1.4M views · 19K reactions | Once, this island had just one tree. Look at it now. | National Geographic | Facebook

The task force headed for Ascension Island, a British territory in the mid-Atlantic 3,700 nautical miles (6,900 km; 4,300 mi) from the UK and 3,300 nautical miles (6,100 km; 3,800 mi) from the Falkland Islands. It had about a thousand inhabitants, all contractors or employees of British or American companies that included Cable & Wireless, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) and the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Wideawake Air

We have touchdown on the recently opened eastern Ascension Island Auxiliary Airfield today! We reached another milestone when the first C-17 Globemaster III successfully landed on the newly paved eastern part of the runway Aug. 31!  After a year-long construction effort, the C-17 Globemaster III was the first aircraft to land on the newly paved runway, signaling full flight operations ... for now. Our Air Force Civil Engineer Center team is ready to begin phase three of the $309 million effor

39K views · 511 reactions | The Marine Corps has reopened a small island airfield at Ie Shima off Okinawa's coast after two years of repairs, restoring a key training site and easing pressure on Kadena Air Base, where parachute jumps had drawn local opposition. Read more here: https://bit.ly/4sgpvP4 : Footage by Ryan M. Breeden and Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes. Edited by Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes. | Stars and Stripes | Facebook

Victor tanker aircraft filmed arriving on Ascension Island during the Falkland Conflict, 1982. Victors played a crucial role during the conflict, providing in-flight refuelling to Vulcan bombers and other aircraft. You can watch our video on the Royal Air Force during the conflict here: https://bit.ly/3Xssxkw Film: IWM ADM 4824 | Imperial War Museum London

Approach and landing at Ascension Island The station comes under the overall jurisdiction of the Commander British Forces South Atlantic Islands, The RAF airfield on Ascension Island is run on a day-to-day basis by around 19 RAF personnel, headed by a wing commander. RAF Ascension Island is also the refueling point for the Ministry of Defence's South Atlantic airbridge flights to RAF Mount Pleasant, on the Falkland Islands, from RAF Brize Norton. Wideawake Airfield (named for a noisy colony of s