Spray-Painted X’s Mark Abandoned Duplexes at George Air Force Base

George Air Force Base began in 1941 as Victorville Army Air Field, an Army Air Corps site for bombardier and gunnery training. It was renamed in 1950 for Brig. Gen. Harold Lee George, an early advocate of American strategic bombing doctrine, and spent its later decades as a Strategic Air Command installation during the Cold War. A 1992 Base Realignment and Closure order shut the base down, leaving its family housing units vacant. Portions of the former base now fall within the Southern California Logistics Airport, but rows of stucco duplexes remain standing, their doors and windows still marked with the spray-painted X's left by post-closure inspectors.

Taken December 2011