Cazaux Air Base
Cazaux Air Base Base aérienne 120 | |||||||||||
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| IATA: none – ICAO: LFBC | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||
| Location | Cazaux (La Teste-de-Buch), Aquitaine, France | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 84 ft / 26 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 44°31′56″N 001°07′43″W / 44.53222°N 1.12861°W | ||||||||||
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  Cazaux AB Location of Cazaux Air Base, France | |||||||||||
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Source:Our Airports[1] | |||||||||||
Cazaux Air Base (French: Base aérienne 120 Cazaux) (ICAO: LFBC) is a French Air Force (French: Armée de l'Air (ALA) base. The base is located in the village of Cazaux, part of the town of La Teste-de-Buch, and is approximately 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Bordeaux.
Overview
The base is used mainly for training and integration of French fighter pilots and gunnery training over the Bay of Biscay.
The Franco-Belgian Alphajet aerial fighter school is based at Cazaux. It is responsible for training future fighter pilots of the two nations.
Since 1998, the base has hosted the No. 150 Squadron of the Singapore Air Force, equipped with A-4 Skyhawks, and since 15 November 2012, with Aermacchi M-346s to train pilots before assigning Singaporeans to operational units of F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-15 Eagle. By the end of March 2010, 120 pilots had been trained at the base.
Approximately 2,600 military and civilian personnel work on the base.
Units assigned
- The operational transition Squadron 1/8 "Saintonge" on Alphajet. Based in Cazaux since 1964.
- The operational transition Squadron AJeTS 2/8 "Nice" on Alphajet. Based in Cazaux since 1964.
- The Helicopter Squadron 1/67 "Pyrenees" on Puma and EC725 Caracal . Based in Cazaux since 1972.
- The Centre of Expertise in Embedded Arm (00 331 SEAC) which since 1 September 2009 replaces Experimentation Center and Shooting Instruction in Air (Ceita), which forms each year 200-250 French and foreign trainees
- Group Instruction Flight Safety (GISV) of the National Gendarmerie from 1 September 2010.
- A DGA test site in Flight (Formerly CEV Cazaux).
- Technicians Training Center Safety of Air Force (CFTSAA) 00/308
- No. 150 Squadron of the Republic of Singapore Air Force.
History
The airfield was created in 1914 in order to train French and Allied military pilots (fighters and bombers) and still exists as Base Aérienne 120 "Commandant Marzac".
Most of the American volunteer pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille came to the Cazaux camp to achieve their training as war pilots.
When the U.S. entered the war, the AEF (American Expeditionary Force) had several units based here, including the 36th Aero Squadron, two Balloon companies (36th and 45th) and Artillery observers.
A former French then Russian camp located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the airfield was "Camp Hunt", where infantry and artillery troops were trained before joining the Front.
Near this "Camp Hunt" a cemetery was established for American casualties; some of the pilots killed when serving at Cazaux were buried in this cemetery.
References
External links
- Airport information for LFBC at Great Circle Mapper.
- Airport information for LFBC at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
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