Travis Air Force Base
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Travis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force air field in the Central Valley of California, near Fairfield, CA. Called the "Gateway to the Pacific", Travis handles more cargo and passengers than any other military air terminal in the United States.
The base’s host unit, the 60th Air Mobility Wing, is the largest wing in the Air Force's Air Mobility Command, with a versatile fleet of 37 C-5 Galaxies and 27 KC-10 Extenders.
The base was previously known as Fairfield-Suisun AFB, but was renamed for Brigadier General Robert F. Travis who was killed when a B-29 Superfortress crashed on August 5, 1950. The ensuing fire caused 10,000 pounds of high explosives in a nuclear weapon to detonate, killing Travis and 18 others. The base was renamed on October 20, with an official ceremony the next year on April 20, 1951.
Hosted commands
- Headquarters Fifteenth Air Force
- 15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force
- 60th Air Mobility Wing (Air Mobility Command)
- 349th Air Mobility Wing (Air Force Reserve Command)
- US Army’s 3rd Brigade, US 91st Infantry Division
- US Navy’s VQ3 Detachment
External links
- Travis AFB website (http://public.travis.amc.af.mil/public/index.asp)
- Travis Air Museum (http://www.jimmydoolittlemuseumpromotions.com/)
- Travis AFB History (http://www.jimmydoolittlemuseumpromotions.com/onlinehistory.htm)
