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Hunter Army Airfield (IATA: SVN, ICAO: KSVN, FAA LID: SVN), located in Savannah, Georgia, United States, is a military airfield and subordinate installation to Fort Stewart located in Hinesville, Georgia. Hunter features a runway that is 11,375 feet (3,468 m) long and an aircraft parking area that is more than 350 acres (1.4 km2). The runway and apron, combined with the 72,000 sq ft (6,689 m2) Arrival/Departure Airfield Control Group (A/DACG) Facility and nearby railhead, allow the 3rd Infantry Division from nearby Fort Stewart to efficiently deploy soldiers and cargo worldwide. NASA identified Hunter as an alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle orbiters. Tenants Currently, Hunter Army Airfield has approximately 5,500 soldiers, airmen, coast guardsmen and Marines on station. It is home of the aviation units of the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) headquartered at Fort Stewart. There are also a number of non-divisional units assigned to Hunter as well. U.S. Army 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment (United States) 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (United States) 3rd Infantry Division Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) "Falcon" CAB's HHC "Talons" 2nd Battalion (General Support), 3rd Aviation Regiment (UH-60A/UH-60L/CH-47) "Knighthawk" 4th Battalion (Assault), 3rd Aviation Regiment (UH-60M) "Brawler" 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment (AH-64D/AH-64DW) "Lighthorse" 603rd Aviation Support Battalion (ASB) "Work Horse" 224th Military Intelligence Battalion (Aerial Exploitation) 260th Quartermaster Battalion 3rd MP Group (CID), United States Army Criminal Investigation Command Savannah Field Office (Counterintelligence), 308th Military Intelligence Battalion U.S. Air Force Operating Location-A, Detachment 3, 18th Weather Squadron (USAF) 15th Air Support Operations Squadron (USAF) 117th Air Control Squadron (USAF / Georgia Air National Guard) U.S. Marine Corps Landing Support Company, Combat Logistics Regiment 45 USMC Coast Guard Air Station Savannah Coast Guard Air Station Savannah is also located on Hunter Army Airfield. Equipped with MH-65 Dolphin helicopters, Air Station Savannah provides the Savannah area, Coastal Georgia and South Carolina with round-the-clock search and rescue coverage of the area, to include both inland waters and off shore areas. They also provide security to the shores and borders with specialized Coast Guard sniper units. History Origins In 1929, the General Aviation Committee of the Savannah City Council recommended that the 730 acre (3 km2) Belmont Tract, belonging to J. C. Lewis, be accepted by the Council as the future site of the Savannah Municipal Airport. The cost of the land was $35,000. By September 1929, the runway and several buildings were ready and the city officially opened the new facility, known as Savannah Municipal Airport. The airport became a part of Eastern Air Transport Incorporated air route on 2 December 1931, when Ida Hoynes, daughter of the Mayor, Thomas M. Hoynes, broke a bottle of Savannah River water on a propeller blade of an 18-passenger Curtiss Condor II during the christening ceremony. The airport was named Hunter Municipal Airfield during Savannah Aviation Week in May 1940, in honor of Lieutenant Colonel (Lt. Col.) Frank O'Driscoll Hunter, a native of Savannah and a World War I flying ace. Lt. Col. Hunter was not scheduled to appear in Savannah that week; However, he paid a surprise visit to the field on the first day of Aviation Week while en route to France to serve as a United States Military Air Attaché. Savannah Army Air Base On 30 August 1940, the United States Army Air Corps received approval to build a base at Hunter Municipal Airfield. Official dedication of the airfield as Savannah Army Air Base took place 19 February 1941. The Army Air Corps assigned Savannah AAB initially to the Southeast Air District (later Third Air Force), III Air Support Command. The 27th Bombardment Group, equipped with Douglas B-18 Bolo medium bombers was the first assigned unit to the new airfield. The 27th was reassigned to the field from Barksdale Field, Louisiana. The group consisted of the 15th, 16th and 17th Bombardment Squadrons. In 1941, the group was reequipped with Douglas A-24 Banshee Dive Bombers, and on 21 October 1941 the group was ordered to the Philippine Islands in response to the growing crisis in the Pacific. The 27th returned to Hunter, without personnel or equipment on 4 May 1942 after being severely depleted in strength during the Battle of the Philippines (1942), and subsequent combat in the Dutch East Indies and New Guinea Campaigns (1942). The unit was reequipped with A-20 Havocs, remanned and retrained at Hunter. It was then deployed for combat with Twelfth Air Force in North Africa in July 1942. During early 1942 after the Pearl Harbor Attack, Savannah AAB became a base for several Antisubmarine groups and squadrons of I Bomber Command and later Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command with a mission to patrol the Atlantic coast, locate and attack German U-boats. Throughout 1942, light bomber and dive bomber groups received combat training at Savannah AAB before being deployed to the combat zones overseas. These groups included the: 85th Bombardment Group (Light), 9 June – 15 August 1942 86th Bombardment Group (Light), 20 June – 7 August 1942 311th Bombardment Group (Light), 4 July – 22 October 1942 339th Bombardment Group (Dive), 10 August 1942 – 6 February 1943 With the U-boat mission taken over by the Navy after mid-1943, Savannah AAB became a training base for Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber crews. Marauder groups which received final combat training were: 344th Bombardment Group (Medium), 19 December 1943 – 26 January 1944 397th Bombardment Group (Medium), 1 November 1943 – 13 March 1944 At the end of the war, Savannah AAB was used as a Separation Center for the discharge and furlough of service members returning from Europe. In June 1946, the airfield was returned to the City of Savannah. From 1946 to 1949, many of its buildings were leased to industrial plants. Some of the buildings were used as apartment houses, and an orphanage was located in the former commanding officer's quarters. The University of Georgia established an extension campus on part of the old base, as well. United States Air Force On 1 March 1949, Chatham Air Force Base, located eight miles (13 km) northwest of Savannah, was reopened by the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command. The 2d Bombardment Group was reassigned from Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona to Chatham, with the B-50 Superfortress. The limited facilities at Chatham made the base unfit for permanent use. Plans were made to close the base and move the B-50s to more suitable facilities. Rather than see the Air Force move elsewhere, Savannah offered to exchange airfields with the federal government along with 3,500 acres (14 km2) of additional land around Hunter for future base expansions. This arrangement was agr.... Discover the Georgia Hunter popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Georgia Hunter books.