Boca Raton Army Airfield
Boca Raton Airport/Florida Atlantic University
3700 Airport Road, Suite 304
Boca Raton, Florida 33431
Palm Beach County
(561) 391-2202
This site is located in the Southeast region of the state.
DIRECTIONS
Directions: From I-95 take the Glades Road Exit; off the Exit turn east approximately 1/8 mile to Airport Rd. Turn left on Airport Road to a four story pink building. Parking is free.
Beginning with the then existing Boca Raton Airport, 3,500 construction workers and $11 million in government appropriations converted the facility into the Army Air Force’s only radar training station during WWII. Commissioned in October 1942, Boca Raton AAF provided instruction courses for airborne radar operators, mechanics, and electronic officers. The heavy volume of maritime traffic in the Atlantic provided ample opportunity for practice in radar applications. Using B-17s, B-24s, B-25s, and B-26s, radar-bombing runs were frequently made on the Avon Park Bombing Range. Training for B-29 crews also took place here during the last year of the war. Many local facilities, including The Boca Raton Resort & Club (Mizner’s Cloister Inn), provided accommodations for military personnel during this time. In December 1948 the Town of Boca Raton acquired this location from the War Assets Administration. In addition to the contemporary use by Boca Raton Airport, the Boca Raton Campus of Florida Atlantic University is on this site. Several WWII era barracks buildings remain in use on campus. These can be found in the area bounded by El Rio Canal on the east, Florida Atlantic Boulevard on the west, N.W. 32nd Street on the north, and N.W. 28th Street on the south.
LINKS:
Boca Raton Airport
http://bocaairport.com/
Florida Atlantic University
http://www.fau.edu/
