Moody Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation located in Lowndes County and Lanier County, about 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Valdosta, Georgia, United States.
The wing executes worldwide close air support, force protection, and combat search and rescue operations (CSAR) in support of humanitarian interests, United States national security and the global war on terrorism (GWOT).
Originally named Valdosta Airfield when it opened on 15 September 1941, the airfield was renamed Moody Army Airfield on 6 December 1941 in honor of Major George Putnam Moody (13 March 1908-5 May 1941), an early Air Force pioneer. Major Moody earned his military wings in 1930 and flew U.S. airmail as a member of the United States Army Air Corps in 1934. He was killed on 5 May 1941 while flight-testing a Beechcraft AT-10 Wichita advanced two-engine training aircraft at Wichita Army Airfield, Kansas. The AT-10 was later used extensively at Moody AAF during World War II.
Also located on Moody A.F.B. is Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide: Moody Campus.
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE HISTORY
The base had its beginning in 1940 when a group of concerned Valdosta and Lowndes County citizens began searching for a way to assist the expanding defense program. A committee was formed to obtain a military airfield for their community. In October 1940, the committee sent a letter to Maxwell AAF inviting the Air Corps to consider the Valdosta area. When engineers arrived, they rejected the existing Valdosta Municipal Airport because of excessive grading costs and began looking for another site. The Air Corps found an acceptable site 11.5 miles NNE of Valdosta near the small settlement of Bemis. The site was located on the Lakeland Flatwoods Project, a 9,300 acres (38 km2) tract of sub-marginal land, not primarily suited for cultivation. The United States Department of Agriculture, which owned the land, was experimenting at that time with forest grazing at the project. The Air Corps approved to locate the base on the tract in March 1941. Two months later, on 14 May, the Department of Agriculture transferred ownership of the property to the War Department.
Construction got underway on 28 July 1941 for a twin-engine advanced training base with accommodations for 4,100 men. The $3.4 million project’s 160 buildings included 72 barracks and 16 supply rooms. Also provided in the original contract were four 5,000-foot runways, two asphalt and two concrete, plus a spur of the Georgia and Florida Railroad.
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE LOCATION
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE FACTS
ICAO/IATA: KVAD/VAD
Lat: 30°58′4″N
Long: 83°11′34″W
Elevation: 233 ft.
Runway length available: 18R/36L 8000×150 ft. :: 18L/36R 9300×150 ft.
