Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field is a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

auxiliary airfield used as an emergency landing facility by

Luke Air Force Base Luke Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States., effective 20 December 2007 It is located west of the central business district of Glendale, and west of Phoenix. Luke AFB is a major traini ...

and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base aircraft and units from other nearby bases using the

Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range The Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range or Barry M. Goldwater Range (BMGR), formerly known as Luke Air Force Range, is a bombing range in the U.S. state of Arizona, between the Mexico–United States border and Interstate 8 straddling the Cabeza Pr ...

complex. The airfield is located south of

Interstate 8 Interstate 8 (I-8) is an Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the southwestern United States. It runs from the southern edge of Mission Bay (San Diego), Mission Bay at Sunset Cliffs Boulevard in San Diego, San Diego, Californi ...

and the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

of Gila Bend, in

Maricopa County Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

.. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective 3 June 2010. Although many U.S. airports use the same three-letter

location identifier A location identifier is a symbolic representation for the name and the location of an airport, navigation aid, or weather station, and is used for staffed air traffic control facilities in air traffic control, telecommunications, computer programm ...

for the

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

and

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...

, this facility is assigned GXF by the FAA but has no designation from the IATA.

History

The facility was opened in July 1942 when it was part of the Gila Bend Gunnery Range. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

it was under the command of the 492d (Reduced) Army Air Force Base Unit, AAF West Coast Training Center. It served as the range headquarters for a massive bombing and gunnery range, now known as the

Barry M. Goldwater Range The Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range or Barry M. Goldwater Range (BMGR), formerly known as Luke Air Force Range, is a bombing range in the U.S. state of Arizona, between the Mexico–United States border and Interstate 8 straddling the Cabeza P ...

, and for maintenance of the range and range targets. It remained an active Air Force facility manned by USAF personnel until approximately 1995. It was also used as an auxiliary landing field. As of 2011, this role is handled by private contractors utilizing portions of the facility.Thole, Lou (1999), ''Forgotten Fields of America : World War II Bases and Training, Then and Now'' – Vol. 2. Publisher: Pictorial Histories Pub, Auxiliary fields to Gila Bend AFAF: * Gila Bend #6/Williams AAF #4: * Gila Bend #6/Williams AAF #5: * Gila Bend #6/Williams AAF #6:

Facilities

Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field has one

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

designated Rwy 17/35 with an asphalt surface measuring .

References

;Other sources * * Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas * Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), ''Locating Air Force Base Sites, History’s Legacy'', Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC.

External links

56th Range Management Office
– operates Gila Bend AFAF {{USAAF Training Bases World War II Installations of the United States Air Force in Arizona Airports in Maricopa County, Arizona Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Arizona Airports established in 1942 1942 establishments in Arizona

History

Facilities

See also

References

External links