Duke Field , also known as Eglin AFB Auxiliary Field #3, is a military airport located three miles (5 km) south of the central business district of Crestview, in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States.
History Duke Field was one of the first auxiliary fields built on the Eglin Field / Eglin AFB complex. Clearing and grading began 23 January 1941,Angell, Joseph W., "History of the Army Air Forces Proving Ground Command - Part One - Historical Outline 1933-1944", The Historical Branch, Army Air Forces Proving Ground Command, Eglin AFB, Florida, reprint by Office of History, Munitions Systems Division, Eglin AFB, Florida, circa 1990, page 29. with the first building foundations laid on 15 February 1942.Angell, Joseph W., "History of the Army Air Forces Proving Ground Command - Part One - Historical Outline 1933-1944", The Historical Branch, Army Air Forces Proving Ground Command, Eglin AFB, Florida, reprint by Office of History, Munitions Systems Division, Eglin AFB, Florida, circa 1990, page 53. Field 3 was used as a training base by the Doolittle Raiders in 1942. Shortly after the end of World War II, the field was one of several sites used in the production of the 1949 feature film Twelve O'Clock High.
Cold War In the 1950s, Duke Field became home to the 3205th Drone Group, which operated radio remote-controlled B-17s and F-80s that were used for gunnery and missile practice over the Gulf of Mexico. They were also used in the nuclear test program by flying the unmanned aircraft through atomic detonation clouds to gather fallout information.
A large hump-backed steel hangar, the "Butler Hangar", X 130 feet, transported from Trinidad (probably from the former Waller Air Force Base, closed 28 May 1949 due to budget cuts), was erected at Auxiliary Field 3 between 1 April and ~10 July 1950, by personnel of Company 'C', 806th Aviation Engineering Battalion, under Captain Samuel M. Cable, and the men of the 550th Guided Missiles Wing. Project Officer was Captain Clarence A. Ebbert of the Proving Ground Command Installations Division. An additional four feet of roof clearance was added to accommodate B-17s in the structure. Concrete block buildings, X 40 feet, were erected on the flanks of the hangar. Concurrently, the runway was widened to and additional parking ramps were constructed, with 117,327 cubic yards of dirt excavated. The new ramps and runway expansion consisted of asphalt over a crushed shell base.
In 1960 and 1961, in preparation for the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Duke Field was host to 'sanitized' Douglas C-54s and Curtiss C-46s used for transporting personnel, armaments and supplies between US bases such as Homestead AFB and Opa-locka Airport and CIA-run bases in Guatemala and latterly Nicaragua. A unit at the field was responsible for 'sanitizing' and adapting about 20 Douglas B-26 Invaders for use by Cuban exile aircrews during the invasion. A few T-33s and C-130s were also prepared for use in the conflict, but not used.Leeker, Dr Joe http://www.utdallas.edu/library/collections/speccoll/Leeker/history/BayOfPigs.pdf
The Development Projects Division (DPD), the Central Intelligence Agency's air arm, operated as the 1045th Operational Evaluation and Training Group, Headquarters Command, Eglin AFB, as the Air Force designated it, but which was a DPD operation out of Duke Field from late 1960 to June/July 1961.Trest, Warren A., "Air Commando One: Heinie Aderholt And America's Secret Air Wars", Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., London, 2000, Library of Congress card number 99-053643, , page 83. "There was a total of about 20 Polish airmen at Eglin at the time, all of them 'employed' by Lockheed, so there should be enough of them to form at least two crews."Leeker, Dr. Joe F., "Air America at the Bay of Pigs", Special Collections, University of Texas - Dallas, updated 4 March 2013, Footnote 84, page 12, E-mail dated 9 December 2009 kindly sent to the author by Franek Grabowski. The DPD operated independently of "the organizational structure of the project, in which it had a vital, central role, including air drops to the underground, training Cuban pilots, operation of air bases, the immense logistical problems of transporting the Cuban volunteers from Florida to Guatemala, and the procuring and servicing of the military planes.""Inspector General‟s Survey of the Cuban Operation", dated October 1961, that is document no. 129914 published on the CIA‟s website at , no. 7, pp. 38/9, that is pp. 46/7 on the website
Special Operations use Between August and October 1970, during the Vietnam War, the Joint Contingency Task Group used AFROTC facilities at Duke Field to house US Army Special Forces troops involved in Operation Ivory Coast, a mission to rescue prisoners of war at Sơn Tây, North Vietnam. Aircraft based at Eglin AFB and Hurlburt Field involved in the training also used Duke Field daily as an operational airstrip to maintain a low profile.
On 30 July 1971, the 919th Tactical Airlift Group (919 TAG) was activated in the Air Force Reserve (AFRES) and established at Duke Field with C-130A Hercules aircraft, with the unit operationally gained by the Tactical Air Command (TAC). With this action, the 919 TAG effectively became the "host group" organization (similar to "host wing" at larger USAF installations) for Duke Field.
On 1 July 1975 the 919 TAG converted to a special operations mission and became the 919th Special Operations Group (919 SOG), the only Air Force Reserve AC-130 Spectre gunship unit. AC-130A were transferred from the Regular Air Force as the Regular Air Force transitioned to the AC-130H and nearly $6.7 million in new construction was programmed at Duke Field through Fiscal Year 1976. Although USAF C-130 airlift units were transferred to the Military Airlift Command (MAC) in 1975, AC-130 units remained under TAC.
In 1980, Duke Field was also one of the fields used in training for Operation Credible Sport, an initiative to prepare for a second rescue attempt of American hostages held in Iran using C-130 aircraft modified with multiple rocket engines for extremely short landings and takeoffs. Most of the testing for this was done at Wagner Field (Eglin AFB Auxiliary Field #1) and it was there during a 29 October 1980 demonstration of one of the highly modified YMC-130H Credible Sport aircraft that a malfunction and hard landing resulted in the destruction of this particular aircraft. All crew aboard the aircraft survived.
In 1983, operational claimancy for the 919 SOG shifted from TAC to MAC and the latter's newly established 23d Air Force (23 AF), said action paralleling the transfer of all Regular Air Force AC-130 and MC-130 units and assets from TAC to MAC. In 1990, 23 AF was re-designated as Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), a separate Air Force major command (MAJCOM), and operational claimancy for the 919 SOG shifted to AFSOC.
In 1992, the 919 SOG was re-designated as the 919th Special Operations Wing (919 SOW), the designation it currently retains today. In 1995, the 919 SOW's AC-130A aircraft were retired and the 919 SOW converted to the MC-130E Combat Talon I and MC-130P Combat Shadow aircraft and made available for worldwide deployment. Also in 1995, while the wing's 711th Special Operations Squadron (711 SOS) transitioned to the MC-130E, the 5th Special Operations Squadron (5 SOS) was activated within the 919 SOW at Duke Field to fly the MC-130N/P, Combat Shadow special operations aerial refueling aircraft.
On 17 February 1997, the Air Force Reserve (AFRES) ceased to be a Field Operating Agency of the Air Force and became an Air Force MAJCOM as the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), making the 919 SOW a subordinate command of AFRC. However, the 919 SOW's operational relationship with AFSOC would remain unchanged.
In 2000, about 170 active duty USAF aircraft maintenance personnel from the 716th Maintenance Squadron (716 MXS) took up residence at Duke Field as an Active Associate unit to the 919 SOW. At the time, this symbiotic relationship was unique because it was the only active associate maintenance squadron in the Air Force. The 716 MXS worked in tandem with Air Force Reserve members to provide maintenance support to MC-130E aircraft. The 716 MXS maintainers were under the mission control of the 919th Maintenance Group (919 MXG) infrastructure and 919 MXG work center supervisors scheduled the maintainers, prioritized the work, furnished tools and special equipment, and provided first line supervision. However, the 716 MXS maintainers remained under the administrative control of the active duty 16th Maintenance Group (16 MXG) at Hurlburt Field through the 716 MXS commander. The commander was responsible for military discipline matters, administrative reports (including performance reports), personnel accountability, manpower, training, individual equipment and temporary duty/travel funding.716 Maintenance Squadron, http://www.usafunithistory.com/PDF/0700/716%20MAINTENANCE%20SQ.pdf
2008 Doolittle reunion Six original Raiders were present at Duke Field, on Saturday 31 May 2008 for the culmination of their annual reunion. Three civilian B-25s in warbird markings re-enacted the training take-off sessions, with personnel from NAS Pensacola as flight deck crew representing that service's contribution to the Tokyo raid.
The 919 SOW retired its fleet of C-145A Combat Coyote in December 2022.
Role and operations Although technically part of the larger nearby Eglin Air Force Base complex, today Duke Field is essentially a small air force base in its own right. Primarily an AFRC installation, Duke Field is hosted by the 919th Special Operations Wing (919 SOW), which operated the MC-130E Combat Talon I aircraft until April 2013 The 919 SOW previously operated the AC-130A Spectre gunship aircraft as flown by the 711 SOS prior to transitioning to the MC-130E in 1995.
The 919 SOW currently operates the MQ-9 Reaper, U-28A Draco and C-146A Wolfhound aircraft. As an AFRC unit, the 919 SOW is operationally gained by AFSOC, headquartered at nearby Hurlburt Field. The wing contains 13 squadrons, 2 of which are stationed at Hurlburt Field, Florida.
Based units Flying and notable non-flying units based at Duke Field.
Units marked GSU are Geographically Separate Units, which although based at Duke, are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location.
United States Air Force
Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) Tenth Air Force 919th Special Operations Wing (Host) 919th Special Operations Group 311th Special Operations Intelligence Squadron 711th Special Operations Squadron 859th Special Operations Squadron – Non-Standard Aviation (NSAV) mission 919th Special Operations Support Squadron 919th Special Operations Maintenance Group 919th Special Operations Maintenance Squadron 919th Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron 919th Maintenance Operations Flight 919th Special Operations Medical Squadron 919th Special Operations Mission Support Group 919th Special Operations Civil Engineer Squadron 919th Special Operations Security Forces Squadron 919th Special Operations Communications Squadron 919th Special Operations Logistics Readiness Squadron 919th Special Operations Force Support Squadron
Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC)
492d Special Operations Wing 6th Special Operations Squadron (GSU) 524th Special Operations Squadron (GSU) – C-146A Wolfhound
Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC)
Air Force Test Center 96th Test Wing 96th Operations Group 413th Flight Test Squadron (GSU) – CV-22 Osprey, HH-60W Jolly Green II, UH-1N Iroquois Detachment 1 (GSU) – AC-130J Ghostrider, C-130 Hercules, HC-130J Combat King II, MC-130J Commando II
Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) Detachment 7 – MH-139A Grey Wolf
Infrastructure and facilities