Antonio Bautista Air Base is 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 ...

of the Philippine Air Force (PAF), located in Puerto Princesa,

Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in t ...

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 ...

. The base shares the single long

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, concre ...

with

Puerto Princesa International Airport Puerto Princesa International Airport ( fil, Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Puerto Princesa; ) is an airport serving the general area of Puerto Princesa, located in the province of Palawan in the Philippines. It is classified as an international airport ...

. The PAF base was named as an honour to Colonel Antonio Bautista, who was killed in action on 11 January 1974 as a

F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

pilot while engaged in a close air support (CAS) mission against Muslim rebels.

World War II

On 14 December 1944, occupying Japanese soldiers herded 150 American POWs who were building the airstrip on Palawan Island (today's

and Antonio Bautista Air Base) into air raid trenches, doused them with gasoline, set them afire, then machine-gunned and bayoneted them to death. Among them was Army Capt. Fred Bruni the Palawan POWs' senior officer, who was from

Janesville, Wisconsin Janesville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. It is the county seat and largest city in the county. It is a principal municipality of the Janesville, Wisconsin, Metropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Madison–Jan ...

, with the 192nd Tank Battalion. Only eleven men escaped the ' Palawan Massacre', to be rescued by guerrillas. The story of their ordeal persuaded

General Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...

that the rumoured order for the retreating Japanese to "kill all" prisoners was being implemented, thus his rush to liberate the Philippines.

US Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

s units based here included: *Headquarters,

XIII Fighter Command The XIII Fighter Command was a United States Army Air Forces formation. It was last assigned to Thirteenth Air Force, based at Manila, Luzon, Philippines. It was inactivated on 15 March 1946. History XIII Fighter Command was a World War II comm ...

(1 March 1945 to November 1945) *

42d Bombardment Group 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

(March 1945 to January 1946) * 347th Fighter Group (6 March to December 1945) *

419th Night Fighter Squadron The 419th Night Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Thirteenth Air Force, being inactivated at Floridablanca, Luzon on 20 February 1947. The unit was formed in 1943. After training, it was ...

(6 March 1945 to 10 January 1946) *

550th Night Fighter Squadron 55 may refer to: *55 (number) *55 BC *AD 55 *1955 *2055 Science *Caesium, by the element's atomic number Astronomy *Messier object M55, a magnitude 7.0 globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius *The New General Catalogue object NGC 55, ...

(Det) (9 to 19 June 1945)

Current use

The airbase is currently used as a jump off point to supply the soldiers stationed in the municipality of Kalayaan as well as soldiers in the BRP Sierra Madre.

Future development

Antonio Bautista Air Base is one of the nine airbases nominated for the priority development programmes of the Philippine Air Force (PAF). The PAF planned to construct two additional hangars to store relief supplies and accommodate additional air assets, including long-range

patrol aircraft A maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), also known as a patrol aircraft, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, or by the older American term patrol bomber, is a fixed-wing aircraft designed to operate for long durations over water in maritime patrol rol ...

and two PZL W-3 Sokol helicopters to be stationed there in the future. On 18 March 2016, the United States and the Philippines signed a deal to allow US forces to use five bases in the country as a counter to the Chinese deployments in the

Spratly Islands The Spratly Islands ( fil, Kapuluan ng Kalayaan; zh, c=南沙群島/南沙群岛, s=, t=, p=Nánshā Qúndǎo; Malay, id, Kepulauan Spratly; vi, Quần đảo Trường Sa) are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed ...

, including Antonio Bautista Air Base. A new Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief warehouse is expected to be built at the airbase.

References

{{Portal bar, Philippines, Aviation, Military history Air force installations of the Philippines Buildings and structures in Puerto Princesa