page_title: Bodø (town)
section_title: Military
hierarchical_section_title: Bodø (town) / Military
caption_attribution_description: English: Widerøe Dash 8-100 landing at Bodø Airport
context_page_description: Bodø is a town in Bodø Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of Bodø Municipality and of Nordland county. It is located on the Bodø peninsula between the Vestfjorden and the Saltfjorden. Bodø is located just north of the Arctic Circle. It is the largest urban area and town in Nordland county and it is the second-largest town in North Norway.
  The 14.16-square-kilometre town has a population of 41,215 and a population density of 2,911 inhabitants per square kilometre.
context_section_description: Bodø has a long history with the Norwegian Armed Forces, and especially the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF). The Norwegian Armed Forces Joint Operational Headquarters are located at Reitan, east of Bodø. Parts of NATO air forces attending the annual Cold Response are stationed at Bodø Main Air Station. Bodø MAS is a major Norwegian military air base, housing two-thirds of Norway's F-16 fighter force and two of RNoAFs SAR Sea Kings. Bodø, competing with Ørland and Evenes, is a candidate for the Northern Air Base in the new RNoAF system.
  Bodin Leir located near the air station was an RNoAF recruit school including Norwegian Advanced Surface to Air Missile System personnel and a national response unit. The base was central during the Cold War due to its strategic location and proximity to the Soviet Union. It would have been vital in the build-up of NATO air and land forces to defend Norway, and thus the entire northern flank of NATO, in a war with the Warsaw Pact. It could also have been used as a forward base for American bombers to strike targets in the Soviet Union. Now Bodin Leir is an camp to house military personnel for The Norwegian Joint Headquarters and Bodø Main Air Station.
  Bodø has a street named General Fleischer's Gate in honour of Carl Gustav Fleischer.
  Bodø received international attention during the U-2 Crisis in May 1960, when it became known that the American U-2 pilot Gary Powers had been shot down over the Soviet Union on his way from Pakistan to Bodø.
caption: Widerøe Dash 8 landing at Bodø
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