Pope Air Force Base
Pope Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force Base in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States.
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Location
Pope AFB is located at 35°10'53" North, 79°0'50" West (35.181328, -79.013916)1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 7.4 km² (2.9 mi²). 7.4 km² (2.9 mi²) of it is land and none of the area is covered with water.
Host Unit
The host unit for Pope AFB is the 43d Airlift Wing which falls under Air Mobility Command
Mission
Missions at Pope range from providing airlift and close air support to American armed forces, to humanitarian missions flown all over the world.
History
In 1918, bi-planes and observation balloons began using a pea field north of the newly established Army artillery training post at Camp Bragg in 1918 as a landing strip.
Lt. Harley Halbert Pope was killed in an airplane crash in January 1918 near the Cape Fear River, north of Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Members of Pope's squadron, the 276th Aero Squadron, received movement orders to Camp Bragg Flying Field in February 1919. As a memorial to Pope, the War Department officially established the field at Camp Bragg as Pope Field on 5 April 1919. A runway did not exist, just a wide open field surrounded by pine forest.
Pope Field became an Air Force Base with the creation of the United States Air Force on 17 September 1947.
Nearby Installations
- Fort Bragg
- Camp Mackall
- Simmons Army Airfield