Davison Army Airfield or Davison AAF is a military use airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 serving Fort Belvoir

Fort Belvoir

Fort Belvoir is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Originally, it was the site of the Belvoir plantation. Today, Fort Belvoir is home to a number of important United States military organizations...

, in Fairfax County

Fairfax County, Virginia

Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

The airfield is located 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 It was named for noted World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 aviation engineer Brig. Gen. Donald Angus Davison

Donald Angus Davison

Donald Angus Davison was a Major General in the United States Army.-Biography:Davison was born on October 26, 1892 in San Carlos, Arizona, the second child of Lieutenant Colonel Lorenzo Paul Davison of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin and his first wife, Carolyn Lavina Shannon. He would marry Marjorie Risk,...

.

The airfield provided support for Army One

Army One

Army One is the callsign of any United States Army aircraft carrying the President of the United States. From 1957 until 1976, this was usually an Army helicopter transporting the President. Prior to 1976, responsibility for helicopter transportation of the President was divided between the Army...

 from 1957 to 1976 for presidents

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....

, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

, and Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford

Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...

. Its role of support for the presidential helicopter ended in 1976 when responsibility for the helicopter was transferred entirely to the United States Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 and the presidential helicopter was renamed Marine One

Marine One

Marine One is the call sign of any United States Marine Corps aircraft carrying the President of the United States. It usually denotes a helicopter operated by the HMX-1 "Nighthawks" squadron, either the large VH-3D Sea King or the newer, smaller VH-60N "WhiteHawk", both due to be replaced by the...

.

Facilities

Davison AAF has one runway

Runway

According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

 designated 14/32 with an asphalt

Asphalt

Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...

 surface measuring 5,618 by 74 feet (1,712 x 23 m).

External links

• Aerial photo as of 10 April 2002 from USGS The National Map