Joint Forces Training Base - Los Alamitos is a joint base in

Los Alamitos, California Los Alamitos () is a city in Orange County, California. The city was incorporated in March 1960. The population was 11,780 at the 2020 census, up from 11,449 at the 2010 census. The adjacent unincorporated community of Rossmoor uses the same 9 ...

, United States. Formerly operated as a naval air station, the base contains the Los Alamitos Army Airfield and is sometimes called by that name. The base is also known as JFTB - Los Al or just JFTB. The base covers 1,319 acres and "supports 850 full-time employees and more than 6,000

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

and

Reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

troops."

Facilities

JFTB has an MWR with billeting, a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, and a

banquet hall A banquet hall, function hall, or reception hall, is a special purpose room, or a building, used for hosting large social and business events. Typically a banquet hall is capable of serving dozens to hundreds of people a meal in a timely fashion. Pe ...

. Fiddler's Green is the last remaining military pub in Orange County. JFTB has significant training facilities, including an

Engagement Skills Trainer The Engagement Skills Trainer is a simulator that provides marksmanship training and trains soldiers on virtually all aspects of firearms training from calibrating weapons, to weapons qualification, to collective fire scenarios in numerous environm ...

, a Virtual Convoy Operations Trainer, a

HMMWV The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of light, four-wheel drive, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It has largely supplanted the roles previously performed by the ori ...

Egress Assistance Trainer, a Laser Marksmanship Training System, and a Close Combat Tactical Trainer.

Los Alamitos Army Airfield

The airfield has two

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 ...

s: * Runway 4L/22R: 5,902 x 150 ft. (1,799 x 46 m), surface: PEM * Runway 4R/22L: 8,001 x 200 ft. (2,439 x 61 m), surface: asphalt/concrete The airfield is home to Company A, 1st Battalion (Assault), 140th Aviation Regiment.

Aquatics Training Center

The JFTB Aquatics Training Center is an

Olympic-size swimming pool An Olympic-size swimming pool conforms to regulated dimensions that are large enough for international competition. This type of swimming pool is used in the Olympic Games, where the race course is in length, typically referred to as "long cour ...

50m by 25m, which offers year-round lap swimming, swim lessons, and fitness classes. The women's national water polo team regularly practices at the facility.

History

In 1942, JFTB became a naval air base to train fighter pilots 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 ...

. In 1973, JFTB was transferred to the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

. On 16 July 1957, then-

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

John H. Glenn, Jr. John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American United States Marine Corps Aviation, Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space, and the first A ...

USMC The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through co ...

, set the

transcontinental air speed record A transcontinental flight is a non-stop passenger flight from one side of a continent to the other. The term usually refers to flights across the United States, between the East and West Coasts. History The first transcontinental multi-stop fl ...

, flying a F8U-1P Crusader from NAS Los Alamitos to NAS Floyd Bennett Field, New York, in 3 hours, 23 minutes, and 8.4 seconds. Project Bullet, as the mission was called, provided both the first transcontinental flight to average supersonic speed, and the first continuous transcontinental panoramic photograph of the United States. Glenn was awarded his fifth Distinguished Flying Cross for the mission. The senior command on post is the 40th Infantry Division (Mechanized), headquartered in the large, prominent building facing the flagpole and main entrance artery. The base served as the Starting Line for the 14th season of the hit CBS Reality TV Show ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...

''. The base's status as an alternate landing area for Air Force One was mentioned in an episode of ''The West Wing''. The base leases the airfield to the City of Los Alamitos's for the annual

Southland Credit Union Southland Credit Union is a not-for-profit community-chartered credit union in California, United States serving the residents of Orange County and Los Angeles County. They have over 60,000 members and $1 billion in assets. Southland Credit Union ...

Los Alamitos "Race on the Base," a charity event including a 5K Run, 5K Walk, 10K Run, 10K Skate/ Handcycle / Wheelchair, Mission: 1K Kids Run, Jr. Reverse Triathlon and Reverse Triathlon. This is the largest reverse triathlon event in the country. On the south edge of Runway 22L is the Navy Golf Course, where

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. * * * Woods is widely regarded as ...

honed his game as a youth. The 18-hole Destroyer Course opened in 1966 and an executive nine holes was later added. The former military-only facility opened for public play in 2004. In 2014,

President Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

landed at Los Alamitos Army Airfield in

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...

in order to give the

commencement speech A commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions and in similar institutions around the world. The commencement ...

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two ** '' University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme * Universal Century, one of the ti ...

. In April 2015,

Brig Gen Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to ...

Nathaniel S. Reddicks became the first installation commander from the

California Air National Guard The California Air National Guard (CA ANG) is one of three components of the California National Guard, a reserve of the United States Air Force, and part of the National Guard of the United States. As militia units, the units in the California ...

. After this command, Reddicks retired from federal service and joined the

California State Military Reserve The California State Guard (CSG) (formerly the California State Military Reserve) is a component of the California National Guard (CNG). The CSG is a volunteer force that supports the state missions and federal readiness of the Army and Air Natio ...

, "making him the first federally recognized general officer to join the CSMR since the Korean War." In October 2016, Brig. Gen. John W. Lathrop took command of the base.

Gallery

File:NAS Los Alamitos NAN4-47.jpg, NAS Los Alamitos in the mid-1940s File:Naval Reserve FJ-1 at Los Alamitos 1950.jpg, Naval Reserve

North American FJ-1 Fury The North American FJ-1 Fury was the first operational jet aircraft in United States Navy service, and was developed by North American Aviation as the NA-135.McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bow ...

s of VF-22L1 at JFTB, 1970 File:California Army National Guard honors their best warriors 111023-A-XQ016-018.jpg,

California National Guard The California National Guard is part of the National Guard of the United States, a dual federal-state military reserve force. The CA National Guard has three components: the CA Army National Guard, CA Air National Guard, and CA State Guard. ...

Best Warrior Competition, 2011

References

External links

* {{CAMilitary, state=autocollapse Military installations in California Airports in Orange County, California Los Alamitos, California Buildings and structures in Orange County, California 1977 establishments in California