Eglin AFB Florida FL Warrant Search

Eglin Air Force Base Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) (IATA: VPS, ICAO: KVPS, FAA LID: VPS) is a United States Air Force base located approximately 3 miles (5 kilometers) southwest of Valparaiso, Florida in Okaloosa County.The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Air Base Wing (96 ABW) assigned to the Air Force Materiel Command Air Armament Center. The 96 ABW supports the Air Armament Center and other tenant units of the installation with traditional military services as well as all the services of a small city, to include civil engineering, personnel, logistics, communications, computer, medical, security.Eglin AFB was established in 1935 as the Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base. It is named in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Fredrick I. Eglin (1891–1937), who was killed in a crash of his Northrop A-17 pursuit aircraft on a flight from Langley to Maxwell Field, Alabama. The 96th Air Base Wing is commanded by Colonel Sal M. Nodjomian. Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Thomas S. Westermeyer. Overview Eglin is the home of the Air Armament Center (AAC) and is one of three product centers in the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC). Serving as the focal point for all Air Force armaments, the AAC is the center responsible for the development, acquisition, testing, deployment and sustainment of all air-delivered weapons.The center plans, directs and conducts test and evaluation of U.S. and allied air armament, navigation and guidance systems, and command and control systems and supports the largest single base mobility commitment in the Air Force. AAC accomplishes its mission through three components – the 46th Test Wing, 96th Air Base Wing, and the 308th Armament Systems Wing.AAC is the focal point for the acquisition of the world's most advanced armament products. The center engages in scientific research, system management, production, operational performance, business management, requirements definition, customer and engineering support, technology planning, materiel identification, and field support activities.Some of the major programs managed by the center include the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile, High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile, HARM Targeting System, Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, Joint Direct Attack Munition, Miniature Air Launched Decoy, Sensor Fuzed Weapon and the Small Diameter Bomb. Units The host wing at Eglin is the 96th Air Base Wing (96 ABW) whose mission consists of supporting the Air Armament Center and the myriad of tenant commands and associate units with traditional military services as well as all the services of a small city, to include civil engineering, personnel, logistics, communications, computer, medical, security, and all other host services. Critical to the success of Eglin’s mission, the 96th Air Base Wing provides a large number of base operating support functions.The residential portion of the base is a census-designated place; its population was 8,082 at the 2000 census. The base covers 463,128 acres (1,874.2 km²). Major units Air Armament Center(AAC) Armament Product Directorate (Eglin AFB, FL) 46th Test Wing (Eglin AFB, FL) 96th Air Base Wing (Eglin AFB, FL) 377th Air Base Wing (Kirtland AFB, NM) 46th Test Wing(46 TW) 96th Air Base Wing(96 ABW) 33d Fighter Wing(33 FW) 58th Fighter Squadron(Blue tail stripe) 60th Fighter Squadron(Red tail stripe) 53d Wing(53 WG) 49th Test and Evaluation Squadron(a squadron attached to the 53d Wing but located atBarksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana)The squadron plans, executes and reports ACC's weapon system evaluation programs for bombers (B-52,B-1andB-2) and nuclear-capable fighters (F-15E Strike EagleandF-16). These evaluations include operational effectiveness and suitability, command and control, performance of aircraft hardware and software systems, employment tactics, and accuracy and reliability of associated precision weapons. These weapons include air-launched cruise missiles, standoff missiles, and gravity bombs. Results and conclusions support acquisition decisions and development of war plans. The unit also performs operational testing on new systems and tactics development for the B-52. 308th Armament Systems Wing(308 ASW) The mission of the 308 ASW is to equip warfighters with strike weapons to fight and win decisively. The wing designs, develops, produces, fields, and sustains a family of air-to-ground munitions, enhancing warfighter capabilities (both U.S. and Allies) in defeating a spectrum of enemy targets.AFRL Munitions Directorate (AFRL/RW) 7th Special Forces Group(7th SFG) Other units 919th Special Operations Wing(919 SOW) 20th Space Control Squadron(20 SCS) 6th Ranger Training Battalion(6th RTB) Naval School of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) The Joint Fires Integration and Interoperability Team (JFIIT) AFOTEC Det 2 728th Air Control Squadron Previous Names Established as Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base, 14 June 1935 Eglin Field, 4 August 1937 Eglin Field Military Reservation, 1 October 1940 Eglin Field, 28 December 1944 Eglin Air Force Base, 24 June 1948–present Auxiliary fields Auxiliary Field 1 is namedWagner Fieldfor Maj. Walter J. Wagner, former commanding officer for the 1st Proving Ground, Eglin Field, who was killed 10 October 1943 in the crash ofAT-6C-NT Texan,41-32187, c/n 88-9677, at Auxiliary Field 2. MuchDoolittle RaidandOperation Credible Sporttraining took place here. Auxiliary Field 2 is named Pierce Field for Lt. Col. George E. Pierce, killed 19 January 1942 while pilotingB-25C-1 Mitchell,41-13118, which crashed into theGulf of Mexico2 miles (3.2 km) S ofDestin, Florida.Joe Baughercites date of 19 October 1942 for loss. Auxiliary Field 3 is namedDuke Fieldfor 1st Lt Robert L. Duke, killed in the crash ofCurtiss A-25A-20-CS Shrike,42-79823, nearSpencer, Tennessee, on 29 December 1943. He was assigned as Assistant A-3 ofEglin Field.Used as the set for the fictional 918th Bomb Group in the 1949 filmTwelve O'Clock High. Aircraft were 'sanitized' (stripped of all identification) here for the failedBay of Pigsinvasion of Cuba. Auxiliary Field 4 is named Peel Field for 2nd Lt. Garland O. Peel Jr., who died in the crash ofMartin B-12AM,33-262, 2 January 1942. He was a gunnery school instructor at Eglin.Peel Field was utilized for the filming of scenes for the 1944 filmThirty Seconds Over Tokyo. Auxiliary Field 5 is named Piccolo Field for Capt. Anthony D. Piccolo, who died in the crash ofAT-6A Texan,41-16372, on 6 October 1942. Piccolo was the commanding officer of the 386th Single Engine Gunnery Training Squadron at Eglin. Today, the area is due north of Field Four and serves as a microwave station. On most base maps, it is identified as Site C-4. 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 ofYP-61-NO Black Widow,41-18883, c/n 711, atEglin Field. The U.S. Army Ranger facilityCamp Rudderis located here. Auxiliary Field 7 is named Epler Field for Col. Robin E. Epler, deputy commander (Technical) of theAir Proving Ground Command,Eglin Field, Florida, killed 28 January 1944 in the crash ofA-20G-10-DO Havoc,42-54016, one mile (1.6 km) NE ofCrestview, Florida. Auxiliary Field 8 is named Baldsiefen Field for 2nd Lt. Richard Edward Baldsiefen, a gunnery instructor at Eglin, killed 4 March 1942 along with Lt. John W. Smith, in the crash ofAT-6A Texan,41-528, which came down at Auxiliary Field 4. Auxiliary Field 9 is namedHurlburt Fieldfor Lt. Donald Wilson Hurlburt, killed 1 October 1943 when hisLockheedAT-18-LO Hudsongunnery trainer,42-55591, c/n 414-7313, crashed during take-off at Eglin. After flying combat missions from Great Britain and receiving theDistinguished Flying Cross (DFC), Hurlburt was assigned in mid-1943 to the First Proving Ground Electronics Test Unit at Eglin Field. Field 9 was named in his honor by base commander General Grandison Gardner. Hurlburt's nephew was CaptainCraig D. Button(noted for his mysterious flight and crash of an A-10 Thunderbolt on 2 April 1997). It should be noted that an official history of Eglin AFB's early years cites 2 October 1943 as the date of this accident. Auxiliary Field 10 is named Dillon Field for Capt. Barclay H. Dillon, test pilot of the Fighter Section of the 1st Proving Ground Group, killed 2 October 1943 whenP-38J-5-LO Lightning,42-67103, crashed 8 miles (13 km) W ofMilton, Florida.Field 10 was later named Eglin Dillon Airdrome.Now used primarily for U.S. Navy basic flight training, the Navy refers to it asOutlying Field Choctaw(OLF). Auxiliary Field 11 is an unconfirmed name for aRED HORSEunsurfaced airstrip that shows up on Google Earth. Major commands to which assigned Air Corps Training Center, 9 June 1935 – 27 August 1940 Southeast Air Corps Training Center, 27 August 1940 – 1 April 1942 AAF Proving Ground Command, 1 April 1942 – 1 June 1945 AAF Center, 1 June 1945 – 8 March 1946 AAF Proving Ground Command, 8 March 1946 -10 July 1946 Air Proving Ground Command, 10 July 1946 – 20 January 1948 Air Materiel Command, 20 January 1948 – 1 June 1948 Air Proving Ground, 1 June 1948 – 20 December 1951 Air Proving Ground Command, 20 December 1951 – 1 December 1957 Air Research and Development Command, 1 December 1957 – 1 April 1961 Air Force Systems Command, 1 April 1961 – 1 July 1992 Air Force Materiel Command, 1 July 1992–present The 1930s What became Eglin Air Force Base had its beginnings with the creation in 1933 of the Valparaiso Airport, when an arrowhead-shaped parcel of 137 acres (0.55 km2) was cleared for use as an airdrome.In 1931, personnel of the Air Corps Tactical School (Maxwell Field, Alabama) while looking for a bombing and gunnery range, saw the potential of the sparsely populated forested areas surrounding Valparaiso and the vast expanse of the adjacent Gulf of Mexico.Local businessman and airplane buff James E. Plew saw the potential of a military payroll to boost the local area’s depression-stricken economy. He leased from the City of Valparaiso the 137 acres (0.6 km2) on which an airport was established in 1933, and in 1934, Plew offered the U.S. government a donation of 1,460 acres (6 km2) contiguous for the bombing and gunnery base. This leasehold became the headquarters for the Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base activated on 14 June 1935, under the command of Captain Arnold H. Rich.Two unpaved runways, with a supply house at their intersection, were in use by 1935. 'On 1 March 1935, application was made for a FERA grant to pave the runways and to build an office, a barracks 30 by 120, a mess hall and kitchen, and an oil storage building...'Eglin Air Force Base was initially established as the U.S. Army Air Corps' Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base on 14 June 1935. On 4 August 1937, the installation was renamed Eglin Field in honor of Lt Col Frederick Irving Eglin (1891–1937). First rated as a military aviator in 1917, Lt Col Eglin helped train other Army flyers during World War I. On 1 January 1937, while assigned to General Headquarters, Air Force at Langley Field, VA, Colonel Eglin was killed in the crash of his Northrop A-17 pursuit aircraft, 35-97, on a flight from Langley to Maxwell Field, Alabama.A ceremony was held in June 1939 for the dedication and unveiling of a plaque honoring Valparaiso, Florida banker and businessman James E. Plew, as founder of Eglin Field. Embedded in the stone gate to the airfield, the plaque read 'In memory of James E. Plew, 1862–1938, whose patriotism and generosity made this field possible.'Captains Delmar T. Spivey and George W. Mundy, 23rd Composite Group, Maxwell Field, Alabama, flew two Curtiss YP-37s to Eglin Field for engine testing in December 1939, the first of thousands of service tests. The 1940s With the outbreak of war in Europe, a proving ground for aircraft armament was established at Eglin. The U.S. Forestry ceded to the War Department the Choctawhatchee National Forest on 18 October 1940. Hunters had to be reminded regularly that the base reservation was now off-limits in 1941–1942 and there was some local resentment at the handover. On 15 May 1941, the Air Corps Proving Ground (later the Proving Ground Command) was activated, and Eglin became the site for gunnery training for Army Air Forces fighter pilots, as well as a major testing center for aircraft, equipment, and tactics. The 23rd Composite Group moved from Orlando to Eglin Field, 1 July 1941. It comprised the 1st Pursuit Squadron, the 54th Bombardment Squadron (M), the 24th Bombardment Squadron (L), the 54th School Squadron, the 61st Air Base Group, and the 3rd Gunnery and Bombing Range Detachment.On Friday, 16 August 1940, the Okaloosa News-Journal, Crestview, Florida, reported that the Southern Bell Telephone Company was cutting a right-of-way for a line directly across the military reservation to connect the Eglin Field Army headquarters to the company line at Holt, Florida. The newspaper also stated that President Franklin Roosevelt had approved a plan on 14 August for a Works Projects Administration (WPA) expenditure of approximately $64,842 to make additional improvements at Eglin, including grading and surfacing a road to the machine gun range, clearing and grubbing 500 additional acres of landing field, and other work. A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp was erected at Valparaiso, Florida from November 1940 to house 1,000-plus CCC workers engaged in base construction.On 1 October 1940, the installation was renamed the Eglin Field Military Reservation in recognition of its increased importance to the Air Corps and its increasing size, as characterized by the construction of numerous auxiliary airfields in Okaloosa, Walton and Santa Rosa counties, the clearing of areas in the Choctawhatchee Forest for which was begun in January 1941. Clearing and grading for Auxiliary Field No.2 began 9 January, Auxiliary Field No. 3 on 23 January, and $800,000 allocated for the grading and paving of fields 1, 3, 5, and 6 on 24 April 1941. The Okaloosa News-Journal on Friday, 31 January 1941, listed the following construction: 30 enlisted men's barracks, eight day rooms, an enlisted men's mess building, a flying cadets mess building, four officers' quarters, eight supply rooms, eight administration buildings, a hospital, a post exchange, a motor repair shop, a theatre, four warehouses, six operations buildings, a Link trainer building, a parachute building, five magazines, and necessary utilities. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad laid a long sidetrack in Crestview, Florida to handle the number of oil tankcars required to supply the Asphault Products Company with material for the vast paving job of the new airfields. A fleet of trucks were operated round the clock to offload an estimated 180 car loads of petroleum product for the task. There were more than just a few vehicle accidents under the urgent tasking, some fatal. The clearing of Auxiliary Field No. 6 began 7 March 1942. Building construction at Auxiliary Field No. 7 began 14 March 1942.Appropriations of $202,536 were announced by Congressman Bob Sikes of Crestview in mid-April 1941 for construction and installation of water, sewage, electrical facilities, sidewalks, roads, fences, parking areas, landscaping and for the construction of a sewage disposal plant. Submitted to the WPA headquarters in Washington, D.C. in late March, the request received presidential approval in April. Work continued apace on some projects on a 24 hour a day basis.A severe housing shortage in the region for the burgeoning base-oriented expansion was partially alleviated by the construction of 100 units of the Plew Heights Defense Housing Project near Valparaiso for civil service employees and enlisted personnel. The Federal Works Agency, Division of Defense Housing, awarded the contract for the task to the Paul A. Miller Construction Company of Leesburg, Florida on 5 May 1941, with construction beginning on 8 May. The 11 November 1941 deadline for completion was beaten by almost a month.In June 1941, the Officers Club of Eglin Field made arrangements to take over the Valparaiso Inn, Valparaiso, Florida, as the 'O Club'. Doolittle Raiders would later lodge here during their training at Eglin.In June 1941, the Army Air Corps became the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) in order to provide the air arm a greater autonomy in which to expand more efficiently, and to provide a structure for the additional command echelons required by a vastly increased force. Although other nations already had separate air forces independent of the army or navy (such as the British Royal Air Force and the German Luftwaffe), the USAAF remained a part of the United States Army. Following the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States entry into World War II, Eglin became a major stateside installation in support of the war effort.Eglin became a major training location for the Doolittle Raid on the Japanese mainland. The 24 crews selected and led by Lieutenant Colonel James 'Jimmy' Doolittle picked up modified North American B-25B Mitchell medium bombers in Minneapolis, Minnesota and flew them to Eglin beginning on 1 March 1942. '9–25 March: Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle and a B-25 detachment of 72 officers and 75 enlisted men from Lexington County Airport, Columbia, South Carolina, were at Eglin Field in rehearsals for the Tokyo raid.' There the crews received intensive training for three weeks in simulated carrier deck takeoffs by Naval Aviators from nearby Naval Air Station Pensacola, as well as low-level and night flying, low altitude bombing, and over water navigation. Lt Col Doolittle stated in his after action report that an operational level of training was reached despite several days when flying was not possible due to rain and fog. One aircraft was heavily damaged in a takeoff accident at Eglin and another aircraft was taken off the mission because of a nose wheel shimmy that could not be repaired in time.On 25 March, the remaining 22 B-25s departed Eglin for McClellan Field, California, arriving on 27 March for final modifications at the Sacramento Air Depot. A total of 16 B-25s were subsequently flown to Naval Air Station Alameda, California on 31 March for embarkation aboard USS Hornet (CV 8). When now-promoted-to-General Doolittle toured the growing base in July 1942 with C.O. Grandison Gardner, the press made no mention of his recent, and still secret, training at Eglin.A captured Japanese Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero, c/n 3372, originally coded 'V-172', of the 22nd Air Flotilla Fighter Unit, found after a forced-landing on a beach at Leichou Pantao, China, on 26 November 1941, and transported to the U.S., was test-flown at Eglin during mid-war.In March 1942, the base served as one of the sites for Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle to prepare his B-25 crews for their raid against Tokyo. A number of auxiliary fields were constructed on the Eglin reservation at this time, many of which are still in service in various roles, either in support of flight operations or special test activities.Operational suitability tests were conducted with a pair of P-38F Lightnings, 41-7536 and 41-7612, between 7 August 1942 and 26 January 1943.During the war, a battleship-sized target float was anchored in the Choctawhatchee Bay just south of Black's Point of what is now known as the Lake Lorraine area of Shalimar, Florida.On 12 July 1943, Eglin suffered its worst loss of life when 17 personnel were killed in an explosives test at ~1700 hrs. Wartime censorship and the fact that 15 of the 17 were airmen of the African-American-staffed 867th Aviation Engineering Battalion contributed to the accident receiving virtually no publicity. The identities of the dead, including the two white officers supervising, were never released, and only one small newspaper article was published mentioning the incident. The Okaloosa News-Journal, Crestview, Florida, reported that the base 'Public Relations office, who made the announcement, stated that the names of the men would not be released until the next of kin had been notified. Bodies of two officers were brought to McLaughlin Funeral Home in Crestview while those of the colored victims were taken to a parlor in Pensacola. No announcement has been made as to how the accident occurred [sic].' A documentary, the 'Eglin 17', debuted at the 2009 African American Heritage Month luncheon at the Eglin Air Force Base Officer's Club on 18 February 2009, providing the story of the forgotten accident. 'The cause and circumstances surrounding the incident remain 'clouded in mystery,' according to the documentary,' although Lt. Col. Allen Howser (Ret.), featured in the documentary, recalled that it was part of an exercise to test fire a newly acquired explosive.At its wartime peak, the base employed more than 1,000 officers, 10,000 enlisted personnel and 4,000 civilians.In January 1944, the XP-60E-CU, 42-79425, was flown to Eglin Field for official trials, where Army Air Force pilots found that it did not compare favorably to later aircraft. The whole P-60 project is canceled in May 1944.Following the first flight of the Beechcraft XA-38 Grizzly on 7 May 1944, the airplane was flown to Eglin Field, where it underwent extensive tests. In these tests it established outstanding records for availability, for flight and for efficiency. The type was not ordered into production, however.'In January 1944, Eglin became an important contributor to 'Operation Crossbow,' which called for the destruction of German missile launching facilities. Thousands worked around the clock for 12 days to construct a duplicate German V-1 facility. Subsequent bombing runs against this copycat facility taught Army Air Forces tacticians which attack angles and weapons would prove most effective against the German launchers.' The first JB-2 launch at Eglin took place on 12 October 1944.The sole Northrop JB-1A Bat, unofficially known as the 'Thunderbug' due to the improvised General Electric B-1 turbojets' 'peculiar squeal', a jet-propelled flying wing spanning 28 feet 4 inches (8.64 m) to carry 2,000 lb (910 kg). bombs in pods close to the engines, made its first powered, but unmanned, flight from Santa Rosa Island on 7 December 1944, launching from a pair of rails laid across the sand dunes. Makeshift B-1 turbojets do not live up to expectation, so JB-1s are completed with pulsejet power as JB-10s.On 28 December 1944, Eglin reverted to its original name of Eglin Field as part of a new standardization practice by the USAAF. With the creation of a separate United States Air Force in 1947, Eglin Field continued to retain its name until 24 June 1948, when it was renamed to its current designation as Eglin Air Force Base.The success of the Royal Air Force using Barnes Wallace's bouncing bombs in the dam busting missions of Operation Chastise on 16-17 May 1943, led the USAAF to investigate using similar tactics. After initial testing with a modified A-26 in January 1945 which was adapted at the Vickers experimental facility at Foxwarren, near Esher, Surrey, to drop the RAF spherical 35-in [89 cm] Highball casing, with [an overall weight] of 950 lb [431 kg], twenty-five Speedee bomb casings (the American nomenclature for the Highball) were sent to the U.S. On 28 April 1945, A-26C-25-DT Invader, 43-22644, assigned to the 611 Base Unit at Wright Field, Ohio, departed Eglin for a low-level test drop on Water Range No. 60 in the Choctawhatchee Bay. Dropped at low altitude (~10 feet), the weapon skipped back into the aircraft, completely knocking off the tail unit causing the bomber to nose over instantly and crash into the bay 3 miles NE of Fort Walton, Florida. Following this accident, the Army Air Force dropped its interest into this attack method. Footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcoBw1Gb_Ik&feature=relatedAt the time of the design of the super-heavy intercontinental Convair B-36 Peacemaker bomber in the mid-1940s, Eglin Field had one of only three runways in the world capable of withstanding the landing gear footprint of the original 110-inch (2,800 mm) single tire main gear design of the fully-loaded bomber (concrete at least 22 inches thick). The B-36 would undergo a redesign for a four-wheel main gear bogie with 56-inch (1,400 mm) tires to reduce this operational constraint and allow B-36s to operate from runways able to support B-29 Superfortresses. (The other two runways were at the Convair plant at Fort Worth, Texas, and at Fairfield-Suisun Field, California.)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 Loon, an American copy of the V-1. The 1st Experimental Guided Missiles Group was activated at Eglin Field, Florida on 6 February 1946. Pursuant to an order from the War Department, dated 25 January 1946, the Commanding General of the Army Air Forces Center at Eglin Field was directed to activate the Headquarters, 1st Experimental Guided Missiles Group, the 1st Experimental Guided Missiles Squadron and the 1st Experimental Air Service Squadron. The total authorized strength for the three organizations was 130 officers, one warrant officer and 714 enlisted men. Eglin's commander was directed to supply manpower for the units from his own resources, but, given the recent postwar demobilization, his ability to do so was extremely limited. Operations were conducted out of Auxiliary Field 3 (Duke Field). On 13 January 1947, a successful drone flight from Eglin to Washington, D.C. was conducted utilizing a QB-17 Flying Fortress. A QB-17G, 44-85648, was utilized in a ditching test program at Eglin in 1948 when it was landed in the water by radio control. Ironically, although nine of the approximately 43 surviving intact B-17s in the world were assigned to the 3200th and 3205th Drone Groups at Eglin, the example displayed at the Air Force Armament Museum is not one one of them, having been a former U.S. Navy PB-1W patrol model.On 31 March 1946, the Air Proving Ground Command completed the tactical suitability test of the JB-3 Tiamat, which destroyed 15 bridges during the Korean War.Between mid-1946 and January 1947, the Army Air Force evaluated two of the three Boeing XF8B Navy fighter prototypes at Eglin as a potential fighter-bomber, but nothing came of the idea, it being found to be inferior in the rôle to the P-47 Thunderbolt already in service.Construction of the McKinley Climatic Laboratory that allowed the Air Proving Ground Command to simulate virtually all climatic conditions “indoors” was completed 24 May 1947.January 1948 was the first month without an aviation accident since the base was founded. Total flying hours for the month were 3,725, 'an unusually high number for the Proving Ground,' said Lt. Gerald E. Gibson, aircraft safety officer for the base. A six-month fatality-free period came to an end on 9 April 1948 when a pilot was killed in a P-51D Mustang crash N of Crestview, Florida.The first production B-36A-1-CF Peacemaker heavy bomber, 44-92004, c/n 1, officially accepted by the USAF in May 1948, was delivered on 18 June 1948 to the Air Proving Ground Command to undergo extensive testing.A C-97 Stratocruiser was assigned at Eglin for tests from 1948 onward and made two flights to Alaska and two trans-Atlantic crossings to the British Isles by July 1950.On 7 November 1948, the second prototype of the Republic XR-12 Rainbow reconnaissance design, 44-91003, crashed at 1300 hrs. while returning to Eglin from a photographic suitability test flight on its second test flight at the base by the Photo Test Squadron of the 3200th Proof Test Group . Unable to maintain control after the number 2 (port inner) engine exploded, the pilot ordered the crew to bail out. Five of the seven crew escaped safely and were rescued by Eglin crash boats and helicopters. Airframe impacted two miles (3 kilometers) south of the base, in the Choctawhatchee Bay. Although further testing of the first prototype was conducted (at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland), an order for an additional six was cancelled.The sole remaining Hughes XR-11 reconnaissance aircraft prototype, 44-70156, arrived at Eglin in December 1948 to undergo operational suitability testing but a production contract for 98 was cancelled.Between 2 February and 6 March 1949, the Air Proving Ground conducted tests in conjunction with Wright-Patterson AFB to determine if the F-84D Thunderjet had improved shortcomings in earlier models of the fighter. These concluded that the F-84 range, acceleration, versatility, load carrying ability, high altitude climb, and level flight speed exceeded that of the F-80 Shooting Star. The F-84 was inferior to the F-80, however, in shortness of takeoff roll, low altitude climb, and maneuverability.In the spring of 1949, the 3200th Proof Test Group tested launching JB-2s from the wings of B-36 bombers at Eglin AFB. About a year later, JB-2s were tested as aerial targets for experimental infrared gunsights. The 1950s The Main Base public address system, known as the 'giant voice', first conceived in 1946 and installed by the communications maintenance division of the Mobile, Alabama Air Material Area, went into operation in February 1950 with preliminary testing completed by February 15. 'The new PA system, situated in the Johnson Hall information booth, resembles an instrument panel from some Buck Roger's [sic] space ship. Two record turn tables are available for the transmission of transcribed bugle calls, and appropriate music. A telephone extension running to the commanding general's office will enable him to make special addresses to Eglin personnal [sic]. The third method of transmitting announcements and emergency bulletins is the microphone connection to the control console. Four amplifier speakers are located in clusters at each of the seven sites. Designed to saturate the area, the speakers are installed at the radio base maintenance shop, guided missiles headquarters, headquarters air proving ground, the motor pool area, the maintenance and supply area, the boat squadron area, in the Plew Heights housing area, and a direct connection to the station hospital's public address system.' The system is now used to broadcast lightning warnings after an airman was struck while out on a ramp and killed.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-17s, three B-29s, and four F-80 Shooting Stars, yellow-tailed drone aircraft used in the role of testing guided missiles. In 1949, the 2nd GMS tallied 3,052 flight hours without mishap and secured the green and white pennant denoting safety supremacy for USAF B-17 type aircraft for the fourth straight time, gaining permanent possession of the three-starred flag. The 550th GMW played a prominent part in the spring of 1949 in the aerial filming of 'Twelve O' Clock High', filmed in part at Eglin AFB. The 2nd GMS flew B-29s in Operation Banshee before switching to B-17s. Seven Flying Fortresses were joined by another seven in November 1948, bringing the squadron complement up to 14 mother and drone Forts.A large hump-backed steel hangar, the 'Butler Hangar', 160 feet (49 m) X 130 feet (40 m), transported from Trinidad, was erected at Auxiliary Field 3 between 1 April and ~10 July 1950, by personnel of Company 'C', 806th Aviation Engineering Battalion, under Capt. Samuel M. Cable, and the men of the 550th Guided Missiles Wing. Project Officer was Capt. Clarence A. Ebbert of the Air Proving Ground Command Installations Division. An additional four feet of roof clearance was added to accommodate B-17s in the 21,000-square-foo