File photo of Atlas rocket launching from the Cape. Photo: USAF

Air Force Space Command issued special order GB-005 today which redesignates Cape Canaveral Air Station as Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The special order, dated Feb. 4, 2000, also redesignates eight other air stations in Air Force Space Command as Air Force stations.

All Air Force Stations in Space Command were changed to Air Stations in 1992 during the restructuring of the Air Force. The change was made to standardize installation names.

According to 45th Space Wing Commander Brig. Gen. Donald P. Pettit, putting the "force" back allows the public to more clearly identify Cape Canaveral with the Air Force.

"It is the right thing to do because it better describes the people who perform the mission at Cape Canaveral," Pettit said. "Returning the word 'force' to the name gives credit to the Air Force Team (military and civilians) for their many years of service maintaining and managing the complex responsibilities of space launch from the Cape."

Pettit also said that at the Cape, where commercial, civil and military space programs exist side-by-side, identifying the station as an Air Force station "clearly delineates our vital Air Force role and missions."