Moody Air Force Base

Moody Air Force Base (AFB) (IATA: VAD, ICAO: KVAD, FAA LID: VAD) is a United States Air Force installation near Valdosta, Georgia.

Moody Air Force Base
Near Valdosta, Georgia in the United States of America
A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft assigned to the 74th Fighter Squadron taxi at Moody Air Force Base during 2017.
Moody AFB
Location in the United States
Coordinates30°58′07″N 83°11′34.6″W
TypeUS Air Force base
Site information
OwnerDepartment of Defense
OperatorUS Air Force
Controlled byAir Combat Command
ConditionOperational
Websitewww.moody.af.mil/
Site history
Built1941 (1941) (as Moody Field)
In use1941 – present
Garrison information
Garrison
Airfield information
IdentifiersIATA: VAD, ICAO: KVAD, FAA LID: VAD, WMO: 747810
Elevation71 metres (233 ft) AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
18L/36R 2,834.6 metres (9,300 ft) Concrete
18R/36L 2,439 metres (8,002 ft) PEM
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Geography

The base is in northeastern Lowndes County, Georgia, with the eastern border of the base following the Lanier County line. Georgia State Route 125 runs through the western side of the base, leading southwest 11 miles (18 km) to the center of Valdosta and northeast 6 miles (10 km) to Ray City.

The entire Air Force base is counted as a census-designated place for statistical purposes. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the base has an area of 4.1 square miles (10.5 km2),[2] with a residential population at the 2010 census of 886.[3]

History

The 29th Training Wing was established at Moody Field in 1941 for primary flight training.[4] Initially called Valdosta Airfield in June 1941, it was renamed Moody Army Air Field on 6 December 1941.[5] The installation's namesake, Maj. George Moody (1908–1941), was an Air Corps test pilot who died on 5 May 1941 in a crash of the prototype Beech Model 25 twin-engine trainer aircraft on its first test flight in Wichita, Kansas.[5] The Model 25 eventually became the AT-10 "Wichita", flown extensively at Moody Field during WWII.

On 1 May 1945 Moody was transferred to the First Air Force.[4]:351 On 1 November 1945 Moody was transferred to Army Air Forces Training Command.[4]:351 On 1 September 1947 Moody was transferred to Tactical Air Command.[4]:351 On 13 January 1948 the base was redesignated Moody Air Force Base.[4]:351 On 1 December 1948 the base was transferred to Continental Air Command.[4]:351 On 1 April 1951 Moody AFB was transferred to Strategic Air Command (SAC).[4]:351

Air Training Command (1951-75)

On 1 September 1951 Moody AFB was transferred from SAC to Air Training Command and the 3550th Training Wing (Interceptor Aircrew) was established there.[4]:73 In 1952 Moody was assigned to undertake combat crew training.[4]:68 In July 1957 following the cessation of interceptor training at Tyndall Air Force Base, advanced interceptor training and Tyndall's F-86D Sabres were transferred to Moody, while Moody's F-89Ds were transferred to James Connally Air Force Base.[4]:111 On 3 November 1960 Moody stopped interceptor training and became a consolidated pilot training school.[4]:132

In 1961 following the closure of Graham Air Base, Moody became responsible for foreign pilot training. From 1962 onwards, increasing numbers of Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots were trained on Moody's 30 T-28 Trojans.[4]:144–5 In 1963 foreign pilot training was moved to Randolph Air Force Base.[4]:151

On 1 December 1973 the 3550th Training Wing was inactivated and replaced by the new 38th Flying Training Wing.[4]:194

On 1 December 1975 Moody AFB was transferred from Air Training Command to Tactical Air Command and the 38th Flying Training Wing was inactivated.[4]:202

Tactical Air Command (1975-1992)

On 30 September 1975 the 347th Tactical Fighter Wing moved to Moody AFB from Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base.[6]

On 1 October 1991 the 347th Tactical Fighter Wing was redesignated the 347th Fighter Wing.[7]

Air Combat Command (1992-2003)

On 1 July 1994 was redesignated the 347th Wing, a composite wing with fighter, close air support and airlift elements.[7]

On 1 April 1997 the 41st Rescue Squadron and the 71st Rescue Squadron moved to Moody from Patrick Air Force Base and the 23d Wing was assigned to the 347th Wing.[8][9]

On 30 June 2000 the 70th Fighter Squadron was inactivated at Moody.[10] On 2 February 2001 the 69th Fighter Squadron was inactivated at Moody.[11] On 30 April 2001 the 68th Fighter Squadron was inactivated at Moody.[12]

On 1 May 2001 the 38th Rescue Squadron was activated at Moody and the 347th Wing was redesignated the 347th Rescue Wing.[7]

Air Education and Training Command (2000-7)

On 31 July 2000 the 479th Flying Training Group was reactivated at Moody to conduct primary Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training and Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals training.[4]:318 On 2 April 2001 the 39th Flying Training Squadron was activated at Moody and it was joined by the 3d Flying Training Squadron.[4]:324–5 On 1 October 2001 the 435th Flying Training Squadron also moved to Moody.[4]:325

On 21 July 2007 the 479th Flying Training Group was inactivated and its aircraft and equipment were redistributed to other AETC units.

Air Force Special Operations Command (2003-6)

On 1 October 2003 the 347th Rescue Wing was assigned to Air Force Special Operations Command.[7]

Air Combat Command (2006-present)

On 1 October 2006 the 23rd Fighter Group was redesignated as the 23d Wing and activated at Moody AFB.[13] On the same date the 347th Rescue Wing was inactivated and the 347th Operations Group was redesignated the 347th Rescue Group which became a subordinate element of the 23d Wing.

Based units

Flying and notable non-flying units based at Moody Air Force Base.[14]

Units marked GSU are Geographically Separate Units, which although based at Moody, are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location.

United States Air Force
gollark: Rust compilation appears to be consuming my entire CPU.
gollark: Of course, if I didn't have infinite computing power, I think I would do it accursedly by approximating everything as cubes, ??? octrees, and using a regular knapsack solver to decide what to attempt to 3D-pack.
gollark: All of it.
gollark: BRB, brute-forcing all possible object locations.
gollark: Which is famously NP-hard.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

  1. "Airport Diagram – Moody AFB (KVAD)" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  2. "U.S. Gazetteer Files: 2019: Places: Georgia". U.S. Census Bureau Geography Division. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  3. "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Census Summary File 1 (DP-1), Moody AFB CDP, Georgia". American FactFinder. U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  4. Manning, Thomas (2005). History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas. p. 17. ASIN B000NYX3PC.
  5. "Moody – Still Unexplained". Air Force Magazine. Vol. 103 no. 3. March 2020. p. 63.
  6. Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977. Office of Air Force History. pp. 182–4. ISBN 0912799129.
  7. "347 Rescue Wing (AFSOC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 27 December 2007. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  8. Dollman, TSG David (11 October 2016). "Factsheet 41 Rescue Squadron (ACC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  9. Bailey, Carl E. (27 March 2015). "Factsheet 71 Rescue Squadron". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  10. "68 Fighter Squadron". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  11. "69 Fighter Squadron". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 9 March 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  12. "68 Fighter Squadron". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 9 April 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  13. Robertson, Patsy (6 February 2015). "Factsheet 23 Fighter Wing (ACC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  14. "Units". Moody AFB. US Air Force. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
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