Westover Air Reserve Base, Massachusetts

Located north of Springfield in western Massachusetts, Westover is one of the largest Air Force Reserve bases in the United States, having absorbed activities and personnel from other bases in the region. Westover is an important emergency landing site, with one of the longest runways on the East Coast, and is a refueling and maintenance stop-over base for aircraft heading to or returning from Europe. It was a Strategic Air Command base for many years, from which nuclear-armed bombers flew continuously all over the world. Now Westover is home to several Reserve activities, including an Airlift Wing of heavy lift transport planes (C-5 Galaxies) carrying supplies and troops to military incursions and relief efforts world wide.