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Vandenberg Space Force Base, located in Santa Barbara County, California, traces its origins to 1941 when it was established as Camp Cooke, a U.S. Army training ground for armored and infantry divisions during World War II and the Korean War. After the Army inactivated the camp in 1953, the U.S. Air Force selected the site in 1956 for missile testing and space launches, renaming it Cooke Air Force Base, due to its ideal coastal location that allows for safe launches westward over the Pacific Ocean and into polar orbits without overflying populated areas. Today, the base serves as a premier space launch facility for the United States Space Force, with Space Launch Delta 30 as its host unit, conducting military missile tests and launching spacecraft from the Western Range. It also hosts civil and commercial space launches for partners like NASA and SpaceX, making it a vital hub for both national security and private spaceflight missions. Notably, during WWII the camp housed German and Italian prisoners of war, and the last of its original buildings were demolished in 2010, while the site's strategic geographic position remains crucial for placing satellites into polar orbits.