McCoy AFB (1940–1947, 1951–1975) is a former U.S. Air Force installation located 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Orlando, Florida. It was a training base during World War II. From 1951 to 1975, it was a front line Strategic Air Command (SAC) base during the Cold War and Vietnam War. It was Orlando's biggest employer and economic backbone prior to the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971. With McCoy's closure as an active USAF facility in 1975, the site was redeveloped and is known today as Orlando International Airport, which continues to carry the base's original FAA LID airport code of MCO (i.e., McCoy) and ICAO airport code of KMCO. Over the course of its existence the installation had several names, including Orlando Army Air Field #2, Pinecastle Army Airfield, and Pinecastle Air Force Base. History McCoy Air Force Base was named for Colonel Michael Norman Wright McCoy (born1905) on 7 May 1958. Col McCoy was killed on 9 October 1957 in the crash of a B-47 Stratojet (DB-47B-35-BW), AF Ser. No. 51-2177, of the 447th Bomb Squadron, 321st Bombardment Wing, which suffered wing failure northwest of downtown Orlando, Florida while taking part in a practice demonstration during the annual Strategic Air Command Bombing Navigation and Reconnaissance Competition at Pinecastle AFB, Florida. McCoy was the aircraft commander during the flight and the mishap aircraft was one of two at Pinecastle that had been modified to carry the GAM-63 RASCAL air-to-surface missile. At the time of his death, McCoy was serving as the commander of the 321st Bombardment Wing, the host wing of Pinecastle AFB. A hugely popular figure in Central Florida, Colonel McCoy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in a funeral that included a flyover of multiple B-47s. World War II The facility originally was built in 1940 as a replacement civilian airport after the takeover and conversion of the Orlando Municipal Airport (present day Orlando Executive Airport) to Orlando Army Air Base by the U.S. Army Air Corps. However, with the expansion of Orlando AAB following establishment of the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics (AAFSAT) in 1942, the new civilian airport was also leased by the now-renamed U.S. Army Air Forces, initially being designated as Orlando Army Air Field #2 and becoming a sub-base of Orlando AAB. On 1 January 1943, it was renamed as Pinecastle Army Airfield. Pinecastle AAF was intended to support the