Andrews Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base near Washington, DC, the home base of Air Force One and SAM FOX .

Location

The base is a few miles southeast of Washington, in Prince George's County, Maryland. located at 38°48'13" North, 76°52'17" West (38.803490, -76.871508).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 17.7 km² (6.8 mi²). 17.7 km² (6.8 mi²) of it is land and none of it is covered by water.

Host Unit

The host unit for Andrews AFB is the 89th Airlift Wing which falls under Air Mobility Command

Mission

The primary mission at Andrews AFB is to transport the President of the United States. However the base is also tasked to provide worldwide airlift for the vice president, the president's Cabinet, members of Congress, military leaders and other high ranking dignitaries -- That is what SAM FOX is.

At one time, "SAM FOX", was used as a prefix to an aircraft tail number, during radio transmissions to identify Air Force aircraft that were transporting high-ranking VIPs, typically on foreign flights. The call sign prefix was constructed from the acronym SAM (Special Air Mission) and the initial F (Foreign), which at the time was represented by the phonetic word "Fox."

Other Units

Andrews is also the home of the 2045th Communication Group, a unit that provides communications to military installations all over the world. The technical control facility is one of the largest in the world, and hosts a myriad of sophisticated telecommunications equipment.

History

Andrews was originally "Camp Springs Army Air Base", and was renamed "Andrews Field" in 1945 after Frank Maxwell Andrews, a pivotal figure in the development of the U.S. Air Force, who had died in 1943.

External links

• GlobalSecurity.org