- published: 06 Dec 2015
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An airbase (sometimes referred to as a military airfield, military airport, air force station or air force base) is an aerodrome used by a military force for the operation of military aircraft.
An airbase typically has some facilities similar to a civilian airport - for example air traffic control and firefighting. Some military aerodromes have passenger facilities; for example RAF Brize Norton in England has a terminal used by passengers for the Royal Air Force's flights by TriStar to the Falkland Islands.
Many airbases are located remotely from populated areas.[citation needed]
Some airbases have hardened aircraft shelters, or even underground hangars, to protect aircraft from enemy attack. Combat aircraft require storage of aircraft ordnance. An airbase may be defended by anti-aircraft weapons and force protection troops.
Road airbases are highways constructed to double as auxiliary airbases in the event of war. Nations known to utilise this strategy are Sweden [1], Finland, Germany, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey and Poland. In the case of Finnish road airbases, the space needed for landing aircraft is reduced by means of an arrestor wire, similar to that used on some aircraft carriers.[2]
In baseball, a force is a situation when a baserunner is compelled (or forced) to vacate his time-of-pitch base—and thus try to advance to the next base—because the batter became a runner. A runner at first base is always forced to attempt to advance to second base when the batter becomes a runner. Runners at second or third base are forced only when all bases preceding their time-of-pitch base are occupied by other baserunners and the batter becomes a runner.
A forced runner's force base is the next base beyond his time-of-pitch base. Any attempt by fielders to put a forced runner out is called a force play. A forced runner is out (called a force out) when a fielder with the ball touches the runner's force base before the runner reaches that base. A forced runner also may be tagged out in the usual fashion as well; such a tag is still considered a force play if the tag is made before the runner reaches his force base. Any play on the batter-runner before he reaches first base is the same as a force play, though the rules do not include this in the definition of a force play.