From Props to Jets and Beyond: The Military Mission on the Goldwater Range

While you are driving along Highway 85, you may see military aircraft overhead. Many of these jets are flying to the target areas to practice air-to-ground bombing and strafing. As the premier US traning range for aerial warfare tactics, the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range supports flight training operations in air-to-air gunnery, air combat flight maneuvers, air-to-ground bombing and strafing, low- level attack and evasion, and tactical coordination. The Range has been important for training fighter aircrews in aerial and air-to- ground combat since 1941 when propeller-driven AT6's and P40's trained for World War II. Due to its large size, the Goldwater Range can still commodate the world's fastest jest, training air crews vital to this country's national defense. Virtually every fighter pilot in the nation trains on the Goldwater Range at some point in their career. The Range is administered by the Air Training Command of the US Air Force through Luke Air Force Base, west of Phoenix. The Goldwater Range is regularly used by many Air Force fighter crews in the southwest: in addition, many military units from northern U.S. locations use the Range when their operations are hindered by weather. On the western portion of the Range, the Marine Corps Air Station at Yuma trains along with other USMC and U.S. Navy units. Aircrews of allied nations also train on the Range. In 1992 over 15,000 sorties were flown over the Goldwater Range. Actual air-to-ground military operations have been restricted to specific impact and target zones totaling less than 10 percent of the total Goldwater Range land area, and much of the undisturbed character of the present Range environment is due to its designation as a military reservation. [Pictures captions] Military Aircraft you may see on the Range