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
Azores hotspot Azores hotspot The Azores hotspot is a volcanic hotspot located at the Azores in the Northern Atlantic Ocean. A volcanic hotspot is defined as an area of high volcanic activity, a long term source of volcanism. The type of hotspot that characterises the Azores is a relatively young one associated with a bathymetric swell, a gravity anomaly and basalt geochemistry that differs from normal ocean ridge basalts. The Azores hotspot also differs from usual hotspots like Hawaii due the fact that it has interactions with the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which lies just west of the hotspot. The centre of the hotspot