Editing Sanford, Florida (section)

====Naval aviation====
In 1942, [[Naval Air Station Sanford]] was established, which conducted operational training in the [[Lockheed PV-1 Ventura]], [[Lockheed Hudson|Lockheed PBO Hudson]], [[Grumman F4F Wildcat|Grumman F4F/General Motors FM-1 Wildcat]] and the [[Grumman F6F Hellcat]]. At its peak in 1943–45, NAS Sanford was home to approximately 360 officers, 1500 enlisted men and 150 [[WAVES]] and included an auxiliary airfield to the east near Lake Harney known as Outlying Field Osceola. The base was inactivated and reduced to caretaker status in 1946, but was reactivated in 1950 in response to the [[Korean War]] and the [[Cold War]]. A major construction program ensued, with NAS Sanford redeveloped as a [[Master Jet Base]] for carrier-based [[Douglas A-3 Skywarrior]] and later [[North American A-5 Vigilante|North American A-5A and RA-5C Vigilante]] aircraft.  At its peak in the mid-1960s, the base was home to nearly 4000 military personnel, comprising the air station personnel complement, an Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department, the Navy Dispensary, the Marine Barracks, a Replacement Air Group/Fleet Replacement Squadron for the RA-5C, and nine deployable Fleet RA-5C squadrons that routinely deployed aboard large aircraft carriers to the Mediterranean and the Pacific. The latter were heavily engaged in combat operations during the [[Vietnam War]].

As a result of the increasing costs of the Vietnam War and concurrent federal domestic spending related to President [[Lyndon Johnson]]'s [[Great Society]] social programs, NAS Sanford was one of several stateside military installations identified for closure by the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] in 1967.  Flight operations were rapidly scaled down during 1968 as the squadrons of Reconnaissance Attack Wing ONE transferred to the former Turner AFB, renamed [[Naval Air Station Albany]], Georgia.  This resulted in a significant economic downturn for the City of Sanford and Seminole County with the departure of all military personnel and their families. The airfield was conveyed to the City of Sanford via quitclaim deed by the [[General Services Administration]] (GSA) in 1969, renamed Sanford Airport and redeveloped as a [[general aviation]] facility. Subsequently renamed '''Sanford Regional Airport''', then '''Central Florida Regional Airport''', the airport commenced commercial airline service in 1995 and was renamed '''[[Orlando Sanford International Airport]]''' the following year.  The Navy's presence is commemorated at the airport by two historical markers and the '''NAS Sanford Memorial Park''', which was dedicated on Memorial Day in May 2003 and includes a restored [[RA-5C Vigilante]] on loan from the [[National Naval Aviation Museum]] that was placed on permanent static display at the entrance to the commercial airline terminal.