Eglin AFB
Eglin Air Force Base had a long history with Invaders, receiving some of the first A-26s built during World War II, acting as a testing base for special research projects during their service life, and being the base of operations for some of the last operational Invaders in US Air Force service.
History and Creation
Eglin Air Force Base is located approximately 50 miles east of the famous Pensacola Naval Air Station, and roughly 3 miles southwest of the city of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County on the gulf coast of Florida.
In 1931 the Air Corps Tactical School operating out of Maxwell AFB was looking for a bombing and gunnery range. In 1933 the Valparaiso Airport was created in sparsely populated woodland on 137 acres. This location caught the eye of the Tactical School due to its location and surroundings. The base was established in 1935 as an expansion of the Valparaiso Airport and was called the Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base. In 1938 the base's name was changed to Elgin Air Force Base in honor of Lt. Col. Frederick I. Eglin (1891-1937) who was killed when his Northrop A-17 crashed on a flight from Maxwell AFB, LA to Langley, VA.
Initially the base was rather small, just 137 acres, but on 18 Oct 1940 the US Forest Service ceded 340,000 acres of land from the Choctawhatchee National Forest and gave it to the War Department for use in expanding the base. From Oct 1941 to Oct 1945 the base operated a Fixed Gunnery School and was home to the 75th Flying Training Wing. The base was home to more than 1,000 officers, 10,000 enlisted personnel, and 4,000 civilians.
Weapons Testing
Since 1940 Eglin AFB, then called Eglin Field, has been home to numerous weapons testing programs, thanks in part to the base being declared a proving grounds. In 1942 the base was designated Proving Ground Command. On 28 Oct 1943 the US Army created the Army Air Forces Tactical Center.
On 1 Jul 1945 the Eglin Proving Ground Command was merged with the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics which had operated out of Orland AFB. The new command became known as the Army Air Forces Center.
On 8 Mar 1946 the Army Air Forces Center merged with Proving Ground Command and became known as Army Air Forces Proving Ground Command (AAF PGC). On 10 Jul 1946 this new command was elevated to a Major Command status and on 1 Jul 1948 Eglin Field was renamed to Eglin AFB, which would house the new command.
During all of WWII and up to the 1970s Eglin was tasked with Operational Testing & Evaluation (OT&E) of new weapons systems and platforms. As a result, many special research projects were carried out there. The A-26's 75mm cannon was tested at Eglin Proving Grounds, as was the experimental 105mm cannon. Eglin was also home to the testing of Project Speedee.
Postwar
After WWII ended Eglin continued to be a proving grounds base, but also expanded their operations to include guided missile research. The Air Munitions Development Laboratory was moved from Wright-Patterson AFB to Eglin during 1955.
Special Operations
On 27 Apr 1962 the USAF Special Warfare Center was activated at Hurlburt Field. The first unit organized under this new command was the 1st Combat Applications Group. Its mission was to test and evaluate weapons systems used in Special Warfare cases, specifically Counter-Insurgency (COIN) operations. The SAWC also developed tactical air doctrine that would be employed in COIN battlegrounds, like Southeast Asia. By 1 Nov 1963 the Tactical Air Warfare Center was activated and worked alongside SAWC.
Auxiliary Fields
Eglin was the parent base to 10 Auxiliary Fields, all together called the "Eglin Air Force Base Complex". The list of specific fields are below.
Auxiliary Field 1 - Wager Field. Auxiliary Field 1 is named Wagner Field for Maj. Walter J. Wagner, former commanding officer for the 1st Proving Ground, Eglin Field, who was killed 19 October 1943 in the crash of a Douglas XA-26B, s/n 41-19588, 9 miles east of Eglin Field, Valpariso, FL.
Auxiliary Field 2 - Pierce Field.
Auxiliary Field 3 - Duke Field.
Auxiliary Field 4 - Peel Field.
Auxiliary Field 5 - Piccolo Field.
Auxiliary Field 6 - Biancur Field. Auxiliary Field 6 is named Biancur Field for 1st Lt. Andrew Biancur, a test pilot of the Medium Bombardment Section of the 1st Proving Ground Group, killed 8 January 1944 in the crash of a Northrop YP-61-NO Black Widow at Eglin Field. Biancur's son, Andrew "Andi" Biancur, flew with the 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron and rose to the rank of Lt. Col. before retiring.
Auxiliary Field 7 - Epler Field.
Auxiliary Field 8 - Baldsiefen Field.
Auxiliary Field 9 - Hurlburt Field. Auxiliary Field 9 is named Hurlburt Field for Lt. Donald Wilson Hurlburt, killed 1 October 1943 when his Lockheed AT-18-LO Hudson gunnery trainer[37] crashed during take-off at Eglin. It is the home of the Special Operations Command and was a main Invader Base during Vietnam. It is listed as "Eglin 09" on the USAF Aerospace Vehicle Inventory Report.
Auxiliary Field 10 - Dillon Field.
There is an unpaved airstrip that is sometimes used as part of RED HORSE operations in Walton County that the locals refer to as Auxiliary Field 11, but this is not an official designation.