Palmerola
| Soto Cano Air Base | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||
| Location | Comayagua | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 628 m / 2,060 ft | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 14°22′57″N 087°37′16″W / 14.38250°N 87.62111°WCoordinates: 14°22′57″N 087°37′16″W / 14.38250°N 87.62111°W | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
 MHSC
|
|||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
Source: DAFIF
|
|||||||||||
Soto Cano Air Base (commonly known as Palmerola Air Base) is a Honduran military base 5 mi (8.0 km) to the south of Comayagua in Honduras. It houses between 500-600 US troops and is also used by the Honduran Air Force academy. The airbase became operational in 1981, changing the old location of the Honduras Air Force Academy in Toncontin, Tegucigalpa to Palmerola.
The US government once used Palmerola as a base of operations to support its foreign policy objectives in the 1980s. Now the US military uses Soto Cano as a launching point for counter-narcotics missions in Central America as well as humanitarian aid missions throughout Honduras and Central America.
In addition to the Honduran Air Force Academy, the US military's Joint Task Force Bravo (JTF-B) is headquartered at Soto Cano. JTF-B consists of four groups: MEDEL (Medical Element) a Military Hospital, ARFOR (Army Forces), JSF (Joint Security Forces), and the 1st Battalion-228th Aviation Regiment (consisting of some 18 aircraft, a mix of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, MEDEVAC configured Black Hawks, and CH-47 Chinook helicopters). Until 2006, the JSF and 1-228th Aviation Regiment were the only permanent party organizations. JSF consisted of approximately 21 permanent, 1-year tour, Air Force Security Forces personnel, including the Commander and the 1-228th consisted of approximately 55 permanent Army aviation personnel - pilots, crew chiefs, and aviation maintainers. The rest of the JSF personnel consisted of Army, Air Force, and U.S. Marines personnel who would be temporarily assigned to JSF rotating every 6-months. In that year, MEDEL, which was a U.S. Army-only unit, began receiving Air Force personnel, however it is no longer a joint billet. The requirement is for an U.S. Army Colonel to be the Commander of JTF-B and an U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel to be the Deputy Commander. In addition, MEDEL is commanded by the U.S. Army, 1-228th AR is commanded by the U.S. Army, ARFOR is commanded by the U.S. Army, AFFOR is commanded by the U.S. Air Force, and JSF is commanded by the U.S. Air Force.
...
Wikipedia