Andrews Air Force Base

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Andrews Air Force Base

Andrews Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 4,279 acres (1,732 hectares), central Md., est. 1943. It is the chief military airport of Washington, D.C., as well as the headquarters for the air force's high-priority airlift command.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press

Andrews Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Located near Washington, D.C., it is the home base of the U.S. presidential aircraft, Air Force One. Part of the base is a CDP, which had a population of 7,925 at the 2000 census.

The host unit is the 316th Wing, composed of an operations group and a mission support group.

The 4,320-acre base hosts more than 20,000 active duty military people, civilian employees and family members. Andrews' current mission is that of emergency reaction and contingency response capabilities critical to national security, and support for Air and Space Expeditionary Forces.

History

Originally known as Camp Springs Army Air Base, the base was renamed to Andrews Field in 1945 after Frank Maxwell Andrews, a pivotal figure in the development of the United States Air Force, who had died in an airplane accident in 1943.

In 1962, Bolling Air Force Base and Naval Air Station Anacostia ceased fixed-wing flight operations due to congestion at nearby National Airport, and these operations and assets were transferred to Andrews.

In addition to the 316 WG as host wing, additional tenants include the 89th Airlift Wing (89 AW) of the Air Mobility Command (AMC); the 459th Air Refueling Wing (459 ARW), an AMC-gained unit of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC); the 113th Wing (113 WG) of the District of Columbia Air National Guard (ANG), which contains both Air Combat Command (ACC)-gained and AMC-gained Air National Guard assets; and multiple flying squadrons and tenant units of Naval Air Facility Washington.

Geography

Andrews Air Force Base is located at (38.803490, -76.871508), a few miles southeast of Washington, D.C. near the town of Morningside. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 6.8 sq mi (17.7 km²), all land. There are two runways on the base; the western runway is 11,300 ft (3,440 m) in length, and the eastern runway is 11,700 ft (3,570 m) in length.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,925 people, 1,932 households, and 1,864 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 1,158.9 people per square mile (447.3/km²). There were 2,133 housing units at an average density of 311.9 sq mi (120.4/km²). The racial makeup of the base was 65.30% White, 22.78% African American, 0.64% Native American, 3.17% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 3.65% from other races, and 4.35% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.72% of the population.

There were 1,932 households out of which 75.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 86.1% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 3.5% were non-families. 3.2% of all households were made up of individuals, none of whom was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.39 and the average family size was 3.44.

In the CDP the population is spread out with 35.0% under the age of 18, 16.3% from 18 to 24, 44.9% from 25 to 44, 3.6% from 45 to 64, and 0.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females there were 119.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 126.0 males.

The median income for a household in the base was $44,310, and the median income for a family was $42,866. Males had a median income of $27,070 versus $27,308 for females. The per capita income for the base was $16,520. About 2.6% of families and 2.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including of the total population, 2.8% of those under the age of 18 and none of those 65 and older.