Luke Air Force Base

If you are living or passing by Phoenix metropolitan area, specifically city of Glendale then occasionally you might hear roaring thunder coming from above high in sky. If that is the case then you should know it is coming from brave soldiers, air fighters stationed in Luke Air Force Base near City of Glendale.

Luke Air Force Base is definitely the largest fighter wing in the United States Air Force with 144 F-35As assigned to it. There is around 4830 military personnel and DoD civilians living there, where more than 300 pilots train at Luke every year and after which they are involved in combat assignments all over the world. Luke Air Force Base was named after Second Lieutenant Frank Luke, who was a World War I air fighter, native to Phoenix Lt. Luke scored 18 aerial victories during the War in the skies over France. Lt. Luke was shot down at Murvaux, France in 1918, after destroying three enemy balloons, although he survived the crash, Lt. Luke was found by German soldiers, he managed to kill several before they killed him. Though unmarried, Luke came from a large family, and many in the Valley of the Sun today carry on the Luke family name.

Air base was established back in 1940, when the city of Phoenix bought land that they later leased to the government. Already in 1941. the air base started operating and training fighters, during the World War II, Luke Air Force base was the largest fighting training base in the Army Air Forces, and during that period more than 17000 pilots graduated in courses from advanced to operational. But after the War ended base was close, but then again reopened at the beginning of the Korean War.

In the 1960s, several hundred of American fighter pilots left Luke to fight in the skies over Vietnam. Luke Air Force base proved its educational purpose and mission when in 1957 and all the way until 1965 they have trained more than 800 pilots from West Germany. Since Northern European weather conditions didn’t allow much room for training, Luke Air Force Base was chosen to become training grounds for new German pilots since conditions in Arizona were ideal for most of the time.

Luke Air Force Base – Glendale

Over the time Luke Air Force Base has received many facelifts and changes in organizational structure but still is an important part of Air Force arsenal.

Every year in the spring, public gets a chance to visit the Air base and see a stunning air show at Luke Days. People can see aircrafts that are on display there, exhibits and attractions for everyone to enjoy. If you plan on visiting make sure to bring sunscreen, sunglasses, hat and maybe even hearing protection since it can get pretty loud out there.

We at Glendale, AZ Roofing company are extremely proud that such a great military base is part our community of Glendale, when working high up on the roof sometimes we can even see fighter planes flying which makes happy and puts a smile on our faces. Also, we genuinely appreciate the fact that some of our clients are war veterans and that makes us truly thankful for their service.