OSPREY, Fla. -- (May 1, 2025) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Jacksonville District has completed the third phase of field work being conducted at the Osprey Bombing Range Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) in Osprey, Florida as part of the ongoing remedial investigation.
USACE concluded the third phase of fieldwork that included digging and testing areas known as Targets of Interest. These areas were chosen based on earlier work conducted at the site to find any materials that may remain following the Army Air Corps’ use of the Sarasota Army Airfield during World War II. Samples were also collected from other areas without Targets of Interest to compare the results. Information gathered during this phase will be used to make informed decisions on further action at this site.
During World War II, the military leased property to establish an auxiliary bombing target for crews from Sarasota Army Airfield. The 162-acre target area, in Sarasota County near Osprey, Florida, consisted of three concentric rings centered within a hexagonal warning marker. The original mission of the Sarasota Army Airfield was to train B-17 bomber crews, but it became a fighter combat crew training station because of aircraft weight concerns. Crews used Osprey Bombing Range for low altitude glide and dive bombing, dropping practice bombs and incendiary bombs.
FUDS Sites are properties that were under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Defense and owned by, leased by, or otherwise possessed by the United States (including governmental entities that are the legal predecessors of the Department of Defense or its components) that were transferred from the Department of Defense prior to October 17, 1986. The Defense Environmental Restoration Program-Formerly Used Defense Sites was established to evaluate and, if necessary, to remediate these properties.
For more information, email FUDS.Florida@usace.army.mil, call 800.710.5184, or visit www.saj.usace.army.mil/Osprey.
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Release no. 25-029