The Summer Capital of the Philippine Air Force. Known in the past as Lipa City Army Air Base, after the Capital city of Batangas Province. The Base was built by the Japanese Armed Forces in 1942 after their victory using Philippine and American prisoners on forced labor. It was then the Home of the PAF’s Training Base where the Basic Airmen and Officer's Training course were conducted. It was also the home of the PAF Aviation Officer's Candidate School and the PAF Flying School; the "Air Force Academy Campus" until the unit was transferred to Rajah Buayan Air Base in the Southern Philippine province of South Cotobato.
The Base was turned over to the Philippine Air Force on 02 May 1948 and was named as it is now in honor of LtColonel Basilio Fernando, a Philippine airman who was killed in the United States on 21 January 1946 during a training flight on a B-25 Mitchell medium Bomber in Oklahoma, USA.
Lieutenant Colonel Basilio Fernando Air Base is the site of the Philippine Air Force's (PAF) pilot training and education facilities. It features a single, 5,000 foot long runway, several training schools, barracks, and hospital. It is also home to PAF maintenance facilities. It is located near the small city of Lipa, which is about 40 miles southeast of metro Manila. (Coordinates: 13o57'30 N, 121o07'50 E).
The facility was constructed by the Japanese military in 1942 and was used throughout World War II. Afterwards, the airfield immediately came under Philippine control and was named Lipa Air Base. On 2 May 2 1948, it was turned over to the newly created Philippine Air Force and renamed Lieutenant Colonel Basilio Fernando Air Base in honor of a Philippine Lieutenant Colonel who had died during an airplane training accident in the US in 1946.
The base was used to train Philippine airmen. There were 3 different learning/training facilities on base: The Air Force Flying School, the Technical Training Center, and the NCO Academy, which conducted continuing education for NCO's. These facilities were staffed with instructors from the 100th Training Wing until 22 September 1999, when the functions were subsumed by the Air Education and Training Command.
The 440th Aircraft Maintenance Group, instructional elements of the Air Education Training Command, and the 740th Combat Group (ground special forces) were stationed at Fernando AB. Only training aircraft fly out of the base, which include T-41D's and SF.260's. Fifteen of the former were received from South Korea in March 2009 and were subsequently based at Fernando Air Base.
