Maxwell Air Force Base

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Maxwell Air Force Base
IATA: MXF - ICAO: KMXF
Summary
Airport type		Military
Operator		U.S. Air Force
Elevation AMSL		171 ft (52.1 m)
Coordinates		32°22′45″N, 86°21′45″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
15/33	8,006	2,440	Asphalt
18/36	3,000	914	Asphalt

Maxwell Air Force Base (IATA: MXF, ICAO: KMXF), officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) facility near Montgomery, Alabama, in Montgomery County, in the United States. It is the headquarters of Air University, a major component of Air Education and Training Command, and is the Air Force's center for Professional Military Education (PME). The host unit is the 42nd Air Base Wing. Maxwell AFB hosts Air Force Officer Training School, one of the USAF commissioning sources. As of 2007, the base is one of two that host Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps summer field training encampments and will be the only base starting in Summer 2008. The Civil Air Patrol holds headquarters at Maxwell. Also at Maxwell are the USAF Reserve 908th Airlift Wing and 357th Airlift Squadron, which operates eight C-130H aircraft.

[edit] History

Toward the end of February 1910, the Wright Brothers decided to open one of the world's earliest flying schools at the site that would subsequently become Maxwell AFB. The Wrights taught the principles of flying, including take-offs, balancing, turns, and landings. The first recorded heavier-than-air night flights in aviation history occurred at the Alabama field on 25 May 1910. The school closed on May 27.

The field served as a repair depot during World War I. In fact, the depot built the first plane made in Montgomery and exhibited it at the field on 20 September 1918. Repair activity at the depot was sharply curtailed at the end of the war. The field went through several name changes; but, finally, on 8 November 1922, the War Department redesignated the depot as Maxwell Field. The depot's first official flying mission was carried out after that. Observation missions originated there in 1927–1929. Pilots from the field were also involved in completing the first leg of a test designed to establish an airmail route between the Gulf Coast and the northern Great Lakes area. The successful test played a major role in the eventual establishment of permanent airmail service in the Southeast.

In March 1929, personnel at Maxwell provided flood relief to citizens of Montgomery. This was the first time at which food and supplies were airdropped by U.S. military forces during a major civilian emergency.

One of the school's notable achievements was its development of two aerial acrobatic teams: the Flying Trapezers, in 1932, and the Skylarks, in 1935. In 1940, it was announced that the installation was to be converted into a pilot-training center. During following years, Maxwell was home to six different schools that trained U.S. military aviators and their support teams for wartime service. As World War II progressed, the number of required pilot trainees declined, and the Army Air Forces decided not to send more aircrew trainees to Maxwell Field. However, in July 1943, the Army Air Forces announced a specialized school for pilots of four-engine aircraft. The first B-24 Liberator landed at the field later that month. In early 1945, B-29 Superfortress bomber training replaced the B-24 program.

Air University, an institution providing continuing military education for Air Force personnel, was established at Maxwell in 1946. Today, it remains the main focus of base activities.