page_title: Eglin Air Force Base
section_title: Previous names
hierarchical_section_title: Eglin Air Force Base / Previous names
caption_attribution_description: English: Eglin Air Force Base - Welcome Postcard
context_page_description: Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in western Florida, located about three miles southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County.
  The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing. The 96 TW is the test and evaluation center for Air Force air-delivered weapons, navigation and guidance systems, Command and Control systems, and Air Force Special Operations Command systems.
  Eglin AFB was established 85 years ago in 1935 as the Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base. It is named in honor of Lt. Col. Frederick I. Eglin, who was killed in a crash of his Northrop A-17 attack aircraft on a flight from Langley to Maxwell Field, Alabama.
context_section_description: Established as Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base, 14 June 1935
  (spelling changed on 1 February 1937 from "Valparaiso" to "Valpariso" and on 1 March 1937 back to "Valparaiso")
  Eglin Field, 4 August 1937
  Eglin Field Military Reservation, 1 October 1940
  Eglin Field, 28 December 1944
  Eglin Air Force Base, 24 June 1948–present
caption: Eglin AFB postcard from the 1970s.
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