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Palmerola Air Base is a joint United States and Honduras military base near Comayagua in Honduras. It has the largest runway in Central America, after Comalapa International Airport in San Salvador and Tocumen International Airport in Panama. A large concentration of US troops and the Honduran military Air Force academy. The current official name of the base is Soto Cano Air Base. Oliver North once used Palmerola as a base of operations for the U.S. backed Contras in the 1980s. Now the U.S. military uses Soto Cano as a launching point for its war on drugs efforts in Central America as well as humanitarian aid missions throughout Honduras and Central America.
In addition to the Honduran Air Force Academy, the US military's Joint Task Force Bravo (JTF-B) is headquartered at Soto Cano. JTF-B consists of Medical Element - Military Hospital, Army Forces, Air Force Forces, Joint Security Forces, and the 1st Battalion-228th Aviation Regiment (consisting of some 18 aircraft, a mix of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and CH-47 Chinook helicopters). Total size of JTF-B is approximately 500 troops.
