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Officials at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, are warning airmen and nearby residents to avoid a perimeter around McKinley Climatic Lab after an unexplained explosion occurred at the on-base facility Wednesday. "A little before 10 a.m., an explosion occurred at McKinley Climatic Lab," Eglin officials said in a Facebook post. No injuries have been reported. First responders established a 1,000-ft perimeter, and surrounding areas were evacuated, the post said. Officials said to avoid contact with smoke from the blast, even as it continues to dissipate.

Forty students and four Ranger instructors in the swamp phase of Ranger School were struck by lightning Wednesday afternoon. All 44 were evacuated to a local hospital, but many were discharged, according to a press release from Fort Benning, Georgia, home of the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade. Eleven soldiers remained hospitalized Thursday evening, according to a news report. “At the time of the incident, they were conducting lightning-protection protocols when lightning struck nearby,” the release states.

<p>Search-and-rescue crews are looking for seven Marines and four soldiers after an Army helicopter crashed late Tuesday during a routine night training exercise in the Florida Panhandle.</p> <p>Eglin Air Force Base spokesman Andy Bourland told the Associated Press that the helicopter was reported missing at around 8:30 p.m. local time and crews found debris from the crash at around 2 a.m. Wednesday.</p>

4/27/2009 - EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) -- The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter test aircraft arrived here April 21 to educate the base and local community about the Department of Defense and world's newest fighter. The arrival of the test F-35, called AA-1, kicked off a week full of events to showcase the aircraft at Eglin Air Force Base. "We are very proud to host these JSF events," said Col. Arnold Bunch, the Air Armament Center vice commander. "We hope everyone has a chance to see the aircraft, ask questions and get a better understanding of its...

5/24/2007 - EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) -- Family members gathered here May 24 to welcome home more than 175 members of the 728th Air Control Squadron from a deployment to Southwest Asia in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. They arrived by plane on the runway here and were carried by bus to their anxiously awaiting families. As the buses turned the corner and came into view, the crowd erupted in cheers. Red, white and blue banners, balloons and handcrafted signs waved in the Florida breeze. Giggling laughs, smiling faces and teary eyes greeted the convoy of Airmen ready...

Fla. Base Set to Open New School on IEDs By MELISSA NELSON Associated Press Writer EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AP) -- With more American soldiers dying in Iraq and Afghanistan from hidden bombs, the military hopes a new advanced explosives school will help troops to detect and disarm the deadly devices. The military showed off X-ray cameras, chemical sensors and advanced robotics Friday, while the military's top bomb-disposal instructors demonstrated some of the latest techniques in combating deadly improvised explosive devices. The new Advanced Explosives Device Disposal School at Eglin Air Force Base officially opens next month. Explosives experts...

11/2/2005 - EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) -- Airmen here gave up their free time help their neighbors during Make a Difference Day Oct. 22 and 28. Residents of Bob Hope and Theresa villages and Eglin’s Thrift Shop benefited from these Airmen’s labors. The annual event is the most encompassing national day of helping others -- a celebration of neighbors helping neighbors. In 2004, three million people cared enough about their communities to volunteer on that day, accomplishing thousands of projects in hundreds of towns. Staff Sgt. Jeff Henson, 68th Electronic Warfare Squadron’s Intelligence Directorate, said Make A Difference...

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) -- Nineteen aircraft from Langley Air Force Base, Va., found shelter from the storm on the runway here Sept. 13. The 1st Fighter Wing jets, along with a crew of 90 support Airmen, arrived here midafternoon, evacuated from Virginia because of the expected arrival of Hurricane Ophelia. Providing shelter for the jets is a chance for the 46th Test Wing to be on the receiving end for a change, instead of evacuating its own aircraft -- a task that flying wings here are all too familiar with. Planes here fled the base three times...

9/5/2005 - EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) -- It is not unusual to see vehicles lined up, five to six deep, patiently waiting in the aftermath of a hurricane. Usually these long lines are for fuel to power cars and generators. Here, however, these cars are lined up for a different reason: they are waiting to donate goods to those in need. A lengthy line of cars waited to unload their goods at the Airman’s Attic Sept 2. People brought clothes, furniture, toys and household appliances to help military families displaced by Hurricane Katrina and who have lost everything...

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- Combining two aircraft missions into one is not an easy feat, but that is exactly what engineers and pilots from here and Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., are testing. In the process, they have also combined operational and developmental into one testing effort. Five F-16 Fighting Falcons and aircrews from the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Eglin deployed here July 22 to 29 and joined two 416th Flight Test Squadron F-16s to focus primarily on operationally testing the M4.2-plus core avionics suite upgrade to the F-16. Lessons learned from both types of...

ST. LOUIS, July 27, 2005 – Two Boeing [NYSE:BA] Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) were dropped recently from the same aircraft, scoring direct hits on two separate targets. The test on July 26 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. was from an altitude of 15,000 feet. Released from a U.S. Air Force F-15E at Mach 0.95, each weapon performed a planned one hundred degree heading change, traveled approximately 18 miles across the range from the release point and attacked independent targets spaced 30 feet apart. "These were our 25 th and 26 th successful weapon flights and two of the more...

A Yemeni immigrant who was discharged from the U.S. Air Force after expressing sympathy for Osama bin Laden following the Sept. 11 attacks faces trial next week on accusations of lying to land a job as an airport screener. Sadeq Naji Ahmed, 25, a former airman at Eglin Air Force Base in Pensacola, Fla., faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of making false statements on a questionnaire to get a job with the Transportation Security Administration at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

I don't normally "do" vanities. Heck, I rarely post articles. But I absolutely have to get some attention to what Hurricane Ivane did to Pensacola and some of the nearby communities. The landscape has changed. Tens of thousands are now without homes or businesses. Roads needed for resupply are out. Power is out and food supplies for many miles are threatened. Grocery stores don't have power. Power may take weeks to restore, water 6 weeks or more.

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AP) - The Air Force conducted a second test Friday of the "Mother of All Bombs," officially the Massive Ordnance Air Blast. The blast occurred early Friday afternoon, Eglin spokesman Jake Swenson said. Air Force officials said the weapon detonated as planned, hit its target area and released a mushroom cloud of smoke that rose more than 10,000 feet in the air. The 21,700-pound bomb, which contains 18,700 pounds of explosives, was first tested March 11, eight days before the United States invaded Iraq. The spring blast shook windows miles away, although some people in...

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE — People in the western Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama may hear a loud boom and see a column of smoke Tuesday from another test of the “Mother of All Bombs,” Air Force officials said Friday. The second test of MOAB, officially the Massive Ordnance Air Blast but nicknamed otherwise, is planned between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. CST, if the weather cooperates Rain is in the forecast for early next week and that may postpone the test, probably until the next clear day, said Eglin spokesman Jake Swinson. MOAB, which weighs 21,000 pounds, including 18,000...

<p>June 16, 2003 -- Forget Disney World, Miami's South Beach or the Florida Keys.</p> <p>For some of Corporate America's best-known bad acts, the Florida destination of choice this year may be a spot just outside Fort Walton Beach, where ex-executives can relax in the sun, make a few phone calls or play an occasional game of tennis or softball.</p>

Giant bomb to be tested at Florida Air Force base Associated Press EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- A conventional bomb so big that its first name is "massive" is set to be tested for the first time at this Florida Panhandle base today. Air Force officials Monday warned residents of communities surrounding the western half of Eglin's 724-square-mile military reservation to be prepared to hear an explosion that sounds like thunder or a slamming door between noon and 5 p.m. CST although the blast will be miles away. The loudness of the 21,000-pound "massive ordnance air burst," or MOAB,...