Santa Rosa Island Range Complex | |
|---|---|
| Part of Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) | |
| Located near: Valparaiso, Florida | |
  Santa Rosa Island | |
| Coordinates | 30°23′22″N086°48′18″W / 30.38944°N 86.80500°W Coordinates: 30°23′22″N086°48′18″W / 30.38944°N 86.80500°W |
The Santa Rosa Island Range Complex is a component of the Eglin AFB testing range, located 17.5 miles west-southwest of the main base, on Santa Rosa Island, sitting between the communities of Navarre and Okaloosa Island.
The complex is part of the Eglin AFB overwater range that provides 86,500 square miles of overwater airspace that is jointly used for a variety of test and evaluation activities and training exercises. Range operations rely on land-based radar and electro-optical time-space-position-information systems to monitor and transfer test data to the Central Control Facility on Eglin AFB. These instrumentation systems, located on Santa Rosa Island and other locations provide coverage for test and evaluation activities in the Gulf of Mexico.
The use of Santa Rosa Island (SRI) is evolving due to changes in threats to national security and the effects of hurricanes over the past decade. The SRI complex is used for Expanded Surf Zone Testing/Training, SABRE Mine Clearing Testing, Beach Obstacle Clearing and Neutralization, Small Boat Obscurant Testing, Expanded OA-HITL Tower Testing, Live Fire, Expanded Special Operations Training, Amphibious Assaults, and Expanded LCAC Training/Testing.
Operational sites on SRI include the following locations: [1]
.* Located on non-government controlled property on SRI.
World War II JB-2 Launch Site | |
 JB-2 Weapons Bunker at 80K246  Remains of JB-2 launch ramp at 8OK246  JB-2 Loon test at 8OK248, 1945 | |
| Location | Fort Walton Beach, Florida |
|---|---|
| NRHP reference No. | 96000395 |
| Added to NRHP | April 19, 1996 |
Established during World War II, the complex is a government controlled part of the island. In June 1944, Germany began bombarding England, especially London, with the V-1 flying bomb. In July 1944, parts of a V-1 salvaged by the Polish underground and recovered from crashed but unexploded bombs, were flown to Wright-Patterson Field and within three weeks America had completed its first copy of a V-1, the Republic-Ford JB-2, the United States’ first operational guided missile and the predecessor of the modern cruise missile. Eglin Field was chosen to test launching techniques. Eglin received its first JB-2 for testing in the fall of 1944. Three sites were created on Eglin's Gulf-side property, all designed to test different launching techniques.
Two sites are located within a half mile of each other on Santa Rosa Island, on Air Force property. Recorded as Florida archeological sites 8OK246 and 8OK248, the remnants of these two JB-2 test sites, along with bunkers and debris fields from unsuccessful test flights, were identified as part of Eglin's initial historic property inventory. After identification, these were evaluated for historic significance and subsequently added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on April 19, 1996.
Access to the sites are restricted by the National Park Service and the United States Air Force. [2] [3]
A third launching site, is now located on the Coffeen Nature Preserve, a Sierra Club property east of Destin, Florida, featured a concrete inclined launch ramp. Steam-powered and portable ramps were also tested at this site.
All of the Eglin launchings were directed south to the Gulf of Mexico. The targets were buoys placed at measured distances, up to 150 miles, to which the headings and range of the guidance system were adjusted. There is no evidence that live warheads were used, as many of the wrecks examined by Eglin archeologists have concrete ballast filling the warhead compartment.
With the sudden end of the war, the Army Air Force had 1,300 JB-2s in its arsenal. On January 26, 1946, Army Air Forces created the 1st Experimental Guided Missiles Group to develop and test the missiles at Eglin. The JB-2 testing at Santa Rosa continued until March 1946, when the project was canceled. After cancellation, the reusable portions of the sites were disassembled. However, the debris from crashes was left where it fell, and one or more surplus complete JB-2s are reported to have been buried in the surrounding dunes.
As the Cold War heated up, the highly instrumented Eglin Gulf Test Range was built and supported flight tests of the CIM-10 Bomarc, MGM-1 Matador, ADM-20 Quail, and AGM-28 Hound Dog aerodynamic missiles.
The first BOMARC launch from Santa Rosa Island occurred on 15 January 1959. From 1959 through 1960, the BOMARC A underwent continual testing at site A-15, flying against various drone aircraft. In the early 1960s testing continued with the BOMARC B model. Designated the IM-99B, this missile underwent its inaugural service test on 13 April 13, 1960. On 3 March 1961, an IM-99B demonstrated the ability to intercept a target at a range of over 400 miles at an altitude of over 80,000 feet. The test program for BOMARC A and B concluded in August 1963 after nearly 150 launches. BOMARC B launchings continued into the 1970s as each of the USAF and Canadian Air Defense Missile Squadrons took turns conducting missile shoots.
Both the military and NASA have used SRI to support launch of atmospheric sounding rockets in support of their programs.
The Boeing CIM-10 Bomarc was a supersonic ramjet powered long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) used during the Cold War for the air defense of North America. In addition to being the first operational long-range SAM and the first operational pulse doppler aviation radar, it was the only SAM deployed by the United States Air Force.
Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base in western Florida, located about three miles (5 km) southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County.
Fort Walton Beach is a city in southern Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. As of 2010, the population estimate for Fort Walton Beach was 19,507 recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau. It is the principal city of the Fort Walton Beach−Crestview−Destin Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Hurlburt Field is a United States Air Force installation located in Okaloosa County, Florida, immediately west of the Town of Mary Esther. It is part of the greater Eglin Air Force Base reservation, and is home to Headquarters Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), the 1st Special Operations Wing (1 SOW), the USAF Special Operations School (USAFSOS) and the Air Combat Command's (ACC) 505th Command and Control Wing. It was named for First Lieutenant Donald Wilson Hurlburt, who died in a crash at Eglin. The installation is nearly 6,700 acres (27 km2), and employs nearly 8,000 military personnel.
The North American Aviation AGM-28 Hound Dog was a supersonic, turbojet-propelled, air-launched cruise missile developed in 1959 for the United States Air Force. It was primarily designed to be capable of attacking Soviet ground-based air defense sites prior to a potential air attack by B-52 Stratofortress long range bombers during the Cold War. The Hound Dog was first given the designation B-77, then redesignated GAM-77, and finally as AGM-28. It was conceived as a temporary standoff missile for the B-52, to be used until the GAM-87 Skybolt air-launched ballistic missile was available. Instead, the Skybolt was cancelled within a few years and the Hound Dog continued to be deployed for a total of 15 years until its replacement by newer missiles, including the AGM-69 SRAM and then the AGM-86 ALCM.
Gunter Annex is a United States Air Force installation located in the North-northeast suburbs of Montgomery, Alabama. The base is named after former Montgomery mayor William Adams Gunter. Until 1992 it was known as Gunter Air Force Base or Gunter Air Force Station. It has been a military training base since its opening in 1940.
The East Bay River in Florida is a 15-mile-long (24 km) river located in Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties. It flows from east to west, forming near Hurlburt Field, and empties into the eastern portion of East Bay (Florida) near the towns Holley and Navarre. The river forms part of the southern boundary of Eglin Air Force Base.
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.
Choctawhatchee Bay is a bay in the Emerald Coast region of the Florida Panhandle. The bay, located within Okaloosa and Walton counties, has a surface area of 334 square kilometres (129 sq mi). It is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, connected to it through East Pass. It also connects to Santa Rosa Sound in Fort Walton Beach, Florida to the west and to St. Andrews Bay in Bay County to the east, via the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. East Pass is the only outlet of the bay flowing directly into the Gulf of Mexico. The Choctawhatchee River flows into Choctawhatchee Bay, as do several smaller rivers and streams. The Mid-Bay Bridge crosses the bay, connecting the city of Destin to Niceville, Florida.
The Republic-Ford JB-2, also known as the Thunderbug, KGW and LTV-N-2 Loon, was a United States copy of the German V-1 flying bomb. Developed in 1944, and planned to be used in the United States invasion of Japan, the JB-2 was never used in combat. It was the most successful of the United States Army Air Forces Jet Bomb (JB) projects during World War II. Postwar, the JB-2 played a significant role in the development of more advanced surface-to-surface tactical missile systems such as the MGM-1 Matador and later MGM-13 Mace.
The SSM-N-9 Regulus II cruise missile is a supersonic guided missile armed with a nuclear warhead, intended for launching from surface ships and submarines of the U.S. Navy (USN).
The 1st Experimental Guided Missiles Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Air Proving Ground Command and stationed at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. It was inactivated on 22 July 1949.
Eglin Air Force Base, a United States Air Force base located southwest of Valparaiso, Florida, was established in 1935 as the Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base. It is named in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Frederick I. Eglin (1891–1937), who was killed in a crash of his Northrop A-17 pursuit aircraft on a flight from Langley to Maxwell Field, Alabama.
The Northrop JB-1 "Bat" was a United States surface-to-surface cruise missile that was a prototype jet-powered flying wing. The United States Army Air Forces MX-543 program was initiated in September 1942 to use license-built versions of Frank Whittle's jet engine. The Northrop Corporation was contracted in late 1943, and only 10 JB-1 airframes were built. A manned version was towed for the 1st flight on "August 27, 1943", [sic] from Rogers Dry Lake; and a glider version was launched from a rocket-propelled sled and crashed in December 1944. An unmanned JB-1 powered by an improvised General Electric B-1 turbojet with a wing span of 28 feet 4 inches (8.64 m) made its first flight from Eglin Field's Santa Rosa Island, Florida, on December 7, 1944, and crashed 400 yards from the rail launcher.
Piccolo Field,, is a closed United States Air Force field. It is located 9.3 miles northwest of Valparaiso, Florida.
The 3205th Drone Group is a discontinued United States Air Force unit that operated obsolete aircraft during the 1950s as radio-controlled aerial targets for various tests. It was the primary post-World War II operator of surplus Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress aircraft, and also operated Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star and a few Boeing RB-47 Stratojet bombers that were converted into drone aircraft during the early years of the Cold War. It was last active with the Air Proving Ground Center, based at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, where it was discontinued on 1 February 1961.
The 4751st Air Defense Missile Squadron is an discontinued United States Air Force unit. It was last active with Air Defense, Tactical Air Command (ADTAC), based at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. It was inactivated on 30 September 1979.
The 3200th Proof Test Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last active with the Air Armament Center, based at Eglin AFB, Florida. It was inactivated on 1 July 1953.
The Venice missile launch complex was a Cold War Regulus missile firing installation "adjacent to the Venice Municipal Airport" on the Venice, Florida, beach. Beginning in 1959, KD2U-1 drone versions of the Regulus were JATO-launched from the strip of beach in front of the airport, flew across the Gulf of Mexico for simulating a penetrating enemy bomber for test interception, and then were "recovered on the runway at Eglin" AFB. The launch complex was one of several Eglin missile range facilities and conducted the "Regulus 2, KD2U intercept missile test [on] September 3, 1959" in which the "first launch of the Air Force's new Bomarc IM-99A missile [successfully intercepted] the Regulus 2 missile at 35,000 feet altitude and at supersonic speed"
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/ .
