Dover Air Force Base | |
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Part of Air Mobility Command (AMC) | |
Located near: Dover, Delaware | |
The Spirit of Old Glory, the fourth C-5M Super Galaxy delivered to the 436th Airlift Wing, arrives at Dover Air Force Base.
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Location of Dover AFB, Delaware
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Coordinates | 39°07′42″N 075°27′53″W / 39.12833°N 75.46472°WCoordinates: 39°07′42″N 075°27′53″W / 39.12833°N 75.46472°W |
Site information | |
Controlled by | United States Air Force |
Site history | |
Built | 1941 |
In use | 1941–present |
Garrison information | |
Garrison | 436th Airlift Wing |
Airfield information | |||||||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 28 ft / 9 m | ||||||||||||||
Website | www |
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Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Source: FAA, official site
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Building 1301, Dover Air Force Base
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Building 1301, January 2011
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Location | Dover AFB, E. Dover Hundred, Dover, Delaware |
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Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
NRHP Reference # | 94001377 |
Added to NRHP | December 7, 1994 |
Dover Air Force Base or Dover AFB (IATA: DOV, ICAO: KDOV, FAA LID: DOV) is a United States Air Force base located 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of the city of Dover, Delaware.
Dover AFB is home to the 436th Airlift Wing (436 AW) of the Air Mobility Command (AMC), known as the "Eagle Wing", and the AMC-gained 512th Airlift Wing (512 AW) of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), referred to as the "Liberty Wing". It was previously the only base to solely operate the massive C-5 Galaxy and now operates both that aircraft plus the C-17 Globemaster III. The 436 AW has two active flying squadrons (the 3rd Airlift Squadron, which now operates the C-17 Globemaster III, and 9th Airlift Squadron), and the 512 AW has two Air Force Reserve flying squadrons (the 326th Airlift Squadron and the 709th Airlift Squadron).
Dover AFB is also the home for the largest military mortuary in the Department of Defense, and has been used for processing military personnel killed in both war and peacetime; the remains of those killed overseas are traditionally brought to Dover AFB before being transferred to family. The Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs has also been used to identify remains of civilians in certain exceptional circumstances: in 1978 for the victims of the Jonestown mass murder/suicide, in 1986 for identifying the remains of the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger, and in 2003 for the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia. It was also a major site for identifying the remains of military personnel killed in the 9/11 attacks. During the night of October 28, 2009, before making a decision on the committal of further troops to Afghanistan, President Barack Obama visited the base to receive the bodies of several American soldiers killed in Afghanistan.