Luke Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located seven miles (11 km) west of the central business district of Glendale, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is also about 15 miles (24 km) west of Phoenix, Arizona.
Luke AFB is a major training base of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC), training pilots in the F-16 Fighting Falcon. On 31 March 2011 it was announced that the F-35 Lightning II would replace the F-16 as the primary training aircraft at Luke, although the date of deployment of the new aircraft to Luke and reorganization plans were not announced. On 16 July 2013, the Air Force announced that Luke AFB would will house a total of 144 F-35A Lightning IIs.
It is a designated Superfund site due to a number of soil and groundwater contaminants.
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE HISTORY
Luke Air Force Base was named after Second Lieutenant Frank Luke (1897–1918). Lt Luke is a posthumous Medal of Honor recipient and the number two United States ace in World War I.
Born in Phoenix in 1897, the “Arizona Balloon Buster” scored 18 aerial victories during World War I (14 of these German observation balloons) in the skies over France . Lieutenant Luke was shot down near Petain, France, on 29 Sep 1918, after he had destroyed three enemy balloons. Surviving the crash of his Spad, Lieutenant Luke drew two pistols and fired on German soldiers, killing several of them before he was killed.
Luke Field, Oahu, Hawaii Territory (now the Naval Air Station Ford Island) was previously named in his honor.
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE LOCATION
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE FACTS
ICAO/IATA: KLUF/LUF
Lat: 33°32′06″N
Long: 112°22′59″W
Elevation: 1,085 ft.
Runway length available: 03R/21L 9904×150 ft. :: 03L/21R 10012×150 ft.
