George Air Force Base
George Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located within the city limits, 8 miles northwest, of central Victorville, California, about 75 miles northeast of Los Angeles, California.
| George Air Force Base | |
|---|---|
| Victorville, California | |
2006 USGS airphoto | |
George Air Force | |
| Coordinates | 34°35′41″N 117°23′03″W |
| Type | Air Force Base |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | United States Army Air Forces United States Air Force |
| Condition | Civilian Airport, private ownership |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1941 |
| In use | 1941–1992 |
| Battles/wars | World War II Korean War Vietnam War 1991 Gulf War (Defense of Saudi Arabia; Liberation of Kuwait) |
Established by the United States Army Air Corps as an Advanced Flying School in June 1941, it was closed at the end of World War II. It was again activated as a training base by the United States Air Force with the outbreak of the Korean War in November 1950. It remained a training base throughout the Cold War and in the immediate post-Cold War period, primarily for the Tactical Air Command (TAC) and later the Air Combat Command (ACC), training USAF, NATO and other Allied pilots and weapon systems officers in front-line fighter aircraft until being closed in 1993.
George AFB was closed pursuant to a decision by the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission at the end of the Cold War. It is now the site of the Southern California Logistics Airport. Since 2009, the California Air National Guard's 196th Reconnaissance Squadron (96 RS) has operated an MQ-1 Predator Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) training facility at the site.