Barking Sands Pacific Missile Range Facility, Hawaii
PMRF Barking Sands is the world's largest instrumented multi-environment range capable of supporting surface, subsurface, air, and space operations simultaneously. There are over 1100 square miles of instrumented underwater range and over 42,000 square miles of controlled airspace. This makes PMRF a premier facility for supporting operations which vary from small, single-unit exercises up to largescale, multiple-unit battle group scenarios.
In 1921, the land area known as the Barking Sands was acquired by the Kekaha Sugar Company. This area became a runway for private planes.
In 1932, Australian pilot Kingsford Smith completed a historic flight from Barking Sands to Australia in his Ford Trimotor.
In 1940, the U.S. Army acquired the land, naming the Installation Mana Airport and paving the runway.
In 1941, the Army aquired additional acreage, giving Mana Airport a total of 2,058 acres. Private airlines frequently utilized the airport, and World War II incurred a great deal of military flight operations.
In 1954 the base was officially designated Bonham Air Force Base.
The U.S. Navy's first began operations at Bonham in 1956, testing its Regulus I missile.
Soon after, in 1958, the Pacific Missile Range Facility was established in order to support the growing demand of the Navy at Bonham
In 1964, the Pacific Missile Range Facility and Bonham was transferred to the Navy, becoming Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands.