Patrick Air Force Base
From Freepedia
Patrick Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located near Cocoa Beach, Florida, USA. Patrick Air Force Base is home to the 45th Space Wing.
History
Patrick Air Force Base started as the Banana River Naval Air Station which was commissioned on 1 October 1940. The station supported seaplane patrol operations during World War II. It continued to operate as a Navy support base for two years after the war, but the installation was finally deactivated on 1 August 1947.
The Navy transferred the Banana River Naval Air Station to the Air Force on 1 September 1948. The station was renamed the Joint Long Range Proving Ground (JLRPG) Base on 10 June 1949. On 1 October 1949, the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base was transferred from Air Materiel Command to the Air Force Division of the Joint Long Range Proving Ground.
On 17 May 1950, the base was renamed the Long Range Proving Ground Base, but three months later was renamed Patrick Air Force Base, in honor of Major General Mason Patrick.
On 14 May 1951, the Long Range Proving Ground Division was assigned to the newly created Air Research and Development Command (ARDC). The next month the Division was redesignated the Air Force Missile Test Center (AFMTC).
Cost comparison studies done in the early 1950s pointed out the desirability of letting contractors operate the station. The first range contract was signed with Pan American World Services on 31 December 1953. The Air Force Missile Test Center began transferring property and equipment to Pan American at end the of that year. Pan American operated under contract to the Air Force for the next 34 years (until early October 1988). In 1988, the old Range Contract was divided into the Range Technical Services (RTS) and the Launch Base Services (LBS) contracts. The RTS Contract was awarded to Computer Sciences Raytheon (CSR) in June 1988, and the LBS Contract was awarded to Pan American World Services (later known as Johnson Controls) in August 1988.
The Air Force Test Range supported a wide variety of missile and space programs in the 1960s, but the demise of the APOLLO space program and the end of land-based ballistic missile development at Cape Canaveral signaled a downturn in fortunes. On 1 February 1977 the range was inactivated.
The Eastern Space & Missile Center (ESMC) was established on 1 October 1979. In 1990, ESMC was transferred from Air Force Systems Command to Air Force Space Command. On 12 November,1991 ESMC was transformed into the 45th Space Wing.
External Links
- Patrick Air Force Base Homepage
- History of the 45th Wing (Source of History)
- 71st Rescue Squadron reference
