Mactan Air Base was a facility of the
United States Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
located on
Mactan IslandMactan is an island located a few kilometres from Cebu Island in the Philippines. The island is part of Cebu Province and it is divided into Lapu-Lapu City and the municipality of Cordova...
in
CebuCebu is a province in the Philippines, consisting of Cebu Island and 167 surrounding islands. It is located to the east of Negros, to the west of Leyte and Bohol islands...
,
PhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
Location
Mactan Air Base is located on Mactan Island, off
Cebu CityThe City of Cebu is the capital city of Cebu and is the second largest city in the Philippines, the second most significant metropolitan centre in the Philippines and known as the oldest settlement established by the Spaniards in the country.The city is located on the eastern shore of Cebu and was...
in the province Cebu in the south central Philippines. Mactan Island is best known as being the location where the
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
explorer,
Ferdinand MagellanFerdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, and served King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" ....
, lost his life during his circumnavigation of the earth.
History
Mactan Air Base began life as an emergency field for
SACThe Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
bombers to recover in the event of a war. This emergency field was basically barren with only a few permanent structures and a 10,000-foot concrete runway. By 1965, the only permanent structures on the field were a
Philippine Air ForceThe Philippine Air Force is the air force of the Republic of the Philippines, and one of the three main services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Its official name in Filipino is Hukbong Himpapawid ng Pilipinas....
(PAF) operations building-cum-airline terminal and the PAF
BOQBOQ is an abbreviation for:* Bachelor Officer Quarters, which are buildings on U.S. Military bases for quartering commissioned officers .* Bitter Old Queen, humorous gay slang...
. There was also a squadron of PAF F-86s on base.
As the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
escalated, the base was rapidly built up. At its height, it became a permanent C-130 base permanently housing at least the 772nd and 774th Troop Carrier Squadrons of the 463rd Troop Carrier Wing (later renamed as "Tactical Airlift" Squadrons and Wing) as well as becoming a crew rest stop for C-124 and C-133 crews to relieve congestion at
Clark Air BaseClark Air Base is a former United States Air Force base on Luzon Island in the Philippines, located 3 miles west of Angeles City, about 40 miles northwest of Metro Manila. Clark Air Base was an American military facility from 1903 to 1991...
. The C-124 Operations Squadron was the 606th Military Airlift Support Squadron or 606th MASS.
Mactan Air Base is where the USAF tested and perfected the Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System or LAPES. This system was used
to offload pallets at Vietnamese bases while under fire without landing, by "extracting" the pallets with a parachute from an altitude
of 20–50 ft above the ground.
During the Mindanao campaign in the 70's Mactan Air Base the base was extensively used for fighter operations against targets in
MindanaoMindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...
region.
Current status
In June 1996, Mactan Air Base was renamed Brig Gen Benito N Ebuen Air Base in honor of a
Philippine Air ForceThe Philippine Air Force is the air force of the Republic of the Philippines, and one of the three main services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Its official name in Filipino is Hukbong Himpapawid ng Pilipinas....
Commanding General. This air base is responsible for the Transport Wing, and provides for PAF operations in the Visayas area.
See also
- Clark Air Base
Clark Air Base is a former United States Air Force base on Luzon Island in the Philippines, located 3 miles west of Angeles City, about 40 miles northwest of Metro Manila. Clark Air Base was an American military facility from 1903 to 1991...
- Mactan-Cebu International Airport
Mactan-Cebu International Airport is a major international airport in the Visayas region of the Philippines. It is located in Lapu-Lapu City, Mactan Island, Metro Cebu and is the country's second primary gateway...