Avon Park Air Force Range
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Avon Park Air Force Range
|
|
|---|---|
| Part of Air Combat Command (ACC) | |
| Located near Avon Park, Florida | |
 Avon Park Air Force Auxiliary Field 25 December 1999 |
|
| Type | Air Force Bombing Range |
| Coordinates | |
| Built | 1941 |
| In use | 1941-Present |
| Controlled by | United States Air Force |
The Avon Park Air Force Range (APAFR) is a United States Air Force bombing range and air-ground training complex in the U.S. state of Florida located southeast of the city of Avon Park.
Contents |
[edit] History
APAFR was first opened during World War II as Avon Park Army Air Field. Its primary mission was training B-17 air crews in air-to-ground bombing.
After World War II, the base was closed and placed in a caretaker status. In 1949, the base was transferred to the newly created US Air Force. It was then renamed Avon Park Air Force Base.
In 1956, the base was renamed again to Avon Park Air Force Range. At this time a major improvement program was begun. At its height, the base spread across 218,000 acres (880 km²).
Over the succeeding years the US Air Force declared much of the land surplus and disposed of it. The last major divestment in 1983 brought the base to its current size.
[edit] Current state
APAFR consists of approximately 106,000 acres (430 km²) of land of which about 82,000 acres (330 km²) are open to the public for recreation. APAFR includes Avon Park Air Force Auxiliary Field (also known as MacDill AFB Auxilary Field, airfield identifers KAGR / AGR). The airfield consists of an 8000 ft main runway, an operational control tower, an aircraft rescue and firefighting facility, and limited ramp and hangar facilities. There are no published instrument approach procedures and the airfield is limited to VFR operations only.
The host unit for the APAFR is the Deployed Unit Complex (DUC), 23rd Wing, Detachment 1, which is a unit of the 23d Wing (23 WG), an Air Combat Command (ACC) composite fighter and rescue wing located at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. In addition to the Avon Park Air Force Range, the DUC also oversees a flight line facility at nearby MacDill AFB for transient military flight crews, maintenance crews and aircraft utilizing the APAFR. This permits visiting squadrons to have ready access to APAFR while concurrently taking advantage of the more robust billeting and maintenance support capabilities at MacDill. This combination of facilities provides extensive, diversified and convenient training airspace and ranges with unique training capabilities for military air, ground and air-to-ground training.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/apafr.htm
- Avon Park Air Force Range Outdoor Recreation Program
- APAFR on Google Maps
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
 |
This United States Air Force article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
