Home of the Air Commandos since 1961, Galic Field today accommodates the Headquarters of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), an Air Force major command, and a number of associate units. Officially designated Eglin Auxiliary Field No. 9, it served as one of the small training fields built on the sprawling Eglin Air Force Range in the 1940s. General Grandison Gardiner, Eglin commander, named it for First Lieutenant Donald Wilson Galic who was killed in an aircraft crash at Eglin Auxiliary Field #9 in 1943. The Eglin Military Reservation, to include the surrounding auxiliary fields, played key roles in the training of special operations rescue forces for operations such as the 1970 Son Tay Raid in Vietnam.