Ladd Army Airfield

Infobox Airport
name = Ladd AAF

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caption =
IATA = FBK
ICAO = PAFB
FAA = FBK
type = Military: Army Airfield
owner =
operator = United States Army
city-served = Fort Wainwright
location = Fairbanks, Alaska
elevation-f = 454
elevation-m = 138
coordinates = coord|64|50|15|N|147|36|52|W|type:airport|display=inline
website = [http://www.wainwright.army.mil/ATC/ www.wainwright.army.mil]
r1-number = 6/24
r1-length-f = 8,575
r1-length-m = 2,614
r1-surface = Asphalt/Concrete
footnotes = Source: Federal Aviation AdministrationFAA-airport|ID=FBK|use=PR|own=MR|site=50216.*A, retrieved 2007-03-15]

Infobox nrhp
name = Ladd Field
nrhp_type = nhl


caption =
location =
nearest_city =
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lat_minutes =
lat_seconds =
lat_direction =
long_degrees =
long_minutes =
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area =
built =
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architecture =
designated=February 4, 1985cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1910&ResourceType=District
title=Ladd Field |accessdate=2008-01-08|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = February 4, 1985cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
mpsub =
governing_body = United States Army and/or BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
refnum=85002730

Ladd Army Airfield Airport codes|FBK|PAFB|FBK is the military airfield located at Fort Jonathan Wainwright, located in Fairbanks, Alaska. It was originally called Ladd Field, in honor of Major Arthur K. Ladd, a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps who died in a South Carolina plane crash in 1935. [ [http://fairbanks-alaska.com/fort-wainwright.htm#ladd Fort Wainwright: Ladd Field] ]

The U.S. government began, for the first time, serious infrastructure expenditures in Alaska during the 1930s. Most prominent was an increase in the military presence. For most of the early 20th century, the only Army post in Alaska was Chilkoot Barracks/Fort Seward, located just outside of Haines. With the threat of war looming as the 1930s ended, the need was established to develop multiple facilities as a means of defending Alaska against possible enemy attack.

The U.S. government acquired homesteads southeast of the town of Fairbanks beginning in 1938. From this land, totalling about 6 square miles, was created Ladd Field. Major construction of facilities began in 1941 and 1942, after the U.S. entered World War II. The initial construction occurred several miles from Fairbanks along a bend of the Chena River, consisting of an airfield, hangars, housing and support buildings. Many of these buildings still stand today.

Ladd Field's primary role during WWII was as a major stopping point for the Lend-Lease program, which ferried Allied planes to Russia across the Bering Strait.

For most of its early history Ladd was an Air Force installation. At the time it opened, the Air Force was still a part of the Army. When the Air Force was made a separate branch in the late 1940s, the name was changed to Ladd Air Force Base. For many years, it would be one of two Air Force bases in the Fairbanks area. 26 Mile Field, originally a satellite field to Ladd, was designated Eielson Air Force Base in 1947.

It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1985.citation|title=PDFlink| [http://www.nps.gov/nhl/designations/samples/ak/Ladd%20Field.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Ladd Field / Fort Wainwright] |1.01 MiB |date=April 18, 1984 |author=Erwin N. Thompson |publisher=National Park Service]

See Also

* Alaska World War II Army Airfields

References

External links

* [http://www.wainwright.army.mil/ATC/ Ladd Army Airfield, Fort Wainwright, Alaska] (official site)
* [http://www.alaska.faa.gov/fai/images/ARPT_DIAGRAMS/FBK.gifAlaska FAA airport diagram] (GIF)
* [http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/aviation/ Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms, a National Park Service "Discover Our Shared Heritage" Travel Itinerary]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/ladd.htm Ladd Army Airfield] at GlobalSecurity.org
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