560th Air Base Wing
Strategically located in Mactan Island in the province of Cebu, this Air Force Base sits in 154 hectares of coral land bounded on the north by the Mactan International Airport Authority; on the south by the Mactan Export Processing Zone; on the east by the Mactan International runway and on the west by the bordering barangays of the City of Lapu-lapu. The Base is an hour and a half flight by C-130 aircraft from Manila straddling a distance of 230 NM.
The establishment of an Air Force base in Central Visayas was envisioned by the late President Ramon Magsaysay sometime in 1956. Its creation started in 1958 and was completed in January 1961. The “Mactan Air Base” was activated on 01 September 1961, with 561st Air Base Squadron as its pioneering unit, under the leadership of the late Lt Col Lucio Java as its first Unit/Base Commander. Within six years, serious metamorphic events in military campaigns and operations caused the reorganization of the 561st Air Base Squadron into the 560th Composite Tactical Wing. It was later absorbed by the 2nd Air Division that was activated on 07 July 1975 stationed at Mactan Air Base. However, the Division was unmanned in 1983 and the 560th Composite Tactical Wing took over the delivery of the tactical and logistics support functions in the Base. In 1987, 560th CTW was renamed as an Air Base Wing. On 15 October 1998, the Tactical Operations Command (TOC) was activated out of the 2nd Air Division.
Subsequently the Wing was once again designated into the 560th Composite Tactical Wing. The Base was officially renamed into Brigadier General Benito N Ebuen Air Base on 18 Jan 1999 in honor of BGEN BENITO N EBUEN AFP, a former Commanding General of the Philippine Air Force.
The focal point of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) Tactical Air Power in the Visayas region is the Brigadier General Benito N Ebuen Air Base (BGBNEAB). Familiarly called the Mactan Benito Ebuen Air Base, it serves as the home of the major tactical units of the PAF, namely: the 2nd Air Division (2AD), the 560th Air Base Wing (560th ABW), the 220th Airlift Wing (220th AW) and the 205th Tactical Helicopter Wing (205th THW).
