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Fort Baxter Air Base is a National Guard military base in Vice City, Florida, in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. It is located just north of Escobar International Airport.

In GTA Vice City, it is part of Escobar International Airport. In GTA Vice City Stories, it serves as its own zone called Fort Baxter.

Description[]

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City[]

FortBaxterAirBase

Fort Baxter's sign located at the main entrance.

Fort Baxter Air Base first appeared in GTA Vice City.

There are large numbers of troops armed with M4's guarding the area, making it extremely dangerous to try and gain access to the base. The soldiers have a shoot-on-sight policy and will attack Tommy Vercetti when he passes by in the street outside, even though the player is technically not trespassing on the base itself, and regardless of whether or not the player is armed. The troops behave as a hostile gang and attacking one soldier will cause all the soldiers to attack the player. For this reason, extreme caution should be used when in the area. Even if Tommy just walks by and doesn't do anything even unarmed (unless he is in the cop uniform), the soldiers who see him will try to kill him. These soldiers are also violent towards other gangs, most notably Patrol Invest Group guards who happen to be within the vicinity of the base. Police officers will also attack soldiers if they see them fire their weapons; however, the soldiers never retaliate against them.

It is worth noting that Fort Baxter, like the police station in Washington Beach, can be entered freely if the player is wearing the police uniform or Army fatigues (the latter only in GTA Vice City Stories), giving very easy access to military vehicles located inside. Soldiers patrolling Fort Baxter Air Base never participate in law enforcement activity; if the player is wearing a cop uniform or Army fatigues and enters the base with a wanted level, only the law enforcement officers from outside will try to kill/arrest the player.

There are no hidden packages within the base (except for a package behind the sign in GTA Vice City), but there are accessible military vehicles, including the Rhino, Patriot, Barracks OL and the Hunter. Even so, stealing them with so many soldiers in the vicinity is no easy feat. The Hunter is particularly secure, as it is located at the rear of the base, behind many fences that need to be circumvented. Landing a Maverick next to the Hunter and then quickly jumping on board is one tactic to obtain the coveted attack helicopter.

The base plays no role in the storyline.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories[]

FortBaxterMilitary

Military personnel as seen in GTA Vice City Stories at Fort Baxter.

Fort Baxter Air Base is also featured in GTA Vice City Stories. Set in 1984, two years before GTA Vice City, the airbase's internal layout is significantly different. In GTA Vice City, the base is accessible by breaking through the barriers at the main gate or jumping over it, while in GTA Vice City Stories, the gates open automatically, are more substantial and cannot be broken. Corporal Victor Vance was stationed at Fort Baxter until his dishonorable discharge when Sergeant Peppah found marijuana hidden under Victor's bed.

If the player tries to re-access the base after being ejected, soldiers will become hostile and shoot at Victor Vance at will. While the gate itself is locked if trying to enter, it can still be opened for him to leave the base.

After re-unlocking the Army Fatigues, Victor Vance can enter the base anytime and he gets the same treatment as he did during his time in the Army, including aiming at soldiers and killing them until the limit of 3 is reached, at which point every new set of soldiers spawning will start shooting at him.

Like GTA Vice City, GTA Vice City Stories also has accessible military vehicles, but this time, they're available from the start of the game, except the Rhino, which is only unlocked after the mission Over the Top.

The Ghost Tower can be seen in GTA Vice City Stories, too. There are little chances that it was supposed to be introduced in game since it was cut from GTA Vice City and can be seen only from a far distance.

There are two red balloons in the air base; one is underneath the guard tower and the other at the radio tower.

Ghost Tower[]

Main article: Ghost Tower

The "Ghost Tower" refers to an LOD of an air traffic control tower originally placed in the army base area, which was unintentionally left in the game. The LOD is only visible when the Vice City Mainland area is not loaded in both the original version of GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories.

Further Notes[]

In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - The Definitive Edition, signage in the military base points out that the area is the headquarters of National Office of Security Enforcement (N.O.O.S.E.), a law enforcement agency which only exists in the HD Universe timeline of the series. This is a huge anachronistic error by Grove Street Games that would affect the events depicted in GTA Vice City Stories, implying that Victor Vance is a former NOOSE agent rather than a former army soldier. This change, along with many others, is treated as an oversight and non-canon to the 3D Universe.

Personnel[]

GTA Vice City Stories has featured some named soldiers, including protagonist Victor Vance and main antagonist Jerry Martinez (neither of which served by the end). On the other hand, the following soldiers were last known to continue serving as of 1984:

Gallery[]

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City[]

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories[]

Vehicles[]

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City[]

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories[]

Trivia[]

  • In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (set in 1984), Fort Baxter is a National Guard or Army Reserve base for the United States Army. However, the sign in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (set in 1986) calls it the Vice City Air Reserve, implying it now belongs to the United States Air Force Reserves and further reads it as Fort Baxter Air Base. The change in a two-year period is unexplained, as it would've taken more than two years to convert from an Army to Air Force base. In addition, the Base in 1986 is too small for a runway despite its hangars. In GTA VCS, there is also no helipad, making the location not ideal for the Hunter helicopter when it was ordered in the mission Over the Top.
  • The unit insignia found at the main building has the Rockstar North logo in it, which is another Easter Egg.

Navigation[]

[ ve ]Military bases in the 3D Universe
Liberty City
Fort Staunton [?]
Vice City
Fort Baxter Air Base
San Andreas
Los SantosLos Santos National Guard Depot
San FierroEaster Basin Naval Station
Bone CountyArea 69
Las VenturasK.A.C.C. Military Aviation Fuel Depot
☆ does not give a wanted level to the player.
Category:Military bases
[ ve ]Neighborhoods and areas in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Vice City MainlandDowntown | Escobar International (Fort Baxter Air Base) | Junkyard | Little Haiti | Little Havana | Viceport
Vice City BeachOcean Beach | Vice Point | Washington Beach
IslandsLeaf Links | Prawn Island | Starfish Island
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