Truax Field Air National Guard Base | |
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Part of Wisconsin Air National Guard (ANG) | |
Located at: Dane County Regional Airport, Wisconsin | |
A four ship of F-16C Fighting Falcons from the 115th Fighter Wing, Wisconsin Air National Guard over Wisconsin's capital city of Madison October 18th, 2008. In flight lead is aircraft 87-278 with a unique tail flash that was designed to celebrate the unit's 60th Anniversary.
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Location of Truax Field Air National Guard Base, Wisconsin
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Coordinates | 43°08′23″N 089°20′15″W / 43.13972°N 89.33750°W |
Type | Air National Guard Base |
Site information | |
Controlled by | United States Air Force |
Site history | |
Built | 1942 |
In use | 1942–present |
Garrison information | |
Garrison | 115th Fighter Wing |
Coordinates: 43°08′23″N 089°20′15″W / 43.13972°N 89.33750°W
Truax Field Air National Guard Base (IATA: MSN, ICAO: KMSN, FAA LID: MSN), also known as Truax Field, is a military facility located at Dane County Regional Airport. It is located five miles (8 km) northeast of the center of Madison, a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States.
Truax Field was named in honor of Wisconsin-native Lieutenant Thomas L. Truax, who was killed in a P-40 training accident in November 1941.
The airport is home to both the Wisconsin Army National Guard and the Wisconsin Air National Guard.
Originally known as "Madison Army Airfield", Truax Field was activated as an Army Air Forces airfield in June 1942 during World War II. During the war it was used by the Army Air Force Eastern Technical Training Center, a major school operating at Truax AAF for training radio operators and mechanics, and later expanded to training in radar operations, control tower operations and other communications fields for the Army Airways Communication Service. A special unit established in 1943 trained radio operators and mechanics on B-29 Superfortress communications equipment. The host unit on the airfield was the 334th (later 3508th) Army Air Force Base Unit. On September 17, 1945, the airfield's mission was changed to that of a separation center, and it was closed as an active AAF airfield on November 30, 1945.