Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

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Wright-Patterson Air Force Base


U.S. Air Force Museum at Wright-Patt AFB
IATA: FFO – ICAO: KFFO – FAA: FFO
Summary
Airport type Military
Operator United States Air Force
Location Dayton, Ohio
Elevation AMSL 823 ft / 251 m
Coordinates 39°49′34″N, 084°02′54″W
Website www.wpafb.af.mil
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
5L/23R 12,601 3,841 PEM
5R/23L 7,000 2,134 Asphalt
Sources: FAA[1], official website[2].

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (IATA: FFO, ICAO: KFFO, FAA LID: FFO) is a United States Air Force base located in Greene and Montgomery counties, eight miles (13 km) northeast of the central business district of Dayton, Ohio. It is also adjacent to Fairborn, Riverside and Beavercreek. The base is named after the Wright brothers, who used Wright field as their testing ground, and Frank Stuart Patterson, son of NCR Corp. co-founder Frank Jefferson Patterson, who was killed on June 19, 1918, when his DeHavilland DH-4 crashed at Wright Field.

Wright-Patterson AFB is the headquarters of the Air Force Materiel Command, one of the major commands of the Air Force. "Wright-Patt" (as the base is colloquially called) is also the location of a major USAF Medical Center (hospital), the Air Force Institute of Technology, and the National Museum of the United States Air Force, formerly known as the U.S. Air Force Museum.

It is also the home base of the 445th Airlift Wing of the Air Force Reserve Command, which flies the C-5 Galaxy heavy airlifter.

As of the 2000 census, the base had a population of 6,656.

Wright-Patterson is the host of the annual United States Air Force Marathon which occurs the weekend closest to the Air Force's anniversary.

Contents

[edit] Units Located at Wright-Patterson AFB

[edit] Geography

Location of Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
Location of Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio

Wright-Patterson AFB is located at 39°47′55″N, 84°5′2″W (39.798708, -84.083988)GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the U.S. Air Force base has a total area of 30.5 km² (11.8 mi²). 30.3 km² (11.7 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.76%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 6,656 people, 1,754 households, and 1,704 families residing in the U.S. Air Force base. The population density was 219.8/km² (569.2/mi²). There were 2,096 housing units at an average density of 69.2/km² (179.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the U.S. Air Force base is 76.11% White, 15.25% Black or African American, 0.45% Native American, 2.30% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 2.09% from other races, and 3.68% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.45% of the population.

There were 1,754 households out of which 78.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 89.0% were married couples living together, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 2.8% were non-families. 2.6% of all households were made up of individuals and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.60 and the average family size was 3.64.

In the U.S. Air Force base the population is spread out with 42.5% under the age of 18, 11.6% from 18 to 24, 41.5% from 25 to 44, 4.2% from 45 to 64, and 0.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 23 years. For every 100 females there were 105.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.1 males.

The median income for a household in the U.S. Air Force base is $43,342, and the median income for a family was $43,092. Males had a median income of $30,888 versus $21,044 for females. The per capita income for the U.S. Air Force base is $15,341. About 1.6% of families and 1.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.4% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

[edit] History

In 1917 Wilbur Wright Field was opened to train pilots and gunners during World War I, followed shortly by the creation of the adjacent Fairfield Air Depot, in what is today Fairborn, Ohio. In 1924, with the closing of the McCook Field test facility, the Dayton community purchased 4500 acres including the leased area on which Wilbur Wright Field was located and named the combined facility for the Wright Brothers.

Wishing to recognize the contributions of the Patterson family (owners of National Cash Register) the area of Wright Field east of Huffman Dam (including Wilbur Wright Field, Fairfield Air Depot, and the Huffman Prairie) was renamed Patterson Field on July 6, 1931, in honor of Lt. Frank Patterson, who was killed in 1918 while flight testing the synchronization of machine gun and propeller, and nephew of the founder of NCR.

The triangular airfield now the location of the National Museum of the United States Air Force and its adjoining installation remained known as Wright Field, and became the center of Air Corps research and development and flight testing. In 1948, the two fields were merged under the name Wright-Patterson AFB.

Wright Field has been alleged to be the final destination for the debris from the 1947 Roswell UFO incident.

Today, as in the early 1900s, Wright-Patterson is where weapons systems are tested and modified. Missions range from logistics management, research and development, education, flight operations, and many other defense related activities. Wright-Patterson AFB is the home to the Air Force Institute of Technology, the aeronautical research and development center of the U.S. Air Force. It also contains the USAF's high-security National Air & Space Intelligence Center, where in the cold-war era captured Soviet MIGs were brought to what was then known as the Foreign Technology Division for disassembly and testing. Wright Field is also home to a zero-time nuclear reactor, built during the Cold War, but never taken critical.

[edit] Dayton Agreement

The base is also notable for being the site of the Dayton Agreement, also known as the Dayton Accords, the peace agreement that put an end to the three and a half years of Bosnian war, one of the armed conflicts in the former Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia.

Further information: Dayton Agreement

[edit] HQ AFMC-GCCS

Wright-Patt is the home of AFMC-GCCS (Global Command and Control System). A system designed for crisis action planning and that supports multiple secure communication protocols.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ FAA Airport Master Record for FFO (Form 5010 PDF)
  2. ^ Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (official site)

[edit] External links


Greene County, Ohio
Xenia, county seat
Municipalities

Beavercreek | Bellbrook | Bowersville | Cedarville | Fairborn | Jamestown | Kettering | Spring Valley | Xenia | Yellow Springs
Townships

Bath | Beavercreek | Caesarscreek | Cedarville | Jefferson | Miami | New Jasper | Ross | Silvercreek | Spring Valley | Sugarcreek | Xenia
Census-designated places

Shawnee Hills | Wilberforce | Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Other localities

Alpha
Montgomery County, Ohio
Dayton, county seat
Municipalities

Brookville | Carlisle | Centerville | Clayton | Dayton | Englewood | Farmersville | Germantown | Huber Heights | Kettering | Miamisburg | Moraine | New Lebanon | Oakwood | Phillipsburg | Riverside | Springboro | Trotwood | Union | Vandalia | Verona | West Carrollton
Townships

Butler | Clay | German | Harrison | Jackson | Jefferson | Miami | Perry | Washington
Census-designated places

Drexel | Fort McKinley | Northridge | Shiloh | Woodbourne-Hyde Park | Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
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