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
Sampson Air Force Base Sampson Air Force Base Sampson Air Force Base is a closed United States military facility, last used by the United States Air Force Air Training Command as a Basic Military Training Center. It was closed in 1956 and put into caretaker status. As of at least the 2000s, parts of the facility have been converted to a civil picnic area called Sampson State Park. In addition, the United States Navy operates the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) sonar test facility on a part of the facility. However, most of the former base is abandoned. The facility was established initially by