Joint Forces Training Base – Los Alamitos
Military airbase in Los Alamitos, California, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joint Forces Training Base – Los Alamitos is a joint base in Los Alamitos, California, United States. Formerly operated as a naval air station, the base contains the Los Alamitos Army Airfield and is sometimes called by that name. The base is also known as JFTB – Los Al or just JFTB. The base covers 1,319 acres and "supports 850 full-time employees and more than 6,000 National Guard and Reserve troops."[2]
| Joint Forces Training Base – Los Alamitos | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
JFTB | |||||||||
| Los Alamitos, California, in the United States | |||||||||
 An aerial view of JFTB Los Alamitos during 2015 | |||||||||
 | |||||||||
  Los Alamitos Location in the United States | |||||||||
| Coordinates | 33°47′24″N 118°03′05″W | ||||||||
| Type | Joint forces training base | ||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||
| Owner | Department of Defense | ||||||||
| Operator | US Army | ||||||||
| Controlled by | California National Guard | ||||||||
| Condition | Operational | ||||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||
| Built | 1942 (as NAS Los Alamitos) | ||||||||
| In use | 1942 – 1973 (US Navy) 1973 – present (US Army) | ||||||||
| Garrison information | |||||||||
| Current commander | Lieutenant Colonel Manju Vig | ||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||
| Identifiers | ICAO: KSLI, FAA LID: SLI | ||||||||
| Elevation | 10.8 metres (35 ft) AMSL | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Other facilities | Anderson Drop Zone | ||||||||
| Sources: Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||||||||
JFTB has an MWR with billeting, a pub, and a banquet hall.[3] Fiddler's Green is the last remaining military pub in Orange County.[4]
JFTB has significant training facilities, including an Engagement Skills Trainer, a Virtual Convoy Operations Trainer, a HMMWV Egress Assistance Trainer, a Laser Marksmanship Training System, and a Close Combat Tactical Trainer.[5]
Los Alamitos Army Airfield
The airfield has two runways:
- Runway 4L/22R: 5,902 × 150 ft. (1,799 x 46 m), surface: PEM
- Runway 4R/22L: 8,001 × 200 ft. (2,439 x 61 m), surface: asphalt/concrete
The airfield is home to Company A, 1st Battalion (Assault), 140th Aviation Regiment.
Aquatics Training Center
The JFTB Aquatics Training Center is an Olympic-size swimming pool 50 m by 25 m, which offers year-round lap swimming, swim lessons, and fitness classes. The women's national water polo team regularly practices at the facility.[6]
In 1942, JFTB became a naval air base to train fighter pilots during World War II. In 1973, JFTB was transferred to the U.S. Army.[7]
On 16 July 1957, then-Major John H. Glenn Jr., USMC, set the transcontinental air speed record, flying a F8U-1P Crusader from NAS Los Alamitos to NAS Floyd Bennett Field, New York, in 3 hours, 23 minutes, and 8.4 seconds. Project Bullet, as the mission was called, provided both the first transcontinental flight to average supersonic speed, and the first continuous transcontinental panoramic photograph of the United States. Glenn was awarded his fifth Distinguished Flying Cross for the mission.
The senior command on post is the 40th Infantry Division (Mechanized), headquartered in the large, prominent building facing the flagpole and main entrance artery.
The base served as the starting line for the 14th season of the hit CBS reality TV show The Amazing Race.[8] The base's status as an alternative landing area for Air Force One was mentioned in an episode of The West Wing.
The base leases the airfield to the City of Los Alamitos's for the annual Southland Credit Union Los Alamitos "Race on the Base", a charity event including a 5K Run, 5K Walk, 10K Run, 10K Skate/ Handcycle / Wheelchair, Mission: 1K Kids Run, Jr. Reverse Triathlon and Reverse Triathlon. This is the largest reverse triathlon event in the country.[9]
On the south edge of Runway 22L is the Navy Golf Course, where Tiger Woods honed his game as a youth.[10][11][12] The 18-hole Destroyer Course opened in 1966 and an executive nine holes was later added. The former military-only facility opened for public play in 2004.
In 2014, President Barack Obama landed at Los Alamitos Army Airfield in Air Force One in order to give the commencement speech at UC Irvine.[7]
In April 2015, Brig Gen Nathaniel S. Reddicks became the first installation commander from the California Air National Guard.[13] After this command, Reddicks retired from federal service and joined the California State Military Reserve, "making him the first federally recognized general officer to join the CSMR since the Korean War."[2]
In October 2016, Brig. Gen. John W. Lathrop took command of the base.[2]
NAS Los Alamitos in the mid-1940s
Naval Reserve North American FJ-1 Fury at JFTB, 1950
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs of VF-22L1 at JFTB, 1970
California National Guard Best Warrior Competition, 2011
- Naval Air Station Los Alamitos Naval Outlying Landing Fields during World War II
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