Editing Eglin Air Force Base (section)

==History==
{{main|History of Eglin Air Force Base}}

===Creation and World War II===
Much of the base was part of a [[United States National Forest|national forest]] until the outbreak of [[World War II]] in Europe when a proving ground for aircraft armament was established at Eglin. The [[United States Forest Service|U.S. Forest Service]] ceded over {{convert|340000|acres|km2}} of the [[Choctawhatchee National Forest]] to the [[United States Department of War|War Department]] on 18 October 1940.

Eglin Air Force Base evolved from the 1933 creation of the Valparaiso Airport, when an arrowhead-shaped parcel of {{convert|137|acre|ha}} was cleared for use as an [[Aerodrome|airdrome]].<ref>Angell, p. 46D.</ref>

In 1931, personnel of the [[Air Corps Tactical School]], newly relocated to [[Maxwell Air Force Base|Maxwell Field]], Alabama, sought a location for a bombing and gunnery range. They saw the potential of the sparsely populated forested areas surrounding Valparaiso and the vast expanse of the adjacent [[Gulf of Mexico]].

From October 1941 to October 1945, a [[United States Army Air Forces|USAAF]] Fixed Gunnery School operated at the base, supervised by the [[75th Flying Training Wing]].

At its peak during World War II, the base employed more than 1,000 officers, 10,000 enlisted personnel and 4,000 civilians.<ref>Hutchinson, Leonard Patrick, "History of the Playground Area of Northwest Florida", Great Outdoors Publishing Co., St. Petersburg, Florida, 1st ed., 1961, no Library of Congress card number, no ISBN, p. 84.</ref>

===Postwar===
[[File:Northrop F-89C.jpg|thumb|A [[F-89 Scorpion|Northrop F-89C]] landing at Eglin Air Force Base in the 1950s|alt=|left]]

After the war, Eglin became a pioneer in developing the techniques for missile launching and handling; and the development of drone or pilotless aircraft beginning with the [[Republic-Ford JB-2|Republic-Ford JB-2 Loon]], an American copy of the [[V-1 (flying bomb)|V-1]]. The [[1st Experimental Guided Missiles Group]] was activated at Eglin Field, Florida, on 6 February 1946, operating out of Auxiliary Field 3. By March 1950, the 550th Guided Missiles Wing, comprising the 1st and 2nd Guided Missile Squadrons, had replaced the 1st Experimental Guided Missiles Group. The 2nd Guided Missile Squadron, SSM, had 62 pilots manning 14 [[B-17]]s, three [[B-29]]s, and four [[F-80 Shooting Star]]s, yellow-tailed drone aircraft used in the role of testing guided missiles.

In December 1955, the Air Munitions Development Laboratory was reassigned from the Wright Air Development Center at [[Wright-Patterson AFB]], Ohio, to the Air Force Armament Center at Eglin by Headquarters Air Research and Development Command. The responsibility for development of guns, bombs, rockets, fuses, guided missile warheads and other related equipment in the armament field was transferred from the Dayton, Ohio facility at this time. Work on nuclear weapons was not included in this mission.<ref>Special, "From Dayton, Ohio – Munitions Lab Is Transferred to Eglin AFAC", ''Playground News'', Fort Walton Beach, Florida, 15 December 1955, Vol. 9, No. 97, p. 1.</ref>

=== 1960s ===
[[File:Eglin Air Force Base - Aircraft Parking Apron.jpg|alt=Eglin AFB aircraft parking apron during 1964|left|thumb|Eglin AFB aircraft parking apron in 1964]]

The USAF Special Air Warfare Center was activated 27 April 1962,<ref name="Mueller">Mueller, Robert, "Air Force Bases Vol. 1: Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982", United States Air Force Historical Research Center, Office of Air Force History, Washington, D.C., 1989, {{ISBN|0-912799-53-6}}, p. 136.</ref> with the 1st Combat Applications Group (CAG) organized as a combat systems development and test agency under the SAWC. The 1st CAG concentrated on testing and evaluation of primarily short-term projects which might improve Air Force [[counter-insurgency]] (COIN) operations. The Special Air Warfare Center, located at [[Hurlburt Field]], undertook to develop tactical air doctrine while training crews for special air warfare in places like [[Southeast Asia]]. By mid-1963, SAW groups were in [[Vietnam]] and [[Panama]].<ref>Wolk, Herman S., [http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-110322-017.pdf "USAF Plans and Policies R&D for Southeast Asia 1965–1967,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423101321/http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-110322-017.pdf |date=23 April 2012 }} Office of Air Force History, Washington, D.C., June 1969, pp. 3–4,</ref>

The USAF Tactical Air Warfare Center was activated on 1 November 1963. It would be re-designated as the USAF Air Warfare Center on 1 October 1991.<ref name="r1">[http://www.eglin.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet_print.asp?fsID=14787&page=1 Eglin Air Force Base – Fact Sheet : History of the 53rd Wing]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717190339/http://www.eglin.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet_print.asp?fsID=14787&page=1 |date=17 July 2011 }}. Eglin.af.mil. Retrieved on 31 October 2011.</ref>

With the increasing [[United States in the Vietnam War|U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia]] in the 1960s, the need for increased emphasis on conventional weapons development made Eglin's mission even more important. On 1 August 1968, the Air Proving Ground Center was redesignated the Armament Development and Test Center to centralize responsibility for research, development, test and evaluation, and initial acquisition of non-nuclear munitions for the Air Force. On 1 October 1979, the center was given division status. The Armament Division, redesignated Munitions Systems Division on 15 March 1989, placed into production the [[precision-guided munitions]] for the [[laser-guided bomb|laser]], [[Television guidance|television]], and [[Infrared homing|infrared]] guided bombs; two anti-armor weapon systems; and an improved hard target weapon, the [[GBU-28]], used in Operation Desert Storm during the [[Persian Gulf War]]. The Division was also responsible for developing the [[Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile]] (AMRAAM), an Air Force-led joint project with the [[U.S. Navy]].

===Late Cold War era===
[[File:McDonnell Douglas RF-4C-40-MC Phantom- 68-0594.jpg|alt=A McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom of the Eglin AFB based 3247th Test Squadron, seen during 1971.|thumb|A [[McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II|McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom]] of the Eglin AFB based [[3247th Test Squadron]], seen in 1971]]

The [[Air Force Armament Museum]] was founded on base in 1975. In 1981 the original building housing the museum was condemned and the facility closed until 1984.

Selected on 27 April 1975, the installation served as one of four main U.S. [[Vietnam]]ese Refugee Processing Centers operated by the Interagency Task Force for Indochina Refugees, where base personnel housed and processed more than 10,000 Southeast Asian refugees, the first 374 of which arrived on board a [[Northwest Airlines|Northwest Orient]] [[Boeing 747]] on 4 May 1975.<ref>Braxton, Sheila, "Refugees Arrive; 514 Due in Today", ''Playground Daily News'', Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Monday 5 May 1975, Volume 30, Number 75, p. 1A.</ref>

In 1978, the USAF Tactical Air Warfare Center assumed responsibility for the USAF Air Ground Operations School. In the same year, the Electronic Warfare Evaluation Program became another one of the USAFTAWC's weapons system evaluation programs, and resulted in the activation of the 4487th Electronic Warfare Aggressor Squadron in 1990.<ref name="r1" />

Construction began in 1984 on the [[Bob Hope Village]], the only retirement facility that caters to enlisted military, opening in February 1985. Residents pay below market value for the 256 independent apartments. Col. Bob Gates, [[Bob Hope]]'s [[USO]] pilot, was key in getting the comedian's support for the undertaking, as well as lending his name to the project. He was named an honorary board member of the foundation in 1978 and held benefit concerts for nearly two decades.<ref>Moore, Mona, "25 years of Hope: Village's annual luau will honor Col. Bob Gates, pilot for comedian Bob Hope", ''Northwest Florida Daily News'', Fort Walton Beach, Florida, 29 May 2010.</ref><ref>[http://www.allbusiness.com/government/government-bodies-offices-government/14554087-1.html 25 years of Hope: Village's annual luau will honor Col. Bob Gates, pilot for comedian Bob Hope | Government > Government Bodies & Offices from]. AllBusiness.com. Retrieved on 31 October 2011. {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

===Post-Cold War===
During a 1992 reorganization, the Air Force disestablished Eglin's parent major command, [[Air Force Systems Command]] (AFSC) and merged its functions with the former [[Air Force Logistics Command]] (AFLC). The newly created major command from this merger, [[Air Force Materiel Command]] (AFMC), remains Eglin's parent command to this day. The Development Test Center, Eglin's host unit, became part of AFMC on 30 June 1992.<ref>Wenzel, Tracy, Daily News Staff Writer, "Eglin host unit is reorganized", Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, 1 July 1992, Vol. 47, No. 146, p. 1B.</ref> The [[46th Test Wing]] replaced the 3246th Test Wing in October 1992.

On 10 August 1994 construction began on the All Conflicts' Veterans War Memorial on the site of the old [[POW]]/[[Missing in action|MIA]] memorial on the western end of Eglin Boulevard. The memorial was dedicated on 15 August 1995.<ref name="Httpwwweglinafmillibraryfactsheetsfactsheetaspid">[http://www.eglin.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=9278 Factsheets : Historical Eglin events in August] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717190211/http://www.eglin.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=9278 |date=17 July 2011 }}. Eglin.af.mil. Retrieved on 31 October 2011.</ref>[[File:33fw-f15-eglin.jpg|thumb|F-15C of the 33d Fighter Wing|alt=|left]]As part of the military drawdown in the 1990s, the Air Force inactivated the [[33d Fighter Wing]]'s [[59th Fighter Squadron]] on 15 April 1999. The wing lost six aircraft and consolidated the remaining aircraft into the [[58th Fighter Squadron|58th]] and [[60th Fighter Squadron]]s. Originally selected for inactivation in 1997, Air Force officials delayed the decision in recognition of the Nomads' connection with [[Khobar Towers]]. The 59th reactivated as the [[59th Test and Evaluation Squadron]] on 3 December 2004, at [[Nellis Air Force Base]], Nevada. The 59th falls under the 53rd Test Management Group at Eglin.<ref name="thedestinlog.com">[http://www.thedestinlog.com/articles/eglin-31522-nwfdn-tragedies-90s.html Reorganization, technology, triumphs and tragedies: Eglin in the '90s | eglin, tragedies, 90s – News]. TheDestinLog.com. Retrieved on 31 October 2011. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016155500/http://www.thedestinlog.com/articles/eglin-31522-nwfdn-tragedies-90s.html |date=16 October 2015 }}</ref>

In July 2012 the [[Air Armament Center]] was inactivated. The center had planned, directed and conducted test and evaluation of U.S. and allied air armament, navigation and guidance systems, and command and controlled systems. It operated two Air Force installations, providing host support not only to Eglin AFB, but also [[Kirtland AFB]], [[New Mexico]]. It had included the Armament Product Directorate (Eglin), the 46th Test Wing (Eglin), the 96th Air Base Wing (Eglin), and the 377th Air Base Wing (Kirtland).

The US Navy's [[VFA-101]] "Grim Reapers" deactivated on 23 May 2019 after seven years of F-35C training at Eglin.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=109696|title=Strike Fighter Squadron 101 Deactivates|date=23 May 2019|website=US Navy|language=en|access-date=13 July 2019|archive-date=26 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226225748/https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=109696|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Base railroad===
{{Main|Eglin Air Force Base Railroad}}
Initial construction of a railroad line into the region had been discussed as early as 1927 as part of the [[Choctawhatchee and Northern Railroad]], though military-use proposals didn't come forward until 1941. German [[POW]]s were used in clearing and grading the alignment during World War II. There was one commercial customer served by the line, a lumber pulp yard at [[Niceville, Florida|Niceville]] which is now community athletic fields. The line was later abandoned in the late 1970s and the southern end, west of State Road 285, lifted by the mid-1980s.