Ramey Air Force Base | |
|---|---|
| Part of theStrategic Air Command | |
| Aguadilla, Puerto Rico | |
 An October 1993 aerial photo of the base | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Air Force Base |
| Controlled by | Formerly theStrategic Air Command |
| Location | |
  Ramey AFB | |
| Coordinates | 18°29′40″N067°07′46″W / 18.49444°N 67.12944°W /18.49444; -67.12944 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1936 |
| In use | 1936–1971 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | None – base deactivated in 1973 |
Ramey Air Force Base also known asBorinquen Field, is a formerUnited States Air Force base inAguadilla,Puerto Rico. It was named afterUnited States Army Air Forces Brigadier GeneralHoward Knox Ramey. Following its closure, it was redeveloped intoRafael Hernandez Airport.
In 1939, theU.S. Army Air Corps sent MajorGeorge C. Kenney to Puerto Rico to conduct a preliminary survey of possible air base sites on Puerto Rico. He examined 42 sites and declared Punta Borinquen the best site for a major air base. In September 1939, the government purchased 3,796 acres (1,536 ha) of sugar cane farms for military use, for $1,215,000. The area was also populated by Poblado San Antonio, in which construction caused hundreds of families to be expropriated from the land.[1] Later that year, Major Karl S. Axtater assumed command of what was to become Borinquen Army Airfield.
The 1940 US Census counted enumeration district 22-32 asBorinquen Field in Aquadilla, Puerto Rico. Lt. Col. Karl S. Axtater, age 47, Post Commander, is the first person on the list of 942 personnel on the base in April 1940. Each servicemember reported rank, place of birth, and reported the location of their previous residence as of April 1935.
During World War II, the following squadrons were assigned to the airfield:
With the establishment of an independentUnited States Air Force in 1947, the complex was renamed Ramey Air Force Base in 1948. Ramey AFB was home to a succession ofStrategic Air Command (SAC) strategic reconnaissance wings and a bombardment wing, and housed a number ofB-36 Peacemaker intercontinental bombers, in its RB-36 strategic reconnaissance version. The RB-36s were later replaced byB-52 Stratofortress heavy bombers andKC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft.
A tenant weather reconnaissance squadron operatedWB-47 Stratojet andWC-130 Hercules aircraft. Due to the size and weight of the B-36, the runway at Ramey had to be built to a length of 11,702 feet (3,567 m) and a width of 200 feet (61 m), with an added 870 feet (270 m)Blast Pad at each end and an additional 50 feet (15 m) shoulder on each side. This led to the second expropriation of Poblado San Antonio, which led to the displacement of 4,000 inhabitants to San Antonio's current location in Montaña.[2][3]
In 1971, the closure of Ramey Air Force Base began as part of a SAC-wide reduction in bombardment wings, and lasted until 1973. Following its closure, it was converted into a joint civilian-military airport, with theUnited States Coast Guard comprising the remaining military aviation activities at the airport asCoast Guard Air Station Borinquen andPuerto Rico Air National Guard,Army National Guard and theUnited States Army Reserve maintaining non-aviation units.
In 1951-1952, success with a test array and then a full scale 40-element operational array at Eleuthera, Bahamas led the Navy in 1952 to order six (quickly expanded to nine) undersea surveillance systems under the classified name ofSound Surveillance System (SOSUS) to be installed under the unclassified name Project Caesar. The shore terminals were described as supporting "oceanographic research" and given the generic and ambiguous name "Naval Facility" with the actual submarine detection purpose classified on a strict need-to-know basis. The first of the systems was to terminate at a Naval Facility (NAVFAC) on a beach under the cliff of the Air Force Base (18°29′18.4″N67°09′36.2″W / 18.488444°N 67.160056°W /18.488444; -67.160056). Construction began in 1953 with Naval Facility Ramey commissioned on 18 September 1954.[4][5][6]
In 1985, with mobile, towed arrays entering the system, SOSUS became the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS). SOSUS/IUSS mark their beginnings with the commissioning of Naval Facility Ramey.[4][7]
The facility, unlike NAVFACGrand Turk and NAVFACSan Salvador completed later that year and not close to a military base, got support for all functions except its classified operations from the base. In January 1974, the Air Force Base closed. The facility became Naval Facility Punta Borinquen and was self supporting until it was decommissioned in April 1976.[6][8]
In 1971, as a result of the closing ofNaval Air Station Isla Grande, theUnited States Coast Guard relocated its aviation activities to Ramey. In 1973, after the deactivation of Ramey AFB, the Coast Guard took possession of an outstanding hangar, a part of the Air Force housing area and theDoDEA Ramey Unit School for the newly formedCoast Guard Air Station Borinquen in 1976. TheCoast Guard Exchange system operates a post exchange (PX) near by the coast guard housing area. ThePunta Borinquen Light was transferred to the Coast Guard and converted toMWR Guest Housing.
TheUnited States Army Reserve has presence at Ramey, such as the 77th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion from the 210th Regional Support Group at the Ramey United States Army Reserve Center.
In 2023, the Army Reserve81st Readiness Division opened an additional $18.7 million Army Reserve Center at Ramey for the35th Expeditionary Signal Battalion Bravo Company.[9]
ThePuerto Rico Army National Guard has units and facilities at the former Air Force Base, such as the 770th Military Police Company.
ThePuerto Rico Air National Guard keep thePunta Borinquen Radar Station near the Ramey Golf Course, home for the141st Air Control Squadron.
In 2025, Ramey AFB saw an increase in military presence including US Air ForceGeneral Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones operated by the163rd Attack Wing for counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean.
Nicolas Maduro, former president of Venezuela, first stopped on American territory at Ramey after his capture in the2026 United States strikes in Venezuela.[10]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
Previously: Panama Canal Air Force (1940-1941); Caribbean Air Force (1941-1942) | |||||||||||||||
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