Dover Air Force Base
| Dover Air Force Base | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dover, Delaware, U.S. in United States | |||||||||
A C-5M Super Galaxy at Dover Air Force Base in April 2014 | |||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||
| Type | U.S. Air Force base | ||||||||
| Owner | Department of Defense | ||||||||
| Operator | US Air Force | ||||||||
| Controlled by | Air Mobility Command (AMC) | ||||||||
| Condition | Operational | ||||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||||
| Location | |||||||||
Dover Location of Dover Air Force Base in Delaware Dover Location of Dover Air Force Base within the United States | |||||||||
| Coordinates | 39°07′42″N 075°27′53″W / 39.12833°N 75.46472°W | ||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||
| Built | 1941 | ||||||||
| In use | 1941 – present | ||||||||
| Garrison information | |||||||||
| Current commander | Colonel Jamil I. Musa | ||||||||
| Garrison | |||||||||
| Occupants | See Based units section for full list. | ||||||||
| Designations | National Register of Historic Places (Building 1301) | ||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||
| Identifiers | IATA: DOV, ICAO: KDOV, FAA LID: DOV, WMO: 724088 | ||||||||
| Elevation | 8.8 metres (29 ft) AMSL | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Source: Federal Aviation Administration | |||||||||
Dover Air Force Base or Dover AFB (IATA: DOV, ICAO: KDOV, FAA LID: DOV) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base under the operational control of Air Mobility Command (AMC), located 2 mi (3.2 km) southeast of the city of Dover, Delaware. The 436th Airlift Wing (436th AW) serves as the host wing and operates a major Department of Defense air freight terminal. The AMC-gained 512th Airlift Wing (512th AW) of the Air Force Reserve Command is co-located at the base. Together the two wings fly a fleet of C-5M Super Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III aircraft.
Construction began in March 1941 and the facility opened on December 17, 1941, ten days after the attack on Pearl Harbor; it was converted to military use within weeks. It was redesignated Dover Air Force Base on January 13, 1948. Under the Military Air Transport Service and its successor Military Airlift Command, Dover transitioned to an all-C-5 Galaxy fleet by 1973, the first such wing in the USAF. The base transferred to the newly established Air Mobility Command in 1992.
Dover AFB is home to the Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs, the largest military mortuary in the Department of Defense. The remains of service members killed overseas are traditionally returned to Dover before transfer to their families. The center has also identified remains in major disasters: victims of the Jonestown mass death in 1978, the crew of Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986, and the crew of Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003. The base contributes approximately $470 million annually to the regional economy and is the third-largest industry in Delaware. The Air Mobility Command Museum, housed in the historic Hangar 1301—a National Register of Historic Places listing—is open to the public.