Canada. Canadian Forces Station (Goose Bay, Nfld.) : The need for a refuel base in Newfoundland for planes flying the northern route between North America and Europe during the Second World War necessitated the building of a landing strip at Labrador. By November 1941 it was operational and continued to serve as an airfield for British, American and Canadian planes, with 24,000 aircraft eventually passing through Goose Bay on route to Europe. Following the war, the first RCAF School, with two runways, opened in the fall of 1947 and the Air Marshall Robert Leckie School was officially opened on 10 November 1950. RCAF Station Goose Bay offered support services to RAF Detachments stationed there, engaged in RAF low level training programmes, provided a liaison between the RCAF and the USAF, and operated the Air Traffic Control station. In 1966 it was redesignated as CFB Goose Bay and continued to operate under Air Transport Command. On 1 August 1967 all functions of the base except Air Traffic Control were handed over to the Department of Transport and it reverted back to a Canadian Forces Station. During the 1970s its primary military role was to support the Data Maintenance Control Centre located a Melville. It was a long range radar site, automatically linked to the NORAD Continental defence. The station's secondary function was to provide Air Traffic Control services for military aircraft arriving at Goose Bay International Airport. On 2 September 1975 the station was transferred to Air Defence Group. 2 Fighter Support Group, embodied in the Regular Force and allocated to Fighter Group, was formed on 1 July 1987 and located at Goose Bay. The station was redesignated as a Canadian Forces Base on 1 April 1988. In 1991 its primary function was to support the low level flying programs of the Air forces from the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands, while simultaneously supporting the Quick Response Alert Facility. On 1 April 1993 Goose Bay was redesignated as 5 Wing Goose Bay under the command of Fighter Group. RG 24 General Inventory
