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Patrick Space Force Base
Patrick Space Force Base (IATA: COF, ICAO: KCOF, FAA LID: COF) is a United States Space Force installation located between Satellite Beach and Cocoa Beach, in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is named in honor of Major General Mason Patrick, USAAC. It is home to Space Launch Delta 45 (SLD 45), known as the 45th Space Wing (45 SW) when it was part of the Air Force. In addition to its "host wing" responsibilities at Patrick SFB, the 45 SW controls and operates Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) and the Eastern Range.
The base was originally opened and operated from 1940 to 1947 as Naval Air Station Banana River, a United States Navy airfield. It was then deactivated as a naval installation in 1947 and placed in caretaker status until it was transferred to the United States Air Force in late 1948. After briefly taking on the name Joint Long Range Proving Ground, the base was known as the Patrick Air Force Base beginning in 1950. The base took on its current name in 2020 upon its transfer to the recently established U.S. Space Force.
Additional tenant activities at Patrick SFB include the 920th Rescue Wing, the Air Force Technical Applications Center, and the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI). Total employment is 10,400. There are 13,099 military, dependents, civilian employees, and contractors on base.
The base is a census-designated place (CDP) and had a resident population of 1,642 as of the 2020 census, up from 1,222 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Palm Bay—Melbourne—Titusville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The base also administers the Malabar Annex in Palm Bay.
Authorized by the Naval Expansion Act of 1938, Naval Air Station Banana River was commissioned on 1 October 1940 as a subordinate base of the Naval Air Operational Training Command at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida. The Navy bought 1,900 acres (770 ha) of scrub land south of Cocoa Beach.
With the advent of war with Japan and Germany in December 1941, the Navy began anti-submarine patrols along the Florida coast using PBY Catalina and PBM Mariner seaplanes based at this facility. PBMs returned to training duty in March 1942 when replaced on patrol by OS2U Kingfisher seaplanes. Landing strips were constructed in 1943, allowing shore-based aircraft to operate concurrently. The Free French Naval Air Service officers also trained in PBMs at NAS Banana River. Various military-related activities took place at NAS Banana River, including maritime patrol aviation operations against German U-boats, air search and rescue operations, patrol bomber bombardier training, seaplane pilot training, and communications research. Other activities included a blimp squadron detachment, an Aviation Navigation Training School, and an experimental training unit termed Project Baker, a confidential program that developed and tested instrument landing equipment. NAS Banana River hosted a significant aircraft repair and maintenance facility. Later in the war, a small detachment of German POWs from Camp Blanding worked at NAS Banana River on cleanup details. At its peak, the base complement included 278 aircraft, 587 civilian employees, and over 2,800 officers and enlisted personnel.
Three months after the end of World War II, on 5 December 1945, NAS Banana River had an ancillary role in the search for Flight 19, five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers that had departed Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale, Florida on a routine over-water training mission. When the flight failed to return to home station, multiple air and naval units undertook a search and rescue operation. After sunset on 5 December, two PBM Mariner seaplanes from NAS Banana River, originally scheduled for their own training flights, were diverted to perform square pattern searches in the area west of 29°N 79°W/29, -79. One of these aircraft, a PBM-5, Bureau Number (BuNo) 59225, took off at 19:27 Eastern Time from NAS Banana River, called in a routine radio message at 19:30 Eastern Time, and was never heard from again.
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Patrick Space Force Base
Patrick Space Force Base (IATA: COF, ICAO: KCOF, FAA LID: COF) is a United States Space Force installation located between Satellite Beach and Cocoa Beach, in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is named in honor of Major General Mason Patrick, USAAC. It is home to Space Launch Delta 45 (SLD 45), known as the 45th Space Wing (45 SW) when it was part of the Air Force. In addition to its "host wing" responsibilities at Patrick SFB, the 45 SW controls and operates Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) and the Eastern Range.
The base was originally opened and operated from 1940 to 1947 as Naval Air Station Banana River, a United States Navy airfield. It was then deactivated as a naval installation in 1947 and placed in caretaker status until it was transferred to the United States Air Force in late 1948. After briefly taking on the name Joint Long Range Proving Ground, the base was known as the Patrick Air Force Base beginning in 1950. The base took on its current name in 2020 upon its transfer to the recently established U.S. Space Force.
Additional tenant activities at Patrick SFB include the 920th Rescue Wing, the Air Force Technical Applications Center, and the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI). Total employment is 10,400. There are 13,099 military, dependents, civilian employees, and contractors on base.
The base is a census-designated place (CDP) and had a resident population of 1,642 as of the 2020 census, up from 1,222 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Palm Bay—Melbourne—Titusville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The base also administers the Malabar Annex in Palm Bay.
Authorized by the Naval Expansion Act of 1938, Naval Air Station Banana River was commissioned on 1 October 1940 as a subordinate base of the Naval Air Operational Training Command at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida. The Navy bought 1,900 acres (770 ha) of scrub land south of Cocoa Beach.
With the advent of war with Japan and Germany in December 1941, the Navy began anti-submarine patrols along the Florida coast using PBY Catalina and PBM Mariner seaplanes based at this facility. PBMs returned to training duty in March 1942 when replaced on patrol by OS2U Kingfisher seaplanes. Landing strips were constructed in 1943, allowing shore-based aircraft to operate concurrently. The Free French Naval Air Service officers also trained in PBMs at NAS Banana River. Various military-related activities took place at NAS Banana River, including maritime patrol aviation operations against German U-boats, air search and rescue operations, patrol bomber bombardier training, seaplane pilot training, and communications research. Other activities included a blimp squadron detachment, an Aviation Navigation Training School, and an experimental training unit termed Project Baker, a confidential program that developed and tested instrument landing equipment. NAS Banana River hosted a significant aircraft repair and maintenance facility. Later in the war, a small detachment of German POWs from Camp Blanding worked at NAS Banana River on cleanup details. At its peak, the base complement included 278 aircraft, 587 civilian employees, and over 2,800 officers and enlisted personnel.
Three months after the end of World War II, on 5 December 1945, NAS Banana River had an ancillary role in the search for Flight 19, five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers that had departed Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale, Florida on a routine over-water training mission. When the flight failed to return to home station, multiple air and naval units undertook a search and rescue operation. After sunset on 5 December, two PBM Mariner seaplanes from NAS Banana River, originally scheduled for their own training flights, were diverted to perform square pattern searches in the area west of 29°N 79°W/29, -79. One of these aircraft, a PBM-5, Bureau Number (BuNo) 59225, took off at 19:27 Eastern Time from NAS Banana River, called in a routine radio message at 19:30 Eastern Time, and was never heard from again.
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