Ernest Harmon Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base located in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador. The base was built by the United States Army Air Forces in 1941 under the Destroyers for Bases Agreement with the United Kingdom.
From its establishment in 1941 until March 31, 1949, the base was located in the Dominion of Newfoundland. On March 31, 1949 the Dominion of Newfoundland was admitted to Canadian Confederation and became the 10th province of Canada. The agreement enabling the base's existence from 1941 until closure in 1966 enabled it to function as a de facto enclave of United States territory within, first the Dominion of Newfoundland and later Canada, making United States military personnel stationed at the base subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Following its closure in 1966, the base property was relinquished by the Government of the United States to the Crown, Her Majesty in Right of Canada, under the terms of the original deal. The Government of Canada subsequently transferred the base property to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, which established the Harmon Corporation to oversee the disposition and use of the base property and facilities.
The airfield is presently operated as Stephenville International Airport while many of the base's support buildings and housing have been incorporated into the town of Stephenville.
Read more about Ernest Harmon Air Force Base: Construction and Operation, Cold War Expansion and Road Construction, Base Entrepreneurship and Controversy
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