United States Forces Azores Management Command Azores Detachment and the base's resident officer in charge of construction. There are approximately 425 U.S. military and 10 Department of Defense civilians assigned to the group. The total U.S. population, including dependents, is about 2,170. Department of Defense employs approximately 930 Portuguese civilians at Lajes Field. An Air Force colonel serves jointly as U.S. Forces Azores commander and as commander of the 65th Air Base Group, Air Combat Command. United States Forces Azores United States Forces Azores (USAFORAZ) is based at Lajes Field, Portugal near Lajes on Terceira Island in the Azores. In 1953, the U.S. Forces
Aviation in the Azores Air Force. The SATA Group expanded internationally through the acquisition of OceanAir (which had suspended flying in 1994), and on 20 February 1998 renamed it SATA International, re-inaugurating services on 8 April 1998. While SATA Air Açores continued to operate within the archipelago, the new entity provided connections internationally and to the European continent with a fleet of Airbus Industries aircraft (including A310 for long-haul and A320 for domestic/short-haul service). In October 2015, SATA Internacional announced a major rebranding including a name change to "Azores Airlines" and a renewal of the fleet. North Atlantic Tracks Aviation in the Azores Aviation