Featured Article: United States Air Force - 79TH Birthday
United States Air Force - 79TH Birthday
#HistoryTuesday - Tuesday September 15TH 2026
Happy 79TH Birthday this week to the United States Air Force. It was created as a separate branch of our Military on September 18TH 1947. It was previously part of the U.S. Army.
Highlands County has a deep military history going back 85 years - with Hendricks Army Airfield and Avon Park Army Airfield.
Hendricks Army Airfield (southeast of Sebring) existed from 1941 to 1945 as a fully operational active-duty base for heavy B-17 "Flying Fortress" bomber aircraft. It was named for First Lieutenant Laird Woodruff Hendricks, Jr. He was killed in a B-17C crash in Northamptonshire England on 28 July 1941. He was there to train Royal Air Force pilots.
Avon Park Air Force Range (east of Avon Park) has a long and renowned military history going back 84 years. It was originally known as Avon Park General Bombing and Gunnery Range, and it was under the authority of MacDill Field in Tampa. It opened in 1942 during the first full year of our involvement in World War II.
Later in 1942 it became an airbase, and by the end of 1943 it was known as Avon Park Army Airfield. By then it covered over 350 square miles of land where Highlands, Polk, and Okeechobee Counties meet. At its peak - 10,000+ active-duty military personnel were stationed at the base - not including their families as well as support from civil service employees.
Both Hendricks and Avon Park were busy B-17 "Flying Fortress" bases supporting our mission in World War II. 20,000+ active-duty military personnel combined at both bases dwarfed the civilian populations of both Sebring and Avon Park - which were both just over 3,000 each.
Many of our USAAF airmen decided to stay here after the war to become residents and raise their families in Sebring, Avon Park, and the surrounding area. 80 years later some of our residents can trace their lineage back to those heroes who worked at and maintained both Army Airfields. We have met some of them at the Sebring Historical Society. We love hearing your stories. Thank You for sharing them with us.
Avon Park Army Airfield became inactive (on standby / caretaker status) under the control of MacDill Field in Tampa after the end of World War II in 1945. It reopened in 1949 as Avon Park Air Force Base - under the control of the newly established USAF. It assumed its current name - Avon Park Air Force Range - 7 years later in 1956.
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