Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling

Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling
Part of Air Force District of Washington (AFDW)
Located near: Washington, D.C.

Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling
JB Anacostia–Bolling
Location of Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling, D.C.
Coordinates 38°50′34″N 077°00′58″W / 38.84278°N 77.01611°W / 38.84278; -77.01611 (JB Anacostia–Bolling)
Site information
Controlled by United States Navy
Site history
Built 1918
In use 1918–present
Garrison information
Occupants Defense Intelligence Agency
Image of Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling

Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling is a 905-acre (366 ha) military installation, located in Southeast Washington, D.C.,[1] established on 1 October 2010 in accordance with congressional legislation implementing the recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission.[2] The legislation ordered the consolidation of Naval Support Facility Anacostia (NSF) and Bolling Air Force Base (BAFB), which were adjoining, but separate military installations, into a single joint base, one of twelve formed in the country as a result of the law.[2] The only aeronautical facility at the base is a 100-by-100-foot (30 by 30 m) helipad (ICAO: KBOF).

Overview

Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling (JBAB) is responsible for providing installation support to 17,000 military, civilian employees and their families, 48 mission and tenant units, including ceremonial units (United States Air Force Honor Guard, USAF Band, USAF Chaplains, the Navy Ceremonial Guard), various Army, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Joint Service commands and other DOD and federal agencies.[2]

Bolling Field units also provide ceremonial support to the White House, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of the Air Force, and the Air Force Chief of Staff, mainly through 11th Wing, the United States Air Force Honor Guard and The United States Air Force Band.

NSF Anacostia falls under the command of Naval District Washington. The tenant commands for the navy aspect of the base include:

Additionally, the Defense Intelligence Agency Headquarters has been located at Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling since 1987, and Coast Guard Station Washington, D.C., is located on the post next to the Capitol Cove Marina. The Naval Research Laboratory is not part of the Joint Base but is located immediately adjacent to it. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General is also located in the base.

The Naval Media Center was transferred to Fort Meade in 2011.[3]

History

The Navy began testing seaplanes at this facility in 1918 and it eventually became a naval air station supporting conventional aircraft. Located immediately north of Bolling Air Force Base, NAS Anacostia remained in service as an active naval air station until 1962, when its runways were deactivated concurrent with Bolling's due to traffic pattern issues with nearby Washington National Airport.

Redesignated as a naval support facility, NSF Anacostia serves as headquarters for Commander, Naval Installations, Navy Office of the Chief of Information and continues to maintain a large heliport facility, primarily used by Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1) in support of "Marine One" presidential transport operations with VH-3D and VH-60N aircraft.[4]

Bolling Air Force Base

Bolling Field and Anacosta Naval Air Station, mid-1940s
The last fixed-wing flight out of Bolling Air Force Base, 1962.

Bolling's property has been a Department of Defense (DOD) asset since 1917. From its beginning, the installation has included the Army Air Corps (predecessor to today’s Air Force) and Navy aviation and support elements. The tract of land selected for the base was scouted by William C. Ocker at the direction of General Billy Mitchell. The base began near Anacostia in 1918, as the only military airfield near the United States Capitol and was originally named The Flying Field at Anacostia on 2 October 1917. It was renamed Anacostia Experimental Flying Field in June 1918.[2]

Not long after its acquisition by the military, the single installation evolved into two separate, adjoining bases; one Army (later Air Force) and one Navy. Bolling Field was officially opened 1 July 1918 and was named in honor of the first high-ranking air service officer killed in World War I, Colonel Raynal C. Bolling. Colonel Bolling was the Assistant Chief of the Air Service, and was killed in action near Amiens, France, on 26 March 1918 while defending himself and his driver, Private Paul L. Holder, from an attack by German soldiers.[2]

In the late 1940s, Bolling Field’s property became Naval Air Station Anacostia and a new Air Force base, named Bolling Air Force Base, was constructed just to the south on 24 June 1948.[2]

Bolling AFB has served as a research and testing ground for new aviation equipment and its first mission provided aerial defense of the capital. It moved to its present location, along the Potomac in the city's southwest quadrant, in the 1930s.[2]

Over the years, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and National Guard units, as well as DOD and federal agencies also found the installation to be an ideal place from which to operate.[2]

Throughout World War II, the installation served as a training and organizational base for personnel and units going overseas.

In 1962, fixed-wing aircraft operations at the air force and naval installations ceased, due to congested airspace around Washington National Airport on the opposite shore of the Potomac River. Although fixed-wing aircraft operations ceased, the installations continued their important service to the country and the world, serving in many capacities, including service with the Military Airlift Command (MAC); the headquarters for the Air Force District of Washington; the Air Force 11th Wing; Commander, Naval Installations Command, Naval Media Center (now, Defense Media Activity-Navy) and many other military commands and federal agencies[2]

The Air Force District of Washington (AFDW) was created and activated at Bolling on 1 October 1985 with the mission of providing administrative support to Air Force members. On 15 July 1994, AFDW was inactivated, but was reactivated 5 January 2005 to "provide a single voice for Air Force requirements in the National Capital Region" according to the base's website.[2]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.airfields-freeman.com/DC/Airfields_DC.htm
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 CNIC Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ United States Navy. "NSF Anacostia", Naval District Washington website. Retrieved on November 18, 2007.
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