Pope Air Force Base
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
| The information on this page may change as a result of the 2005 U.S. Base Realignment and Closure Program (BRAC 2005). |
Pope Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force Base in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States.
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Location
Pope AFB is located at 35°10'53" North, 79°0'50" West (35.181328, -79.013916)1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 7.4 km² (2.9 mi²). 7.4 km² (2.9 mi²) of it is land and none of the area is covered with water.
Host Unit
The host unit for Pope AFB is the 43d Airlift Wing which falls under Air Mobility Command
Mission
Missions at Pope range from providing airlift and close air support to American armed forces, to humanitarian missions flown all over the world.
History
In 1918, bi-planes and observation balloons began using a pea field north of the newly established Army artillery training post at Camp Bragg in 1918 as a landing strip.
Lt. Harley Halbert Pope was killed in an airplane crash in January 1918 near the Cape Fear River, north of Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Members of Pope's squadron, the 276th Aero Squadron, received movement orders to Camp Bragg Flying Field in February 1919. As a memorial to Pope, the War Department officially established the field at Camp Bragg as Pope Field on 5 April 1919. A runway did not exist, just a wide open field surrounded by pine forest.
Pope Field became an Air Force Base with the creation of the United States Air Force on 17 September 1947.
Nearby Installations
External links
- Base Web site (http://public.pope.amc.af.mil/)
- Mary Ellen Condon-Rall: Disaster on Green Ramp: The Army's Response, Washington 1996 (http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/Green-Ramp/Popec.htm)
- Maps and aerial photos (http://kvaleberg.com/extensions/mapsources/index.php?params=35.181328_N_-79.013916_E_type:city_region:US)
- Street map from MapQuest (http://mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=decimal&latitude=35.181328&longitude=-79.013916&zoom=6) or Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=35.181328,-79.013916&spn=0.11,0.18)
- Topographic map from TopoZone (http://topozone.com/map.asp?lat=35.181328&lon=-79.013916&s=200&size=m&layer=DRG100&datum=nad83)
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA (http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?s=14&lon=-79.013916&lat=35.181328&w=2)
- Satellite image from Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=35.181328,-79.013916&spn=0.11,0.18&t=k)
Categories: United States Air Force bases | U.S. Air Force bases slated for realignment | Military bases in North Carolina | Cumberland County, North Carolina | Towns in North Carolina
