Travis Air Force Base (IATA: SUU, ICAO: KSUU)

 air force base, United States Air Force

Travis AFB is named in honor of Brigadier General Robert F. Travis, who was killed in a B-29 crash at the installation on 5 August 1950. At the time of his death, the general was commander of the 9th Heavy Bombardment Wing and was the base's commanding general. Formal dedication ceremonies were held on 21 April 1951.

Although today Travis is the home of the largest airlift organization in the Air Force, it began as an isolated airstrip with a few tar paper shacks set in the middle of a wind-swept prairie during World War II. Activated on 11 May 1943, the field was named Fairfield-Suisun Army Air Base, after the two closest--mostly agricultural--towns. Planned shortly after Pearl Harbor, the base served as home for medium bombers and fighters assigned to defend the West Coast. The first runway and temporary buildings were constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers in the summer of 1942. They were used initially by Army and Navy fighter planes for takeoff and landing practice. For a few months, the outline of an aircraft carrier's deck was painted on the runway to help newly-commissioned Navy pilots practice maneuvers. The strong local prevailing winds nearly duplicated those at sea.

HQ Fifteenth Air Force
615th Air Mobility Operations Group
615th AMS
715th AMS
815th AMS

60th Air Mobility Wing
6th ARS (KC-10)
9th ARS (KC-10A)
21st AS "Bee Liners" (C-17)
22nd AS (C-5)

349th Air Mobility Wing (AFRC)
70th ARS (KC-10)
79th ARS (KC-10)
301st AS (C-5)
312th AS (C-5)

908th Air Refueling Sqdn
793rd Air Refueling Sqdn

Runway 3R/21L
Dimensions: 10992 x 150 ft. / 3350 x 46 m

Runway 3L/21R
Dimensions: 11001 x 150 ft. / 3353 x 46 m

www.militarymuseum.org/TravisAFB.html

public.travis.amc.af.mil/
www.airnav.com/airport/KSUU
www.milnet.com/cdiart.htm