Free Republic

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Nellis Air Force Base, NevadaNellis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base, in Clark County, Nevada, on the northeast side of Las Vegas. An installation of the Air Combat Command (ACC), Nellis is the location of United States Air Force Warfare Center and a major training location for both U.S. and foreign fighter aircraft aircrews. The base is named for William Harrell Nellis, a Las Vegas resident and Air Force P-47 pilot who died in action during the Battle of the Bulge. Nellis, an integral part of the...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: West Point, New YorkThe United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. Established in 1802, USMA is the oldest of the United States' five service academies. The military garrison at West Point was occupied in 1778 and played a key role in the Revolutionary War. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, 50 miles north of New York City. The entire central campus is a national landmark and home to scores of historic sites, buildings,...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D. C.The United States Naval Research Laboratory is the corporate research laboratory for the Navy and Marine Corps, and conducts a broad program of scientific research, technology and advanced development. NRL has served the Navy and the nation for over 85 years and continues to meet the complex technological challenges of today's world.NRL was the first modern research institution created within the U.S. Navy. It began operations at 11:00 a.m. on July 2, 1923. The first step came in May 1915, a time when Americans were...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Fort Campbell, KentuckyFort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astraddle the Kentucky-Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and Clarksville, Tennessee. Fort Campbell is home to the 101st Airborne Division and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. The fort is named after William Bowen Campbell, a former Tennessee governor and a Civil War Union brigadier general.Fort Campbell is proud to be the home of the only Air Assault Division in the world, the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). Fort Campbell is also the home of two Special Operations Command units, the...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Shaw Air Force Base, South CarolinaShaw Air Force Base is the home of the United States Air Force 20th Fighter Wing (20 FW). It is also home to Headquarters, Ninth Air Force (9 AF) and Headquarters, United States Central Command Air Forces (USCENTAF). The mission of the 20 FW is to provide, project, and sustain combat-ready air forces. It is the Air Force's largest combat F-16 wing. Today's 20th Fighter Wing can trace its lineage to 28 July 1947, when the 20th Fighter Wing, began at Shaw Field, South Carolina, as...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Naval Special Warfare Command, CaliforniaThe United States Naval Special Warfare Command (NAVSOC or NSWC) was commissioned on 16 April 1987, at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in San Diego, California. As the Naval component to the United States Special Operations Command, headquartered at MacDill AFB in Tampa, Florida, Naval Special Warfare Command provides vision, leadership, doctrinal guidance, resources and oversight to ensure component maritime special operations forces are ready to meet the operational requirements of combatant commanders. Today's Naval Special Warfare operators can trace their origins to the Scouts and Raiders, Naval...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Luke Air Force Base, ArizonaLuke Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located seven miles west of the central business district of Glendale, in Maricopa County, Arizona. It is also about 15 miles west of Phoenix, Arizona. Luke AFB is a major training base of the Air Education and Training Command, training pilots in the F-16 Fighting Falcon.The 56th Fighter Wing is the host unit at Luke. It is part of Air Education and Training Command. The wing is composed of four groups of 27 squadrons, including eight...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, Alabama Maxwell Air Force Base, officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, US. It was named in honor of Atmore, Alabama native Second Lieutenant William C. Maxwell. Maxwell AFB is the headquarters of Air University (AU), a major component of Air Education and Training Command (AETC), and is the U.S. Air Force's center for Joint Professional Military Education (PME). The host wing for Maxwell-Gunter is...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota Ellsworth Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base near Rapid City in Meade County and Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is home to the 28th Bomb Wing of the Air Combat Command (ACC), operating the B-1B Lancer.As host wing, the 28th Bomb Wing includes an operations group, a maintenance group, a mission support group, and a medical group. The base controls all air space 40 miles (64 km) around its area, including all landings at nearby Rapid City Regional Airport,...

      ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Marine Corps Logistics Base, Albany, Georgia Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany is a United States Marine Corps base located in Albany, Georgia. The primary mission of the units on the base is to rebuild and repair ground-combat and combat-support equipment and to support installations on the East Coast of the United States. Today, one of MCLB Albany’s most important facilities is the Marine Corps Logistics Command's Maintenance Center.The base was commissioned on March 1, 1952, as the Marine Corps Depot of Supplies. At that time, Marine Brigadier General R.P. Coffman...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands, Hawaii Pacific Missile Range Facility is the world's largest instrumented multi-environment range capable of supporting surface, subsurface, air, and space operations simultaneously. There are over 1,100 square miles of instrumented underwater range and over 42,000 square miles of controlled airspace. This makes PMRF a premier facility for supporting operations which vary from small, single-unit exercises up to large scale, multiple-unit battle group scenarios.The mission of the Pacific Missile Range Facility is to facilitate Training, Tactics Development, and Test & Evaluations for air, surface, and sub-surface...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, TexasNaval Air Station Corpus Christi, also known as Truax Field, is a naval base located six miles southeast of the central business district of Corpus Christi, in Nueces County, Texas, USA.The general command assignment at MAS Corpus Christi is pilot training. The Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA), headquartered here, oversees the entire training operation. Under CNATRA's command are five training air wings, 16 training squadrons, over 14,000 Navy and civilian personnel, the Naval Aviation Schools Command and the National Museum of Naval Aviation. Established in...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, Alabama Maxwell Air Force Base, officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, US. It was named in honor of Atmore, Alabama native Second Lieutenant William C. Maxwell. Maxwell AFB is the headquarters of Air University (AU), a major component of Air Education and Training Command (AETC), and is the U.S. Air Force's center for Joint Professional Military Education (PME). The host wing for Maxwell-Gunter is...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Naval Air Station Meridian, Mississippi Just 15 miles northeast of downtown Meridian lies Naval Air Station Meridian jet training facility. NAS Meridian hosts Training Wing One and training squadrons VT-7 and VT-9. VT-7 operates the T-45 (Goshawk) while VT-9 flies the venerable T2-C Buckeye. The main base of NAS Meridian occupies more than 8,000 acres, with an additional 4,000 acres at Joe Williams Field and the target facility SEARAY. The size of NAS Meridian may be compared to that of other major naval air stations such as NAS Pensacola, Fla., which...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Edwards Air Force Base, California Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County and Los Angeles County, California in the Antelope Valley. Edwards is home to the 412th Test Wing and is currently operated by the 95th Air Base Wing. The base is strategically situated next to Rogers Dry Lake, a desert salt pan; its hard playa surface provides a natural extension to Edwards' runways. This large landing area, combined with excellent year-round weather, makes the base a perfect site for...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Creech Air Force Base, Nevada Creech Air Force Base, formerly known as Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field, is a United States Air Force base located one mile north of the central business district of Indian Springs, in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is about 35 miles northwest of Las Vegas and 45 miles northwest of Nellis Air Force Base. It is named in honor of General Wilbur L. “Bill” Creech, known as the "Father of the Thunderbirds". The host unit is the 432d Wing, which has six operational squadrons,...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island is an 8,095 acre military installation near Beaufort, South Carolina tasked with the training of enlisted Marines. Male recruits living east of the Mississippi River and female recruits from all over the United States report here to receive their initial training. Male recruits living west of the Mississippi River receive their training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California, but may train at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island by special request. Parris Island is located...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Fort Rucker, AlabamaFort Rucker is a U.S. Army post located mostly in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It was named for a Civil War officer, Confederate General Edmund Rucker. The post is the primary flight training base for Army Aviation and is home to the United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence (USAACE) and the United States Army Aviation Museum. Small sections of the post also lie in Coffee, Geneva, and Houston counties. The main post has entrances from three bordering cities, Daleville, Ozark and Enterprise. In the years before the...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado Schriever Air Force Base (Schriever AFB) is a base of the United States Air Force located approximately 10 miles east of Peterson AFB near Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States. The base is named in honor of General Bernard Adolph Schriever, who pioneered the development of the nation's ballistic missile programs. It is home to Air Force Space Command's 50th Space Wing, which provides command and control for more than 170 Department of Defense warning, navigational, and communications satellites. Also housed at Schriever...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, North Carolina United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) is a component command of the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) that comprises the Marine Corps' contribution to SOCOM. Its core capabilities are direct action, special reconnaissance and foreign internal defense. MARSOC has also been directed to conduct counter-terrorism, information operations, and unconventional warfare.It's creation was announced on November 1, 2005 by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, following a meeting between him, the USSOCOM commander General Bryan D. Brown, and the Marine...