Duke Field Duke Field , also known as Eglin AFB Auxiliary Field # 3 , is a military airport located three miles ( 5 km ) south of the central business district of Crestview , in Okaloosa County , Florida , United States Units . Although technically part of the larger nearby Eglin Air Force Base complex , today Duke Field is essentially a small air force base in its own right . Primarily an Air Force Reserve Command ( AFRC ) installation , Duke Field is hosted by the 919th Special Operations Wing ( 919 SOW ) , operating the MC - 130E Combat Talon I aircraft . As an AFRC unit , the 919 SOW is operationally gained by the Air Force Special Operations Command ( AFSOC ) , headquartered at nearby Hurlburt Field . The 919 SOW previously operated the AC - 130A Spectre gunship aircraft prior to transitioning to the MC - 130E . The installation is named for 1st Lt Robert L . Duke , who died in the crash of a Curtiss A - 25A - 20 - CS Shrike , AAF Ser . No . " 42 - 79823 " , near Spencer , Tennessee on 29 December 1943 . He was assigned as Assistant A - 3 to the Proving Ground of the Army Air Forces Proving Ground Command at Eglin Field , Florida , now Eglin Air Force Base . The Duke Field installation is about north of the Eglin AFB East Gate on Florida State Road 85 . Duke Field has two asphalt paved runways : Runway 18 / 36 , measuring 8 , 000 x 150 ft ( 2 , 438 x 46 m ) and Assault Runway 180 / 360 , measuring 3 , 500 x 60 ft ( 1 , 067 x 18 m ) . Although technically an auxiliary field to Eglin AFB , Duke Field is essentially a self - contained installation . The airfield has its own air traffic control tower , aircraft rescue and fire fighting ( ARFF ) facilities , instrument landing system ( ILS ) , TACAN and support infrastructure such as a large flight line / ramp area , hangars , maintenance facilities and other operational and administrative support buildings . History . Duke Field was one of the first auxiliary fields built on the Eglin Field / Eglin AFB complex . Clearing and grading began 23 January 1941 , with the first building foundations laid on 15 February 1942 . Field 3 was used as a training base by the Doolittle Raid ers in 1942 . Shortly after the end of World War II , the field was one of several sites used in the production of the 1949 feature film Twelve O ' Clock High . Cold War . In the 1950s , Duke Field became home to the 3205th Drone Group , which operated radio remote - controlled B - 17 s and F - 80 s that were used for gunnery and missile practice over the Gulf of Mexico . They were also used in the nuclear test program by flying the unmanned aircraft through atomic detonation clouds to gather fallout information . A large hump - backed steel hangar , the " Butler Hangar " , X 130 feet , transported from Trinidad ( probably from the former Waller Air Force Base , closed 28 May 1949 due to budget cuts ) , was erected at Auxiliary Field 3 between 1 April and ~ 10 July 1950 , by personnel of Company ' C ' , 806th Aviation Engineering Battalion , under Captain Samuel M . Cable , and the men of the 550th Guided Missiles Wing . Project Officer was Captain Clarence A . Ebbert of the Proving Ground Command Installations Division . An additional four feet of roof clearance was added to accommodate B - 17 s in the structure . Concrete block buildings , X 40 feet , were erected on the flanks of the hangar . Concurrently , the runway was widened to and additional parking ramps were constructed , with 117 , 327 cubic yards of dirt excavated . The new ramps and runway expansion consisted of asphalt over a crushed shell base . In 1960 and 1961 , in preparation for the Bay of Pigs Invasion , Duke Field was host to ' sanitized ' Douglas C - 54 s and Curtiss C - 46 s used for transporting personnel , armaments and supplies between US bases such as Homestead AFB and Opa - Locka Airport and CIA - run bases in Guatemala and latterly Nicaragua . A unit at the field was responsible for ' sanitizing ' and adapting about 20 Douglas B - 26 Invaders for use by Cuban exile aircrews during the invasion . A few Lockheed T - 33 s and C - 130 s were also prepared for use in the conflict , but not used . Special operations use . Between August and October 1970 , during the Vietnam War , the Joint Contingency Task Group used AFROTC facilities at Duke Field to house US Army Special Forces troops involved in Operation Ivory Coast , a mission to rescue prisoners of war at Son Tay , North Vietnam . Aircraft based at Eglin AFB and Hurlburt Field involved in the training also used Duke Field daily as an operational airstrip to maintain a low profile . With the conversion of the 919th Tactical Airlift Group ( 919 TAG ) in 1971 to the 919th Special Operations Group ( 919 SOG ) as the only Air Force Reserve AC - 130 Spectre gunship unit on 1 July 1975 , nearly $ 6 . 7 million in new construction was programmed at Duke Field through Fiscal Year 1976 . Although USAF C - 130 airlift units were transferred to the Military Airlift Command ( MAC ) in 1975 , AC - 130 units remained under Tactical Air Command ( TAC ) . In 1980 , Duke Field was also one of the fields used in training for Operation Credible Sport , an initiative to prepare for a second rescue attempt of American hostages held in Iran using C - 130 aircraft modified with multiple rocket engines for extremely short landings and takeoffs . Most of the testing for this was done at Wagner Field ( Eglin AFB Auxiliary Field # 1 ) and it was there during a 29 October 1980 demonstration of one of the highly modified YMC - 130H Credible Sport aircraft that a malfunction and hard landing resulted in the destruction of this particular aircraft . All crew aboard the aircraft survived . In 1983 , operational claimancy for the 919 SOG shifted from TAC to MAC and its newly established 23d Air Force ( 23 AF ) , said action paralleling the transfer of all Regular Air Force AC - 130 and MC - 130 units and assets from TAC to MAC . In 1990 , 23 AF was redesiganted as Air Force Special Operations Command ( AFSOC ) and operational claimancy for the 919 SOG shifted to AFSOC . In 1992 , the 919 SOG was re - designated as the 919th Special Operations Wing ( 919 SOW ) , the designation it currently retains today . In 1995 , the unit ' s AC - 130A aircraft were retired and the 919 SOW converted to the MC - 130E , the current primary model design series ( MDS ) aircraft operated at Duke Field for worldwide deployment . 2008 Doolittle reunion . Six original Raiders were present at Duke Field , on Saturday 31 May 2008 for the culmination of their annual reunion . Three civilian B - 25 s in warbird markings reenacted the training take - off sessions , with personnel from NAS Pensacola as flight deck crew representing that service ' s contribution to the Tokyo raid .