Edwin Andrews Air Base is located in Zamboanga, Philippines. The base operates through Runway 09/27, which has a length of , along with the

Zamboanga International Airport Zamboanga International Airport (Chavacano: ''Aeropuerto Internacional de Zamboanga''; fil, Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Zamboanga; ) is the main airport serving Zamboanga City in the Philippines. Located on a site in Barangay Canelar, Zamboanga C ...

and conducts air operations against insurgents like the

Moro Islamic Liberation Front The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF; ar, ''Jabhat Taḥrīr Moro al-ʾIslāmiyyah'') is a group based in Mindanao seeking an autonomous region of the Moro people from the central government. The group has a presence in the Bangsamoro r ...

History

Edwin Andrews Air Base was built by the Spanish George L. Saludo Jr. as San Roque Airfield. The base was later renamed as Moret Field after Paul Moret, a

US Marine 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 combi ...

Colonel who died in 1943 because of a plane crash. On March 15, 1945, American forces re-established their units and consecutively improved the base with the help of 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 ...

airfield construction unit together with Filipino forces. The single runway was completed to be used to fight against the remaining Japanese forces in the Philippines and was about 4,500 feet long aligned with the prevalent winds in the area. The base was transferred to the control of the

Philippine Government The Government of the Philippines ( fil, Pamahalaan ng Pilipinas) has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and d ...

and became an airport for public use known today as

. On December 6, 1956, a

military airbase An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

was established in the airport and was renamed Edwin Andrews Air Base in honor of Gen. Edwin Andrews, the first Filipino post-war PAF Commander who lost his life when the 'Lili Marlene', a C-47 transport plane carrying him and 16 others crashed in Mt. Makaturing, Lanao province in

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

on May 18, 1947. In January 2002, US soldiers arrived in the southern

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

on a C-17 transport plane to help prepare for a joint military exercise aimed to fight a Muslim extremist group. US special forces moved from Edwin Andrews Airbase to Camp Basilio Navarro. 160 U.S. troops were sent to

Basilan Basilan, officially the Province of Basilan ( cbk, Provincia de Basilan; yka, Wilayah Basilanin; tsg, Wilaya' sin Basilan; fil, Lalawigan ng Basilan), is an island province of the Philippines located primarily in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Reg ...

, and 250 U.S. troops will be stationed in Zamboanga.

Accidents and incidents

* On November 9, 2011, An

OV-10 Bronco The North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco is an American twin-turboprop light attack and observation aircraft. It was developed in the 1960s as a special aircraft for counter-insurgency (COIN) combat, and one of its primary missions was as a f ...

plane of the Philippine Air Force crash landed at the Edwin Andrews Air Base in Zamboanga City due to a malfunction in one of its engines. * On May 29, 2008, A bomb was detonated near the Gate 1 of the Edwin Andrews Air Base wounded 18 people in the blast, one person was seriously injured, while two were pronounced dead on arrival at a Zamboanga hospital.

References

External links

Official Philippine Air Force Website
{{Zamboanga City Air force installations of the Philippines Military installations established in 1956 Buildings and structures in Zamboanga City

History

Accidents and incidents

See also

References

External links