Laughlin Air Force Base
Laughlin Air Force Base is a facility of the United States Air Force located near Del Rio, Texas, close to the border of the United States with Mexico. Laughlin Air Force Base, which is the largest pilot training base in the USAF; on weekdays, the airfield sees more takeoffs and landings than any other airport in the country. It was originally named Laughlin Army Air Field on March 3, 1943, after Jack T. Laughlin, a B-17 pilot who became Del Rio's first WWII casualty when his plane was shot down over Java in January 1942. The field became just Laughlin Field on November 11 1943 and later an Air Force Auxiliary Field. It was closed in October 1945 and reopened with its present name on May 1, 1952. During the 1950s and 1960s, Laughlin was home to several U-2 high-altitude reconnaisance aircraft; Laughlin U-2s were among the first to provide photographic evidence of Soviet missile installations in Cuba in 1962. Major Rudolph Anderson, Jr, who perished when his U-2 was hit by a Soviet-made SA-2 on October 22, 1962, while overflying Cuba, was based at Laughlin. The US Census identifies Laughlin as a "town" named Laughlin AFB, Texas.
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