Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force base in Greene and Montgomery counties, adjacent to Fairborn and Dayton, Ohio. It is named after the Wright brothers, who used "Wright field" as their testing ground, and Frank Stuart Patterson, son of NCR Corp. co-founder Frank Jefferson Patterson, who was killed on June 19, 1918, when his DeHavilland DH-4 crashed at Wright Field.

Wright-Patterson AFB is the headquarters of the Air Force Materiel Command, one of the major commands of the Air Force. "Wright-Patt" is also the location of a major USAF Medical Center (hospital), the Air Force Institute of Technology, and the National Museum of the United States Air Force, formerly known as the U.S. Air Force Museum.

As of the 2000 census, the base had a population of 6,656.

Wright-Patterson AFB is at 39°47'55" North, 84°5'2" West (39.798708, -84.083988)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the U.S. Air Force base has a total area of 30.5 km² (11.8 mi²). 30.3 km² (11.7 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.76% water.

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 6,656 people, 1,754 households, and 1,704 families residing in the U.S. Air Force base. The population density was 219.8/km² (569.2/mi²). There were 2,096 housing units at an average density of 69.2/km² (179.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the U.S. Air Force base is 76.11% White, 15.25% Black or African American, 0.45% Native American, 2.30% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 2.09% from other races, and 3.68% from two or more races. 4.45% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 1,754 households out of which 78.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 89.0% were married couples living together, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 2.8% were non-families. 2.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 0.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.60 and the average family size was 3.64.

In the U.S. Air Force base the population is spread out with 42.5% under the age of 18, 11.6% from 18 to 24, 41.5% from 25 to 44, 4.2% from 45 to 64, and 0.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 23 years. For every 100 females there were 105.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.1 males.

The median income for a household in the U.S. Air Force base is $43,342, and the median income for a family was $43,092. Males had a median income of $30,888 versus $21,044 for females. The per capita income for the U.S. Air Force base is $15,341. 1.8% of the population and 1.6% of families were below the poverty line. 2.4% of those under the age of 18 and 0.0% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

In 1917 Wilbur Wright Field was opened to train pilots and gunners during World War I. Wilbur Wright Field became Patterson Field on July 6, 1931, in honor of Lt. Frank Patterson, who was killed in 1918 while flight testing the synchronization of machine gun and propeller. A separate Wright Field was created in 1924 on 5000 donated acres in what is now Riverside, Ohio and named for the Wright Brothers. In 1948, the two fields were merged under the name Wright-Patterson AFB.

Today, as in the early 1900s, Wright-Patterson is where weapons systems are tested and modified. Missions range from logistics management, research and development, education, flight operations, and many other defense related activities. Wright-Patterson AFB is the home to the Air Force Institute of Technology, the aeronautical research and development center of the U.S. Air Force. It also contains the USAF's heavily-guarded Foreign Technology Division, where in the cold-war era captured Soviet MIGs were brought for disassembly and testing, and -- allegedly -- where the alien remains associated with the Roswell Incident were held for testing.

Wright-Patterson features prominently in the accounts of the so-called 1947 Roswell UFO incident. Supposedly, wreckage of an unidentified flying object which crashed near Roswell, New Mexico was transported to Wright-Patterson for study in the aeronautical research facilities there. No documents from Wright-Patterson have emerged as to what happened to the debris or what sort of analysis was done on it.

• Wright-Patterson AFB
• National Museum of the United States Air Force
• GlobalSecurity.org
• AOL. [{{{url}}} "Wright-Patterson Air Force Base"] (Map). Mapquest. AOL. {{cite map}}: Check |url= value (help)

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