Vandenberg Air Force Base present . Today, Vandenberg stands as the third-largest Air Force base after Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, and Edwards Air Force Base in California. On 4 October 1958, Cooke AFB was renamed Vandenberg AFB, in honor of General Vandenberg, the Air Force's second Chief of Staff. The transition from Army camp to missile base solidified on 15 December 1958 when Vandenberg AFB successfully launched its first missile, a PGM-17 Thor IRBM (Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile) The launch from Vandenberg inaugurated the intermediate-range ballistic missile portion of the Pacific Missile Range and was fired by a crew from the 1st
Air Force Base Swartkop Air Force Base Swartkop Air Force Base Swartkop is South Africa's oldest air force base and houses the South African Air Force Museum. It is managed as part of AFB Waterkloof and houses one of the three branches of the South African Air Force Museum. The name of the air force base, "Swartkop" means "Black hill" in Afrikaans. AFB Swartkop is located in the town Centurion (previously Verwoerdburg) in the Gauteng Province of South Africa, between Pretoria and Midrand (Johannesburg), which is a part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. Air Force Station (AFS) Zwartkop was established in April