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Naval Air Station Keflavik
Near Reykjanesbær, Southern Peninsula in Iceland
Three US Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft parked on the apron of NAS Keflavik during November 2019
NAS KeflavikLocation in Iceland
Coordinates	63°59′06″N 22°36′20″W / 63.98500°N 22.60556°W / 63.98500; -22.60556
Type	Naval Air Station
Site information
Owner	Icelandic Government
Operator	United States Navy
Controlled by	Navy Region Europe, Africa, Central
Condition	Operational
Site history
Built	1951 (1951)
In use	1951 – 2006 2017 – present
Airfield information
Identifiers	IATA: KEF, ICAO: BIKF, WMO: 040180
Elevation	51.5 metres (169 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 10/28 3,065 metres (10,056 ft) Asphalt 01/19 3,054 metres (10,020 ft) Asphalt 04/22 2,042 metres (6,699 ft) Asphalt 09/27 1,494 metres (4,902 ft) Asphalt 18/36 1,310 metres (4,298 ft) Asphalt
Airfield shared with Keflavík International Airport Source: Iceland Aeronautical Information Publication

Naval Air Station Keflavik (NASKEF) is a United States Navy air station at Keflavík International Airport, Iceland, located on the Reykjanes peninsula on the south-west portion of the island. NASKEF was closed on 8 September 2006, and its facilities were taken over by the Icelandic Defence Agency as their primary base until 1 January 2011, when the Agency was abolished and the base handed over to the Icelandic Coast Guard, which operated the base until 2017. US forces returned to Keflavik in 2016, renovating parts of the base to accommodate P-8As on short duration/expeditionary detachments.

The base was built during World War II by the United States Army as part of its mission to maintain the defense of Iceland and secure northern Atlantic air routes. It served to ferry personnel, equipment, and supplies to Europe. Intended as a temporary wartime base under an agreement with Iceland and the British, U.S. forces withdrew by 1947 but returned in 1951 as the Iceland Defense Force resident on a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) base. The base was regularly visited by the American military and other NATO allies for military exercises, NATO Air Policing, and other tasks. In 2017, the United States announced its intention to modify the largest hangar on the Icelandic base in order to house the new Boeing P-8 Poseidon ASW aircraft being introduced.

History

Background

After being granted self-governance by Denmark in 1918 with the signing of the 25-year Danish-Icelandic Act of Union, Iceland followed a policy of strict neutrality in international affairs. In 1939, with war imminent in Europe, the German Reich pressed for landing rights for Deutsche Luft Hansa's aircraft for alleged trans-Atlantic flights. The Icelandic government turned them down.

A British request to establish bases in Iceland for the protection of the vital North Atlantic supply lines after German forces occupied Denmark and Norway in April 1940 was also turned down in accordance with the neutrality policy. In response, on 10 May 1940 the people of Reykjavík awoke to the sight of a British invasion force. The government of Iceland protested the invasion but asked the populace to treat the occupying force as guests.

Following talks between British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States, Iceland agreed to a tripartite treaty under which United States Marines were to relieve the British garrison in Iceland on the condition that all military forces be withdrawn from Iceland immediately upon the conclusion of the war in Europe. In addition to their defense role, U.S. forces constructed the Keflavik Airport as a refueling point for aircraft deliveries and cargo flights to Europe.

Second World War era (1940s)

The airport was built by the United States military during World War II, as a replacement for a small British landing strip at Garður to the north. It consisted of two separate two-runway airfields, built simultaneously just 4 km apart. Patterson Field in the south-east opened in 1942 despite being partly incomplete. It was named after a young pilot who died in Iceland. Meeks Field to the north-west opened on 23 March 1943. It was named after another young pilot, George Meeks, who died on the Reykjavík airfield. Patterson Field was closed after the war, but Meeks Field and the adjoining structures were returned to Iceland's control and renamed Naval Air Station Keflavik after the nearby town of Keflavík. In 1951, the U.S. military returned to the airport under a defense agreement between Iceland and the U.S. signed on 5 May 1951.

With the end of the war in Europe, Keflavik Airport became a transit point for aircraft returning from the European Theater of Operations to the United States. With American air activities greatly reduced in Europe in the immediate postwar months, U.S. flying operations were similarly reduced in preparation for transfer of the base to the Icelandic government at the end of 1946. With all noncritical surplus equipment and supplies disposed of, all U.S. air activity ended at the airfield on 11 March 1947.

Military Air Transport Service era (1951–1961)

Another agreement signed between the United States and Iceland in 1946 permitted continued use of the base by the United States. The United States provided all the maintenance and operation of the airport through an American civilian contractor. American Overseas Airlines, followed by Airport Overseas Corporation personnel, operated the military portion of Keflavik Airport after its reversion to Icelandic control at the end of March 1947.

In 1949, Iceland voted to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) among protests about the US militarizing the country, and the base assumed the status of significant strategic importance in the Cold War. Though reluctant to sanction the stationing of foreign troops in significant numbers on their soil, Icelandic officials decided in light of the fact they had no standing army to speak of, that membership in NATO alone was not a sufficient defense; and at the request of NATO, Iceland entered into a defense agreement with the United States directly. This was the beginning of the Iceland Defense Force. Over the next four decades, the Defense Force was "at the front" of the Cold War and was credited with playing a significant role in deterrence.

On 25 May 1951 the United States Air Force (USAF) reestablished its presence at Keflavik Airport with the stationing of the 1400th Air Base Group. Jurisdiction of the airport was assumed by Military Air Transport Service (MATS). MATS re-established a military air terminal and refueling point for trans-Atlantic air service between the United States and Europe at Keflavik. MATS (later Military Airlift Command and Air Mobility Command) units remained at the airport until the withdrawal of United States military units from Iceland in 2006.

During 1947–51, while the base was operated by a U.S. civilian contractor company most of the World War II temporary structures were left empty and became badly deteriorated. The airfield complex, one of the largest in the world during the war, also required upgrading to accommodate modern aircraft. The contractor had extended one runway, constructed a new passenger terminal and hotel building, one aircraft hangar, a hospital, housing units and other facilities for the staff. But this was insufficient for the new Defense Force, so additional facilities had to be provided quickly. A crash reconstruction program was initiated and temporary housing was erected during the construction of permanent housing. The airfield was extended by the Nello L. Teer Company and two new aircraft hangars were constructed. Most of this work was completed by 1957.

Soon after the return of U.S. forces to Keflavik. Air Defense Command (ADC) established a temporary radar station at the airport, equipped with World War II-era AN/TPS-1 and AN/TPS-3A radars that operated until a permanent radar station could be constructed at nearby Rockville AS.

Between 1952 and 2006, Air Forces Iceland provided air defense for Iceland, operated Keflavik Airport, and furnished base support for all U.S. military forces in Iceland participating in its defense under NATO. Also Air Force component of NATO Iceland Defense Force.

ADC, later renamed Aerospace Defense Command used the facility for air surveillance of Iceland and the North Atlantic, employing F-102 Delta Dagger and then F-4C Phantom II fighters as interceptors. Over 1,000 intercepts of Soviet aircraft took place inside Iceland's military air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

US Navy era (1960s–2000s)

The United States Navy assumed the responsibility of running the air station from MATS in 1961.

In 1974, the left-wing Government of Iceland's new proposal to close the base triggered a petition that garnered 55,000 signatures, about a quarter of the population of the entire nation. This led to the ruling coalition collapsing and the 1974 Icelandic parliamentary election being held.

On 1 October 1979 Tactical Air Command (TAC) absorbed ADC's assets, and the F-4E Phantom II aircraft of the 57th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (57 FIS). In July 1985, F-15Cs and F-15Ds replaced the aging F-4s, and the tail code "IS" was assigned to Air Forces Iceland (AFI).

During the height of the Cold War in the 1980s, Keflavik also hosted rotational E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft and KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft from CONUS to support the air defense mission and rotational HC-130 Hercules aircraft from RAF Woodbridge from the 67th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron to support their detachment of Keflavik-based HH-3 Jolly Green Giant and later HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters in their search and rescue mission.

Beginning in 1984, the 932d Air Control Squadron established a Radar Operations Control Center at Keflavik which coordinated the 57th FIS interceptors to contacts passing through the GIUK gap. It received long-range radar inputs from five radar sites: the four sites in Iceland plus a data-tie from the Tórshavn AS radar in the Faroe Islands. Tórshavn was located atop mount Sornfelli. The ROCC remained active until the turnover of the facility in 2006.

Air Forces Iceland continued the air defense mission of Iceland as a tenant organization at Keflavik. Under ADC until 1979 and under TAC until 1992. On 1 June 1992, Air Combat Command (ACC) assumed command and control of AFI and the 57 FIS. Less than a year later, the 57 FIS was redesignated as the 57 Fighter Squadron (57 FS) and reassigned to the 35th Fighter Wing that was transferred from the closing George AFB, California.

On 1 October 1994, the 35th Wing was inactivated at Keflavik and reactivated that same day at Misawa Air Base in Misawa, Japan. The 35th Wing was replaced by the newly activated 85th Wing. On 1 March 1995, the 57th FS was inactivated and the interceptor force was replaced by Regular Air Force and Air National Guard F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft rotating every 90 days to Iceland until the USAF inactivated the 85th Group in 2002. United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) took over ACC responsibilities at Keflavik on 1 October 2002 as part of a larger restructuring of the unified commands.

The 85th was reduced to a Group level and supported rotational deployments. The 85th Group continued to support rotational deployments until it was inactivated during a ceremony on 28 June 2006, as a result of the USAF reduction in forces in Iceland. All rotational fighters left and the 56th Rescue Squadron ceased operation at the end of the fiscal year.

Deactivation and post-military use (2006–2015)

On 15 March 2006, the U.S. Ambassador to Iceland announced that the United States had decided to substantially reduce the size of the Iceland Defense Force.

During a six-month transition to reduce the military presence in Iceland, most facilities closed and most of the service members departed, leaving behind a core team of active duty and Reserve personnel to finish the job.

By mid-July 2006, many of the military spouses and military active duty staff had transferred.

On 8 September 2006, NASKEF's last commanding officer, Capt. Mark S. Laughton, presided over a ceremony effecting the disestablishment of the air station.

On 26 October the government of Iceland established the Keflavik Airport Development Corporation or Kadeco which was given the task of converting those portions of the base no longer needed into civilian use.

Since May 2008 Keflavik has periodically hosted NATO fighter, AWACS and support aircraft participating in Icelandic Air Policing deployments.

In January 2010, Verne Holdings announced that it had received equity funding from the Wellcome Trust to build a data center at Keflavik. The data center will take advantage of the available geothermal power and free cooling to minimize its carbon footprint.

Reactivation (2015 – present)

In September 2015, news media reported U.S. government officials expressed a desire to reopen aspects of the NATO base of Keflavik Naval Air Station, to cope with increasing Russian military activity around Iceland.

In 2016 the United States began preparations to establish regular patrol rotations at the base, and in 2017 announced its intention to build new hangars to house Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft.

As of 2021 the United States had resumed use of the base for the deployment of B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, amongst other aircraft.

Station names

• Reykjavik Administrative Area, 6 August 1941
• Meeks Field, 1 July 1942
• Keflavik Airport*, 25 October 1946 – 28 June 2006

Under United States Navy Jurisdiction, 1 July 1961 – 28 June 2006

.* United States Air Forces units changed from host to tenant status on 1 July 1961, when the U.S. Navy gained jurisdiction; the installation was renamed U.S. Naval Station Keflavik; Keflavik Airport became one of its tenants.

Major Army and Air Force Commands

• Iceland Base Command, United States Army, February 1942
• European Theater of Operations, United States Army, 10 June 1942
• Eastern Defense Command, United States Army, 30 July 1944
• Air Transport Command, United States Army, 1 January 1946 – 7 April 1947. Returned to control of Icelandic Government on 7 April 1947;
• Joint Task Force No. 109, 7 May 1951, returned to joint Icelandic-USAF control, 23 May 1951.
• Iceland Defense Force, 6 July 1951
• Military Air Transport Service, 1 September 1951. Base transferred to U.S. Navy control and USAF operated in a tenant status only from 1 July 1961;
• Air Defense Command, 1 July 1962

Re-designated Aerospace Defense Command, 15 January 1968

• Tactical Air Command, 1 October 1979
• Air Combat Command, 1 June 1992
• United States Air Forces in Europe, 1 October 1992 – 28 June 2006

Major USAF units assigned

.* Rotational TDY flights of aircraft from various squadrons of 52d Operations Group, Spangdahlem AB, Germany
.** Rotational TDY flights of aircraft from 48th Operations Group, RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom

Operations

Naval Air Station Keflavik was the host command for all U.S. defense activities in Iceland. The major commands stationed on the base were the USAF's 85th Group, Fleet Air Keflavik, the headquarters of the U.S.-provided Iceland Defense Force, Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station (NCTS) Keflavik, U.S. Naval Hospital Keflavik and the Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) shore terminal at Naval Facility (NAVFAC) Keflavik. The positions of Commander, Fleet Air Keflavik and Commander, Iceland Defence Force were held by the same U.S. Navy rear admiral. There were more than 25 different commands of various sizes and personnel from the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Coast Guard in Iceland. Also present were representatives from Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, and Denmark.

NASKEF was responsible for providing all support facilities, including the runways, housing, supply and recreational facilities. The primary mission of Naval Air Station Keflavik was to maintain and operate facilities and provide services and material to support operations of aviation activities and units of the operating forces of the Navy and other activities and units, as designated by the Chief of Naval Operations.

U.S. Navy use of the facility allowed the housing of rotational P-3 Orion squadrons, aircraft, flight crews, maintenance and administrative support personnel from their CONUS home bases for six-month deployments in support of antisubmarine warfare and maritime patrol missions until 2004. As a NATO mission, the U.S. Navy P-3s were frequently augmented by U.S. Navy Reserve P-3 squadrons and detachments of Canadian Forces CP-140 Aurora, Royal Netherlands Navy P-3, German Navy Breguet Atlantique and Royal Air Force Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR2 maritime patrol aircraft.

Army National Guard units and Interim Marine Security Forces stormed the lava fields surrounding the base during training exercises such as Northern Viking.

NAS Keflavik employed approximately 900 Icelandic civilians who worked with military personnel, providing the services necessary to operate the base. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the airfield was available for maritime patrol activities, air defense and for transiting aircraft between North America and Europe, in addition to supporting Iceland's international civilian aviation.

The NATO base did not have a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the Icelandic Government and the base lacked the roadway entrance security gates characteristic of most military installations, having only Icelandic Customs officials instead. Icelandic nationals had unrestricted access to most of the base, especially since the civilian international airport terminal was also located on the base at the time. Icelandic nationals were only barred from actual security-restricted military facilities such as aircraft parking areas, squadron and hangar facilities and classified operations centers. During the height of the Cold War, this access situation created definitive operational security (OPSEC) concerns by U.S. and NATO officials due to potential espionage activities by Soviet operatives masquerading as Icelandic nationals. In addition, during this same time period, the former Soviet Union constructed one of their largest embassy facilities in the nearby capital, Reykjavik, which doubled as a diplomatic cover for intelligence collection activities against U.S. and NATO military forces. Access to the base was restricted to authorized military and civilian personnel after the construction of a new civilian passenger terminal on the opposite side of the airfield in the mid-1980s.

The base offered a wide variety of recreational services which included bowling, swimming, gymnasium, theater, social clubs, a Wendy's restaurant, and hobby centers. Other services included a Navy Exchange, commissary, bank, credit union, hospital, beauty shop, tour office and morale flights to the rest of Europe and the United States. Golfing was available in a nearby community.

The American base staff had their own names for various places in Iceland, e.g., "Kef" for Keflavík and "Hurdygurdy" for Hveragerði.

Naval Facility (NAVFAC) Keflavik

63°57′13.4″N 22°42′23.5″W / 63.953722°N 22.706528°W / 63.953722; -22.706528

The 1965 decision to deploy the Sound Surveillance System to the Norwegian Sea was followed by establishment of Naval Facility Keflavik in which output of the array at sea was processed and displayed by means of the Low Frequency Analyzer and Recorder (LOFAR). In 1966 the first deployment of a 3 X 16 element array system was terminated at the facility. NAVFAC Keflavik was commissioned 1 March 1966 with nine officers and sixty-nine enlisted personnel, eventually reaching 15 officers and 163 enlisted.

The first detection of Soviet Victor- and Charlie-class submarines was in 1968 with systems terminating at the facility followed by the first detection of a Soviet Delta Class Nuclear submarine in 1974. The first detection of a Soviet nuclear submarine had been by United States Naval Facility, Barbados on 6 July 1962 of a submarine off the coast of Norway as it entered the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom (GIUK) gap. Naval Facility Keflavik was decommissioned on 13 December 1996.

In popular culture

NAS Keflavik features prominently in Tom Clancy's 1986 techno-thriller novel Red Storm Rising. NAS Keflavik also features prominently in Icelandic author Arnaldur Indriðason's 1999 mystery thriller Napóleonsskjölin, published in English in 2011 as Operation Napoleon.

See also

• Naval Radio Transmitter Facility Grindavik
• Iceland Defence Force
• Iceland in the Cold War
• Military of Iceland
• 1949 anti-NATO riot in Iceland

Further reading

• Pétursson, Gustav (2020). The Defence Relationship of Iceland and the United States and the Closure of Keflavík base. PhD thesis, University of Lapland.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

1. "BIKF - Keflavik". Iceland Aeronautical Information Publication. Icelandic Transport Authority. 8 October 2021. Archived from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
2. "Security and Defence - Landhelgisgæsla Íslands". Retrieved 25 February 2019.
3. "European Reassurance Initiative" (PDF). defense.gov. February 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
4. Enge, Berit; Finne, Washington og Arne F.; Bodø. "Waking up the Keflavik air base; US Navy returned after 10 years of absence". www.highnorthnews.com. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
5. ^ Snow, Shawn (17 December 2017). "US plans $200 million buildup of European air bases flanking Russia". Retrieved 18 April 2018.
6. "U.S. Government Debated Secret Nuclear Deployments in Iceland". National Security Archive. George Washington University. 15 August 2016. Archived from the original on 5 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
7. "Nello L. Teer Company - Image Gallery". www.nelloteer.com. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
8. Markham, James M. (30 March 1982). "Iceland's Elves Are Enlisted in Anti-Nato Effort". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
9. "Naval Air Station Keflavik Disestablishes After 45 Years". Archived from the original on 6 September 2009. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
10. Gone since September 30, 2006 Archived 6 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine)
11. "Air Policing". NATO Air Command Operations. Archived from the original on 24 January 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
12. "French Air Force in Iceland". Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 5 May 2008. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
13. "Iceland Gets Major Data Center Project". 18 January 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
14. Arnarsdóttir, Eygló Svala (11 September 2015). "U.S. Military to Reopen Base in Iceland?". Retrieved 18 April 2018.
15. Winger, Gregory; Petursson, Gustav (24 February 2016). "Return to Keflavik Station". Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
16. "U.S. military returns to Iceland". Retrieved 18 April 2018.
17. "Prolonged Air Force deployment of stealth bombers shows importance of Iceland base". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
18. Fletcher 1989, 67-70.
19. Fletcher 1989, 67-70.
20. Fletcher 1989, 67-70.
21. ^ "Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS) History 1950 - 2010". IUSS/CAESAR Alumni Association. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
22. ^ Commander Undersea Surveillance. "Naval Facility Keflavik March 1966 - December 1996". U.S. Navy. Retrieved 23 March 2020.

• Baugher, Joe. USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers—1908 to present. USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers—1908 to present
• Donald, David, "Century Jets – USAF Frontline Fighters of the Cold War".
• Endicott, Judy G., USAF Active Flying, Space, and Missile Squadrons as of 1 October 1995. Office of Air Force History
• Fletcher, Harry R., Air Force Bases Volume II, Active Air Force Bases outside the United States of America on 17 September 1982, Office of Air Force History, 1989
• Hill, Mike and Campbell, John, Tactical Air Command – An Illustrated History 1946–1992, 2001
• Martin, Patrick, Tail Code: The Complete History Of USAF Tactical Aircraft Tail Code Markings, 1994
• Maurer Maurer, Air Force Combat Units Of World War II, Office of Air Force History, 1983
• Rogers, Brian, United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978, 2005
• Ravenstein, Charles A., Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977, Office of Air Force History, 1984
• Official Navy disestablishment press release

External links

• Archived NAS Keflavik website provided by the Internet Archive
• Reports on the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 2006: 3489, 3486, 2999 (in Icelandic)
• Establishing the Iceland Base Command Archived 1 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine a chapter in Guarding the United States and its Outposts Archived 25 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine a publication of the United States Army Center of Military History
• Map of the former site of the base on OpenStreetMap

v t e United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA)
Air Forces	Third (Europe)
Bases	Aviano Air Base Incirlik Air Base RAF Lakenheath RAF Mildenhall Ramstein Air Base Spangdahlem Air Base
Support facilities	Ämari Air Base Büchel Air Base Camp Lemonnier Câmpia Turzii Air Base Chabelley Airport Chièvres Air Base Ghedi Air Base Izmir Air Station Kleine Brogel Air Base Lajes Field Łask Air Base Morón Air Base RAF Akrotiri RAF Alconbury RAF Fairford RAF Menwith Hill RAF Molesworth RAF Welford Stuttgart Airport Volkel Air Base
Major units	31st Fighter Wing 39th Air Base Wing 48th Fighter Wing 52nd Fighter Wing 86th Airlift Wing 100th Air Refueling Wing 406th Air Expeditionary Wing 435th Air Ground Operations Wing 501st Combat Support Wing

v t e Air Combat Command (ACC)
Air Forces	First (Northern) Ninth (Central) Twelfth (Southern) Fifteenth Sixteenth (Cyber)
Centers	601st Air Operations 609th Air Operations 612th Air Operations 616th Operations Air Force Technical Applications Cyberspace Capabilities United States Air Force Warfare
Bases	Beale Creech Davis–Monthan Grand Forks Langley–Eustis (Langley) Moody Mountain Home Nellis Offutt Seymour Johnson Shaw Tonopah Tyndall
Wings	Composite 23rd 53rd 55th 57th 355th 432nd Fighter 1st 4th 20th 325th 366th 388th Cyberspace 67th 688th Other 9th Reconnaissance 70th ISR 93rd Air Ground Operations 99th Air Base 319th Reconnaissance 363rd ISR 461st Air Control 480th ISR 505th Command and Control 552nd Air Control 557th Weather 633rd Air Base

v t e Tactical Air Command (TAC)
Air Forces	First Ninth Twelfth Eighteenth Nineteenth
Air Divisions	20th (ADTAC) 21st (ADTAC) 23d (ADTAC) 24th (ADTAC) 25th (ADTAC) 26th (ADTAC) 28th (ADTAC) 831st 832d 833d 834th 835th 836th 837th 838th 839th 840th
Named units	Air Forces Panama Air Forces Iceland Air Defense, Tactical Air Command
Wings	TFW 1st 4th 12th 15th 20th 23d 27th 32d 33d 37th 50th 56th 312th 323d 347th 354th 355th Other 1st SOW 57th FWW 63d TAW 64th TAW 67th TRW 75th TRW 85th TFTW 317th TAW 363d TRW 405th TFTW 461st TBW 4505th ARW
Former bases	Active (MAJCOM) Altus (AETC) Brooks (AFMC) Cannon (AFSOC) Charleston (AMC) Creech (ACC) Davis–Monthan (ACC) Dover (AMC) Dyess (ACC) Eglin (AFMC) Hill (AMFC) Holloman (ACC) Hurlburt Field (AFSOC) Langley (ACC) Little Rock (AETC) Luke (AETC) MacDill (AMC) McChord (AMC) McConnell (AMC) Moody (ACC) Mountain Home (ACC) Nellis (ACC) Pope (AMC) Seymour Johnson (ACC) Shaw (ACC) Tonopah (ACC) Tyndall (AETC) Whiteman (ACC) Inactive Bergstrom Blythville Donaldson England Forbes George Howard Grenier Myrtle Beach Orlando Sewart Turner Williams Inactive, but with a military presence Bunker Hill Biggs Dow Godman Homestead Lockbourne March Otis
Aircraft	A-1 A-7 A-10 A-37 AC-47 AC-119 AC-130 B-26 B-57 B-66 C-7 C-47 C-82 C-119 C-123 C-130 E-3 E-8 EF-111 EC-135 F-4 F-5 F-15 F-16 F-47 F-51 F-80 F-82 F-84 F-86 F-89 F-100 F-101 F-102 F-104 F-105 F-106 F-111 F-117 H-1 H-5 H-6 H-19 H-43 H-60 H-53 KB-29 KB-50 KC-97 O-1 O-2 OH-23 OV-10 P-40 P-38 R-4 S-62 T-6 T-28 T-29 T-33 T-38

v t e Aerospace Defense Command (ADC)
Bases	CONUS Amarillo Beale Charleston Davis-Monthan Dobbins Dover Dow Duluth Eglin Edwards Ellington Ellsworth England Ent Ethan Allen Fairfax Fallon Fort Gregg-Adams Fort Heath Geiger George Glasgow Grand Forks Grenier Griffiss Gunter Hamilton Hancock Homestead Hurlburt Hunter Imeson Key West Kincheloe Kingsley Kirtland Lackland Laredo Larson Luke MacDill March Malmstrom McCoy McChord McClellan McGhee Tyson McGuire Minneapolis-St. Paul Minot Mitchel New Castle Niagara Falls Norton O'Hare Otis Oxnard Paine Perrin Peterson Pittsburgh Portland Presque Isle R.I. Bong Richards-Gebaur Robins K.I. Sawyer Selfridge Seymour Johnson Sioux City Stead Stewart Suffolk County Tinker Travis Truax Tyndall Vandenberg Vincent Walker Webb Westover Wright-Patterson Wurtsmith Youngstown Overseas Ernest Harmon Frobisher Bay Goose Keflavik McAndrew Pepperrell Thule
Stations	CONUS Adair Aiken Almaden Alpena Antigo Arlington Heights Baker Bedford Bellefontaine Belleville Benton Blaine Brookfield Brunswick Bucks Harbor Burns Calumet Cambria Cape Charles Cape Cod Carmi Caswell Chandler Charleston Cheyenne Mountain Claysburg Clear Colville Condon Continental Divide Cottonwood Cross City Crystal Springs Curlew Custer Cut Bank Dallas Center Dauphin Island Dickinson Duncanville Eldorado Empire Finland Finley Flintstone Fordland Fort Fisher Fort Lee Fortuna Gettysburg Grand Marais Grand Rapids Guthrie Hanna City Havre Highlands Houma Hutchinson Joelton Keno Killeen Kingman Kirksville Klamath Lake Charles Lake City Las Cruces Las Vegas Lewistown Lockport Lufkin Lyndonville Madera Makah Mica Peak Miles City Mill Valley Minot Montauk Moriarty Mount Hebo Mount Laguna Mount Lemmon Naselle North Bend North Charleston North Truro Oklahoma City Olathe Omaha Opheim Osceola Othello Owingsville Ozona Palermo Point Arena Port Austin Port Isabel Pyote Red Bluff Rochester Rockport Rockville (Indiana) Roslyn Rye Saint Albans San Clemente Island Santa Rosa Island Saratoga Springs Sault Ste Marie Shemya Snelling Snow Mountain Sweetwater Texarkana Tierra Amarilla Thomasville Tonopah Topsham Two Creeks Wadena Walnut Ridge Watertown Waverly West Mesa Willow Run Winnemucca Winslow Winston-Salem Woomera Yaak Zapata Overseas Armstrong Baldy Hughes Beausejour Cape Makkovik Cartwright Cut Throat Island Elliston Ridge Fox Harbour Hofn Hopedale Kamloops La Scie Langanes Latrar Melville Puntzi Mountain Ramore Red Cliff Rockville Saglek St. Anthony Saskatoon Mountain Sioux Lookout Spotted Island Stephenville
Air Defense units	Forces Central Air Defense Eastern Air Defense Iceland Western Air Defense First Fourth Tenth Fourteenth Air Divisions 8th 9th 20th 21st 23d 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32d 33d 34th 35th 36th 37th 58th 64th 73d 85th Sectors Albuquerque Bangor Boston Chicago Detroit Duluth Goose Grand Forks Great Falls Kansas City Los Angeles Minot Montgomery New York Oklahoma City Phoenix Portland Reno Sault Sainte Marie San Francisco Seattle Sioux City Spokane Stewart Syracuse Washington Wings Fighter 1st 4th 23d 32d 33d 50th 52d 56th 78th 81st 325th 328th 507th Detection and Control 71st 73d 551st 552d Air Defense 46th 4620th 4621st 4622d 4624th 4625th 4627th 4628th 4683d 4700th 4702d 4703d 4704th 4705th 4706th 4707th 4708th 4709th 4710th 4711th 4750th 4751st 4752d 4756th 4780th Groups Fighter 1st 4th 14th 15th 23d 32d 33d 50th 52d 53d 54th 56th 57th 78th 79th 81st 82d 84th 325th 326th 327th 328th 329th 337th 343d 355th 408th 412th 414th 473d 475th 476th 478th 507th Air Defense 10th 500th 501st 502d 503d 514th 515th 516th 517th 518th 519th 520th 521st 525th 527th 528th 529th 530th 533d 534th 564th 566th 567th 568th 575th 637th 665th 678th 692d 701st 751st 762d 765th 778th 780th 827th 858th 4606th 4620th 4676th 4700th 4721st 4722d 4727th 4728th 4729th 4730th 4731st 4732d 4733d 4734th 4735th 4750th 4756th Aircraft Control & Warning 503d 505th 540th 541st 542d 543d 544th 545th 546th 563d 564th 565th 566th Squadrons Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons Aircraft Control and Warning Squadrons
Major weapon systems	Electronic TB-29 EB-57 EC-121 Fighters Propeller: F-47 F-51 P-61 F-82 Subsonic Jet: P-80 F-84 F-86 F-89 F-94 Supersonic Jet: F-101 F-102 F-104 F-106 Missiles AIM-4 AIM-26 AIR-2 CIM-10 Ships Guardian Interceptor Interdictor Interpreter Investigator Locator Lookout Outpost Pickett Protector Scanner Searcher Skywatcher Tracer Watchman Vigil Texas Towers Texas Tower 2 Texas Tower 3 Texas Tower 4
Miscellaneous	Air Defense Command Emblem Gallery (on Wikimedia Commons) General Surveillance Radar Stations

• United States Naval Air Stations
• Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command on the North Atlantic Route
• Military installations established in 1942
• Iceland–United States relations
• Airports established in 1942
• Buildings and structures in Keflavík
• 1942 establishments in Iceland
• World War II sites in Iceland
• Closed installations of the United States Navy