Wright-Patterson AFB

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base led the nation through the evolution of U.S. military air superiority. After the original Wright Field was dedicated in 1927, it developed all aircraft and aeronautical equipment for the Army Air Corp, and that work continued into World War II as U.S. air fleet capabilities vastly improved. In the 1991 Gulf War, navigation and targeting systems developed there let pilots locate targets in nighttime fog, while other advanced radar systems could identify detail on targets 30 miles away. The base also became known for a moment of peace when, because of its airfield, security, logistical support, and lodging facilities, it hosted the 1995 peace accords for the conflict in the Balkan nations. The talks lasted 21 days and nearly collapsed at one point as the Croatian president's jet sat on the ramp loaded with its engines running, but a breakthrough led to the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Dayton, Ohio · United States