Spectacular view of the Space-X Falcon 9 Launch on 16 June 2025, from Vandenburg Space Force Base in California. On of the wonders of our world!! read more

Vandenberg Space Force Base - Space-X Falcon 9 Launch 16 June 2025 - Public Services & Government Near Me

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Founded in 1941 as an Army training center, it became Vandenberg Air Force Base in 1949, transitioning to its current name in 2021. Space launches and missile testing is its current assignment. The Pacific Coast Highway passes right through the land belonging the base, passing right by its entrance. We had seen parts of it while taking Amtrak up to Seattle from Los Angeles, and this time wanted to see what the drive would be like. It's mostly 4 lane divided highway north of the base, with it changing to a 2 lane hilly road south of Lompoc. There is hardly any traffic on the road and couldn't imagine there would be cops catching speeders. But later read that the highway's safety is indeed the responsibility of the CHP. read more

Vandenberg Space Force Base - Entrance - Public Services & Government Near Me

Amazing Space Force Base. We were welcomed on base and easily found our way to famcamp. $30 a night for retired military. Clean, modern showers, spacious spaces for RV. Highly recommended. read more

Had a quick stop while driving through. A nice tourist stop. Pretty cool things to look and learn about. Might have to stop by again with more time tho. read more

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Vandenberg Air Force Base is a United States military installation and is named in honor of former Air Force Chief of Staff General Hoyt S. Vandenberg. Vandenberg is home to the 14th Air Force, 30th Space Wing, 381st Training Group, the Western Launch and Test Range (WLTR), and elements of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. It is is responsible for satellite launches for military and commercial organizations, as well as testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Base tours are available, but the best way to see a portion of VandyLand is to take Amtrak's Coast Starlight train and see some of the launching silos and landing strips yourself. The train also passes through some really stunning shoreline and coastal habitat, and is well worth a ride in the Observation Car in either direction. read more

Vandenberg Space Force Base - Public Services & Government Near Me

We stayed here for a week on business and there is really nothing out here. Not much on base or the surrounding towns, while the beach is close, there is really nothing else out here in terms of shopping or restaurants. Huge base, well run, we had no issues getting permits to come in and were treated well during our stay. read more

We greatly enjoyed the monthly public windshield tour in January! VAFB is the West Coast's principal rocket launch site. We made our reservations per the Vandenberg Air Force Base Public Tours web page many months in advance. They emailed tour details to us. Each family drove to VAFB and parked at the location required. The tour started late. Our group leader checked the required ID and issued written permission for us to enter the base. She joined us on a bus and led the tour. Enthusiastic and informative! Beautiful scenery, open space, well-landscaped roads, many deer and rabbits, and unusually sunny weather. (Low cloud is common here.) The bus stopped at the only location where we were permitted to get out and take photos: an overlook for Space Launch Complex 6 (SLC-6). Our photos were taken from that overlook. On the way back, the group lead showed us approved photographs of previous launches from Vandenberg. The tour was enjoyable and was about the right duration. Currently there are no tours due to COVID-19, but we hope that will change soon. read more

Vandenberg Space Force Base - Vandenberg Air Force Base (AFB) SLC-6 assembly building - Public Services & Government Near Me

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This base is literally in the middle of nowhere but it's a lovely nowhere! The landscape is amazing and the weather is fabulous! The hubby insisted we check it out while on our way to San Luis Obispo. We had to divert from the highway to come here and the GPS wasn't exactly any help. We are a military family so my brother in law actually is based here and we wanted to see where family goes for their duty time. I can't imagine the drive every time you fly in for reserve duty-ugh...long but pretty drive thru the country side. read more

An employee at Solvang Brewery told us to check out the Visitors center at Vandenberg. We drove to the visitors center and no parking for an RV so parked on an angle. We walked inside to find counter booths like the DMV. 3 uniformed people there said not a word to us. I asked...Is this the visitors center? One gentleman confirmed Yes. Then a female employee said ,You can't park your RV like that.....Then a second time as a question...Is this a visitors ct?. And I added I guess not. Then we left. read more

Vandenberg Space Force Base - Public Services & Government Near Me

Beautiful scenery, great weather, not alot of night life in Lompoc but it's still better than digging my car out of 5 feet of snow in Minot, nuff said. read more

This review is about the Vandenberg AFB FamCamp facility. This RV and camping site is easy accessible and has a thoughtfully laid out plan. The FREE RV dump is convenient and easy to use with hose bib to rinse out your waste hose. I hope to return one day soon! read more

This is is a restricted area and only the few with the right military identification can enter. Vandenberg has one of the best Deer and Pig hunting in California and filled with thousands of acres of wild land. I counted 15 Doe and Bucks just driving around town and see tons of traces of wills pigs along with coyotes. A great place to be a member is the Vandenburg Rod and Gun club to sight in your guns. read more

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We took the free tour of the AFB yesterday. You meet at the information Center near the main gate. There you are given a pass and after a 7.5 mile bus ride, with a lot of back history of the base, you get a very informative history of Space Flight inside a special museum. If you have no interest in Space, NASA, GPS or anything of this nature do NOT take this tour. You will be bored out of your gourd. There were little kids and they seemed to be very impressed with the talk, videos and models. Lastly, the drive to the base was easy and picturesque. I highly recommend. Ps. If you think that you have no connection to outer space...ever have a sunburn (that's your Sun affecting you), do you use GPS/Navigation or watch Tv? You can thank geosynchronous satellite technology. read more

I hate that Vandenberg AFB is almost in the middle of nowhere. The plus side is that there are a few great restaurants that are nearby if you're willing to drive. So eating wise, you're good. Solvang, Los Olivos, Los Almos, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria are all fairly close. And if you drive two hours north, you can visit Hearst Castle! And maybe catch the Elephant seals! Entertainment wise... well there's a bowling alley and movie theater on base. There are only two movies they show a week. That's about it. You'd probably have to go to Santa Maria to watch movies. Oh, and I like that when you full up a full tank on base they give you free M&M's. It's the promotion they have at the moment. read more

We came here for a couple days to stay at the Air Force Inns. The base didn't have much. The Exchange was small but I was able to find the neccessities I needed. I don't know if it gets crowded or congested in the area on a regular basis because we were there for New Years Eve and it seemed a bit depressing. There were maybe a handful of people on the base and surrounding areas. The roads were easy to follow thanks to our trusty GPS. Since Vandenberg is in the boondocks, it takes at least 30 mins to drive to another town but the drive is not too bad - there are 2 laners and roads weren't narrow at all. It took us an hour to get to Santa Barbara and about 40 mins to get to Pismo Beach. I would come here again to check out the rest of the base when it's not the holidays...maybe then it'll be more lively. read more

I used to be stationed back when I was still in the service. It is true that it can be depressing especially for a newby like me. I got over it, I learned to be happy for what I have but it took me about 1 1/2 years, haha, or maybe less. I fell in-love with the place I ended up moving to Lompoc I am done with my term. I miss the base, I had good experiences and met good friends. I love the weather, yey! Overall, I am a fan! read more

Where to begin. The entry to the base and athletic fields are the only part of the base that were any good. As you drive in there are all 50 state flags lining the thoroughfare leading you to a fork in a road with a key terrain feature of a gigantic missile. A large group of us stayed at the Air Force Inn which was not very comfortable. Why do you ask? There was no AC and it was hot and humid. Lastly, one of our rooms was broken into. The gym facilities were interesting. We played basketball in the "old gym" which had a bunch of unused equipment in it to the sides allowing free reign of the courts. We also used one of the softball field outfields to play some football. Besides the random yelling of a few Air Force personnel while playing "kick ball," lol, things went great. We attempted to eat at the chow hall and were nearly turned away because we didnt have hard orders. That is ridiculous as all of us are active duty military. I have never been to a base that requires hard orders for a military person that is TAD to get some food. Luckily we talked the lady into letting us eat. She said that they dont allow officers to eat in the chow hall. WTF??? The only reason this place is getting a third star is because the Air Force Inn rooms cost 39 a night and the Pacific Club had great food, big rooms, NO AC!, and most importantly great customer service. If we come back it will need to be not in September/October time frame. read more

It was the cutest Military Base I've seen. Yes, cutest. We have NEVER taken a Vacation that didnt have atleast a visit to a nearby Costco or Military Base, that's just how my Hubby rolls.. I used the word cute and quaint, I think the largest part of Vandenberg Base was the surrounding land and the land it sits on. This one is nothing like any Base I've seen. They have 3 fast food establishments in their food court, however they have a food truck which is parked outside daily, Island Fusion food truck. I don't have any complaints, it's just a wee bit small. read more

I really liked this base for a weekend getaway. I can see how it could get a bit lonely living here. I love how serene things were. We were luckily enough to see both a coyote from our hotel room and a bob cat while we were in our car (like 20 ft away!) it was awesome, I felt like I was on a safari. The bob cat looked so happy and was wagging its short tail, so cute! I hope to go back here sometime. read more

An airforce base. not much to it. there is a burger king and not a whole lot of anything else. It is near lompoc which has some good thai resteraunts but the base itself just average. read more

My husband left his very expensive backpack in the TMO office a few months ago and when he went back to grab the backpack was gone. It has been a few months since this happened. We were very upset about it the first few weeks. He called the office to see if anyone turned it in or found it but no one did. And let's not get into how rude the people were who answered the phone. I feel like they should be more polite especially because they don't know who is on the other side of the phone. My husband is an officer not that should make a difference but it probably would if he kept going in person to the office. I constantly check craigslist to see if it was listed for sale. My husband let it go but it still frustrates me because the Air Force should be about honor and integrity. It upsets me that someone would do either "purposely" or "accidentally" take something that isn't there. I would expect an incident like this to happen at a Walmart, shopping mall but not in a private office on a military base. read more