Peterson Air Force Base Totally Explained

Everything about Peterson Air Force Base totally explained

Peterson Air Force Base is a base of the United States Air Force located at Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States and it provides runways for the adjacent City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport under a shared joint civil-military airport arrangement.
Peterson AFB is home to the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), AFSPC's 21st Space Wing (21 SW), Army Space Command, and the Air Force Reserve's 302d Airlift Wing (302 AW). The 21 SW serves as host unit for Peterson AFB.
The Colorado Springs Post Office (ZIP Code 80914) serves Peterson AFB postal addresses.

History

Peterson AFB was established on May 6, 1942 at the Colorado Springs Municipal Airport. It was renamed on December 13, 1942 from Colorado Springs Army Air Base to Peterson Field in honor of a fallen airman who lost his life in an aircraft crash on the base.
   Initially, Colorado Springs AAF was a center for Reconnaissance pilot training. The 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Reconnaissance Groups trained there in 1942 and early 1943 before being reassigned to one of the overseas theaters. In 1943, the base began heavy bomber combat crew training utilizing the B-24 Liberator. In June 1944 the mission at the base changed again, this time to fighter pilot training employing P–40 Warhawks.
   On 31 December 1945, the Army inactivated the base, turning the property over to the City of Colorado Springs. During the next six years the base was deactivated and reactivated several times, until it finally reactivated for good in 1951 as a joint civil-military airport. In this capacity, it served as the operational airfield supporting the former Ent AFB and later the United States Air Force Academy, NORAD's Cheyenne Mountain Complex and Schriever AFB, a role it continues to perform today. On 1 March 1976, Peterson Field was renamed Peterson Air Force Base while still retaining its joint civil-military status with the City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport.
   Principal military flight operations at Peterson AFB are currently conducted by the 302d Airlift Wing (302 AW), an Air Mobility Command (AMC)-gained unit of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). Previously stationed at the former Rickenbacker AFB, Ohio, the 302 AW relocated to Peterson in 1985. The wing consists of over 1,200 traditional part-time Air Force Reservists and over 200 full-time Air Reserve Technician (ART), Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) and USAF civil service personnel operating and maintaining 13 C-130H Hercules aircraft.
   On 28 July 2006, operations formerly conducted in Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) were relocated to Peterson Air Force Base for purposes of efficiency. The Cheyenne Mountain Complex will be left on warm standby until such time the protection of the mountain is again required. NORAD officials no longer feel there's a threat of an intercontinental nuclear attack which could disrupt NORAD's operations.

Current tenant units

544th Information Operations Group
U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command / U.S. Army Strategic Command (Forward)
302d Airlift Wing
USAF Academy Band
Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC), Detachment 4.

Further Information

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