]

  • 460th Operations Group
Provides missile warning, missile defense, technical intelligence, satellite command and control, battlespace characterization and robust communications. The group's team of space professionals operates the Defense Support Program satellite, which provides continuous global surveillance, tracking and targeting.[2]
  • 460th Mission Support Group
Provides trained personnel to support the Air Expeditionary Forces and Homeland Defense. The group is responsible for force protection, quality of life, human resources, contracting, logistics, base infrastructure and environmental stewardship support to the 460th SW, its customers and the base operational missions.[2]
  • 460th Medical Group
Supports military readiness to the Air Expeditionary Forces and Homeland Defense missions by ensuring base personnel are medically qualified for deployments and providing health care, life skills support, family advocacy, aerospace medicine, public health, bioenvironmental engineering, optometry, ancillary services health and wellness services and dental care.[2]

The base also hosts the Colorado Air National Guard 120th Fighter Squadron and its F-16C fighters, the 140th Wing also includes the Air Mobility Command's 200th Airlift Squadron, operating the C-21 Learjet; the Air Force Space Command's 137th Space Warning Squadron; and the Pacific Air Forces's 240th Civil Engineering Flight. Air National Guardsmen of the Colorado Air National Guard provide services during national emergencies or wartime and natural disasters. The Colorado Air National Guard is an integral part of the Operation Noble Eagle mission responsible for the 24-hour-a-day defense of the land, sea, and air of the United States.[3]

The ANG's state and federal mission is to provide trained, well-equipped men and women who can augment the active force during national emergencies or war, and provide assistance during natural disasters and civil disturbances. The guard plays a significant role in the Noble Eagle mission responsible for 24-hour defense of the land, sea and air of the continental United States.[2]

The Colorado Army National Guard operates the Army Aviation Support Facility at Buckley AFB and is responsible for supplying personnel and equipment for CH-47 Chinook, UH-1 Huey, and UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.[2]

Tenant Units

77 tenant units call Buckley AFB "Home".

  • On-base units include:
The Aerospace Data Facility, the 140th Wing, 566th Information Operations Squadron, Air Force Office of Special Investigation, Det. 801, Marine Air Control Squadron 23, Navy Marine Corps Reserve Center, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Civil Air Patrol, Army Air Force Exchange Service, Air Force Audit Agency, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, Air Force Technical Applications Center Det. 45, Defense Commissary Agency, Defense Contract Manager Agency, Army Aviation Support Facility and Battery A, 1st Battalion, 14th Marines.[2]
  • Off-base tenant units supported by Buckley Air Force Base include:
The Air Reserve Personnel Center (ARPC), which is physically located off Buckley at the former Lowry AFB in Denver. ARPC manages personnel records for the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command and maintains the virtual Personnel Center - Guard and Reserve, a Web-based portal for Air Guardsmen and Air Force Reservists. With over 490 military and civilian personnel, ARPC also performs other personnel services and transactions in support Air Reserve Component forces in the continental United States, as well as Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. [2]
The 4th Manpower Requirements Squadron, Air Force Accounting and Finance Office, Defense Information Service Agency, Air Force Institute of Technology, Air Force Office of Special Investigation, Det. 110, Air Reserve Personnel Center, Defense Automated Printing Service, Defense Security Cooperation Agency (FMS), SBIRS Combine Task Force, HQ Air Force Weather Agency, ROTC Det. 105, Department of Defense Inspector General, Military Entrance Processing Station, Naval Reserve Recruiting Area West 7, Rocky Mountain Arsenal and the U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion.[2]

History

World War II

Aerial view of the Naval Air Station Denver in the late 1940s

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 was killed while on a combat strafing mission behind enemy lines in France on September 17, 1918.

Under the command of the 336th AAF Base Unit (Army Air Forces Technical Training Command), construction on this air base began in early 1942, and that resulted in the construction of over 700 buildings. On 1 July 1942, the U.S. Army Air Corps Technical Training School there opened. It consisted of bombardier and armorer training for aircrewmen on the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bombers. During World War II, Buckley Field also trained over 50,000 airmen in initial basic training.

The Cold War years

With World War II over, Buckley Field's military role quickly diminished, and in 1946 it became an auxiliary field of the 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, and then in 1947 the Department of the Navy took charge of the base and renamed it Naval Air Station Denver. The renamed base was the location of Naval Air Reserve aviation squadrons, as well as for veterans and their families waiting to return to civilian life. Thousands of veterans returned to civilian life here over the next four years, while Naval Air Reservists concurrently conducted operational training. The Navy remained here for 12 years before decommissioning its base on June 30, 1959, and transferring it back to the U.S. Air Force (which had not existed before 1947), which renamed the facility Buckley Air Force Base. However, the Naval Reserve remained at Buckley as tenant activity known as Naval Air Reserve Center Denver, the predecessor of the present day Navy Operational Support Center Denver.

Buckley Field once again became the Buckley Air National Guard Base on April 18, 1960. At the same time, it became the first stand-alone Air National Guard base in the country. The Colorado Air National Guard remained in control of Buckley Field for the next 40 years, operating it 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 USS Pueblo crisis, and the Vietnam War.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the growth of Aurora, Denver's eastern neighbor, edged toward Buckley Field, and the land of the air base was eventually annexed by that city, although the installation remains U.S. Government property under Federal vice municipal jurisidction.

Other tenant units at Buckley Field during the Cold War era included the:

Modern era

Although the Cold War ended in the early 1990s, the 120th Tactical Fighter Wing did not see any decrease in its responsibilities. This Fighter Wing deployed from Buckley Field numerous times during the decade of the 1990s to take part in various military operations such as Operation Desert Storm, Operation Northern Watch, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In October 2000, the Buckley Air National Guard base was transferred to U.S. Air Force control, and it was renamed the Buckley Air Force Base.

Since the return of Buckley Field to the Air Force in 2000, the air base has seen an unprecedented amount of new construction and modernization. New enlisted airmen's dormitories, the commissary, the base exchange, and the fitness center have all been completed, augmented by the completion of family housing units - the first ones ever constructed at Buckley Field.

See also

References

  1. ^ FAA Airport Form 5010 for BKF PDF, effective 2007-12-20
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Buckley AFB Tenant Units Official site
  3. ^ Colorado Air National Guard Buckley - official site
  • Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC, 2004.
  • Manning, Thomas A. (2005), History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942-2002. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas ASIN: B000NYX3PC
  • "Buckley Air Force Base 2006 Guide". AQP Publishing Inc.
  • Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Buckley Air Force Base
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Buckley ANGB.


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