Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

Many cities in the United States have a history of association with one branch or another of the military, but no city can quite measure up to Dayton's relationship with the United States Air Force and with powered flight in general. It started out in the early days of multi-tiered wings and flight times measured in seconds and continues into the modern era of software development project management and fly-by-wire controls. To understand the city of Dayton one must understand flight and the importance of Wright-Patterson. This article can help you do that.

Wright Patterson Air Force Base is considered part of the city of Dayton, Ohio. Though its current incarnation was founded in 1948, the Huffman Prairie where the base is located has a long history of flight. Though the Silver Dart was an early Canadian trade mark of powered flight, Dayton had the earliest: the Wright Flyer. In their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, Wilbur and Orville Wright pioneered the three-axis controls all modern aircraft use and made the first sustained powered flight on December 17th, 1903 on a part of the prairie outside Dayton that is currently home to Wright-Patterson AFB.

Wright-Patterson's other namesake is Lieutenant Frank Stuart Patterson, who was killed in 1919 while test flying a deHavilland biplane. His father and uncle co-founded the National Cash Register Company, whose products are put to use all over the world every day changing cash for jewelry and ringing in products. To this day Wright Patterson is still heavily involved in aircraft development and testing, as it is home to the Air Force Institute of Technology and the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, which studies the aviation capabilities of captured enemy hardware.

Though the base was originally established and run by men, it has been many years now since the first order for Air Force blue women's pants was placed at Wright-Patterson. Today the base has quarters for 2,000 families and around 900 single people, nearly 50% of whom are women. Wright-Patt's women work alongside men in all aspects of base activities, including as part of active duty squadrons such as the 445th Airlift Squadron, who fly the enormous C-5 Galaxy transport aircraft. The Galaxy is one of the largest military aircrafts in the world. It is longer even than the entire distance covered by the Wright Flyer in its first historic flight.

Several other units housed at Wright-Patterson are support units, performing duties not unlike office workers in one of the companies that do internet marketing, Toronto Stock Exchange monitoring or retail store inventory. Wright Patterson also has a major Air Force hospital, a research laboratory, and the National Museum of the United States Air Force. This museum is the oldest and largest military aviation museum in the world and has more than 400 exhibits ranging from aircraft to missiles. Civilians are invited on base to see the museum's exhibits, and many also turn up to cheer on the runners during the annual United States Air Force marathon.