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Maxwell Air Force Base

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Maxwell Air Force Base

Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base

Air Education and Training Command (AETC)
Maxwell AFB, 15 June 2006
Summary
Airport typeMilitary: Air Force Base
OperatorUnited States Air Force
LocationMontgomery, Alabama
OccupantsAir University
42nd Air Base Wing
908th Airlift Wing
Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters
Elevation AMSL171 ft / 52 m
Coordinates32°22′45″N 086°21′45″W / 32.37917°N 86.36250°W / 32.37917; -86.36250
Websitewww.maxwell.af.mil
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
15/33 8,013 2,442 Asphalt
007/187 3,015 919 Asphalt
Sources: FAA[1], official site[2]

Maxwell Air Force Base (IATA: MXF, ICAO: KMXF, FAA LID: MXF), officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, US. It was named in honor of Atmore, Alabama native Second Lieutenant William C. Maxwell.

Units

Maxwell AFB is the headquarters of Air University (AU), a major component of Air Education and Training Command (AETC), and is the U.S. Air Force's center for Joint Professional Military Education (PME). The host wing for Maxwell-Gunter is the 42nd Air Base Wing (42 ABW). The 908th Airlift Wing (908 AW) is a tenant activity and the only operational flying wing at Maxwell.

Under Air University are three principal schools that provide various levels of Joint Professional Military Education (JPME). The first is Squadron Officer School (SOS), a nearly 2 month program oriented towards First Lieutenants and Captains in the Regular Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard. The second, Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) is a year long program for Air Force officers (to include Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard), Department of Defense civil servants in the grade of GS-13, as well as select officers from other U.S. and Allied armed forces in the rank of Major, Lieutenant Commander, Squadron Leader or equivalent. ACSC is considered "intermediate" level JPME. The third program, Air War College (AWC) is also a year long program and selects students from the same sources as ACSC, but the minimum rank for attendance rises to Lieutenant Colonel, Commander, Wing Commander or equivalent or DoD civil servants in the grade of GS-14. AWC is considered "senior" level JPME.

In addition to the in-residence programs at Maxwell, all three programs are available in correspondence/distance learning formats, while ACSC and AWC are also available in seminar formats at select USAF installations worldwide.

Maxwell AFB also hosts the Air Force Officer Accession and Training Schools (AFOATS), which has oversight for two of the Air Force's three officer commissioning programs, Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC), which is headquartered at Maxwell and Air Force Officer Training School (OTS), which is headquartered and conducted at Maxwell AFB, having relocated from Lackland AFB, Texas in the 1990s. Capitalizing on the new facilities built for OTS in the 1990s, Maxwell is now the only base hosting the annual fall/spring semester and summer Field Training (FT) encampments for AFROTC cadets that they must attend before commissioning. The Civil Air Patrol's corporate and joint CAP-USAF headquarters is also located at Maxwell.

The only operational flying unit at Maxwell is the Air Force Reserve Command's 908th Airlift Wing (908 AW) and subordinate 357th Airlift Squadron (357 AS), which operates eight C-130H aircraft. As an AFRC airlift unit, the 908th is operationally gained by the Air Mobility Command (AMC).

Gunter Annex is a separate installation under the claimancy of Maxwell AFB. Originally known as Gunter Field, it later became known as Gunter Air Force Station (Gunter AFS) when its runways were closed and its operational flying activity eliminated. As a hedge against future Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) closure action, Gunter was consolidated under Maxwell AFB to create a combined installation known as Maxwell/Gunter.

History

Toward the end of February 1910, the Wright Brothers decided to open one of the world's earliest flying schools at the site that would subsequently become Maxwell AFB. The Wrights taught the principles of flying, including take-offs, balancing, turns, and landings. The Wright Flying School closed on May 27.

The field served as a repair depot during World War I. In fact, the depot built the first plane made in Montgomery and exhibited it at the field on 20 September 1918. Repair activity at the depot was sharply curtailed at the end of the war.

Second Lieutenant William C. Maxwell, for whom the base is named.

The Aviation Repair Depot's land was leased by the U.S. Army during World War I, and later purchased on January 11, 1920 for $34,327. Diminished postwar activity caused the U.S. War Department in 1919 to announce that it planned to close thirty-two facilities around the country, including the Aviation Repair Depot. In 1919 the Aviation Repair Depot had a $27,000 monthly civilian payroll in 1919, and was a vital part of the city's economy. The loss of the field would have been a serious blow to the local Montgomery, Ala economy. The field remained open into the early 1920s only because the War Department was slow in closing facilities. After this initial reprieve, the War Department announced in 1922 that facilities on the original closure list would indeed close in the very near future. City officials were not surprised to hear that Aviation Repair Depot remained on the list, because 350 civilian employees had been laid off in June 1921. On 8 November 1922, the War Department redesignated the depot as Maxwell Field in honor of Atmore, Ala. native Second Lieutenant William C. Maxwell) In 1923, it was one of three Army aviation depots. Maxwell Field repaired aircraft engines in support of flying training missions such as those at Taylor Field, southeast of Montgomery.

Maxwell Field, as most Army air stations and depots developed during World War I, was on leased properties with temporary buildings being the mainstay of construction. These temporary buildings/shacks were built to last two to five years. By the mid-1920s, these dilapidated wartime buildings had become a national disgrace. Congressional investigations also showed that the manning strength of the U.S. Army air arm was deficient. These critical situations eventually led to the Air Corps Act of 1926 and the two major programs that dramatically transformed Army airfields. The Air Corps Act changed the name and status of the Army Air Service to the Army Air Corps, and authorized a five-year expansion program. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, this program and its companion, the 1926 Army Housing Program, produced well-designed, substantial, permanent buildings and infrastructure at all Army airfields retained after World War I.

Taking up the cause of Maxwell Field was freshman Congressman J. Lister Hill. Hill was a World War I veteran who served with the 17th and 71st U.S. Infantry Regiments. He as well as other Montgomery leaders recognized the historical significance of the Wright Brother’s first military flying school and the potential of Maxwell Field to the local economy. In 1925 Hill, a member of the House Military Affairs Committee, affixed an amendment to a military appropriations bill providing $200,000 for the construction of permanent buildings at Maxwell Field. This amendment did not have the approval of the War Department nor the Army Air Corps. As a result of this massive spending on Maxwell Field, the War Department kept it open. Hill recognized that to keep Maxwell Field open, it needed to be fiscally or militarily valuable to the War Department.

In September 1927 Hill met with Major General Mason M. Patrick, chief of the Army Air Corps, and his assistant, Brigadier General James E. Fechet, to discuss the placement of an attack group at Maxwell Field. Both made it clear that Maxwell Field was too close to Montgomery and was not a suitable location for an attack group. In fact, they asked Hill as "a friend of the Air Corps" not to "embarrass" the Corps by asking that the group be placed there. They warned that if he persisted, they would "very much oppose" the effort. However, General Patrick not wanting to alienate the new and up and coming Congressman (who was also a member of the House Military Affairs Committee) sought to appease Hill by offering to create an observation squadron at Maxwell Field. Hill welcomed the gesture; however, the creation of an observation squadron fell short of the long term on-going mission sought by Hill for Maxwell Field.

Hill continued to argue for the attack group to be placed at Maxwell Field. He argued that because of the permanent buildings scheduled to be built, it would be fiscally advantageous for the placement of the attack group at Maxwell Field. Hill's arguments were an extension of ones that had been presented to him by Major Roy S. Brown, former commandant of Maxwell Field from 1922-1925. In 1927 Major Brown was the commander of the Air Corps Tactical School located at Langley Field. Major Brown urged Hill to keep his name out of it because of the easily traceable insider information. Hill, frustrated with the lack of positive response from Generals Patrick and Fechet, moved up the chain of command and passed on the correspondence he had with General Fechet to Secretary of War Dwight Davis, Assistant Secretary of War for Air F. Trubee Davidson, and Army Chief of Staff Charles P. Summerall. His request to them was given the answer: that they would give the matter "full consideration."

The depot's first official flying mission was carried out after that. Observation missions originated there in 1927–1929. Pilots from the field were also involved in completing the first leg of a test designed to establish an airmail route between the Gulf Coast and the northern Great Lakes area. The successful test played a major role in the eventual establishment of permanent airmail service in the Southeast.

By early 1928 the decision of the attack group had come down to Shreveport, Louisiana, and Montgomery. Both cities vied for the federal money to be spent in their respective local areas. Shreveport the more economically developed city than its counter part Montgomery won the day. In April 1928 Hill, via his contacts in the War Department, found out that Montgomery would not be getting the attack group. Flexing his congressional muscle, Hill persuaded Assistant Secretary Davidson and now chief of the Air Corps Major General Fechet to hold off the official announcement until Montgomery had a second look by the War Department. During the interim Montgomery leaders had set forth actions to acquire over 600 acres (2 km2) for Maxwell Field’s expansion in hopes of wooing the War Department into placing the attack group in Montgomery.

In May 1928 General Benjamin Foulois, General Fechet's assistant, during an inspection visit with Third Army commander General Frank Parker to Maxwell Field mentioned that the Air Corps Tactical School would be moving to a still undecided location. During his stay General Foulois met with local Chamber of Commerce chairman Jesse Hearin and Maxwell Field Post commandant Major Walter R. Weaver. Hearin and Weaver touted the feasibility of Maxwell Field and the Montgomery area for the placement of the attack group at Maxwell Field. However, General Foulois guided the conversation towards the impending movement of the Air Corps Tactical School and he favored Maxwell Field for the new home. Hearin immediately worked up an option on another one thousand acres (4 km²) for the Air Corps Tactical School should Montgomery not be favored with the attack group.

In July 1928, word "via rumor" of the decision for the establishment of an attack group came out that Shreveport was indeed the victor of the final decision. In December 1928, after much debate and political maneuvering it was announced officially by the Assistant Secretary of War that Shreveport would be getting the attack group and that the Army Air Corps Tactical School (ACTS) would be coming to Maxwell Field. The move to Maxwell Field from Langley Field was initially expected to increase Maxwell Field's population by eighty officers and 300 enlisted. It was expected that the ACTS would be to the Army Air Corps what Fort Benning, Ga was to the infantry.

On January 15, 1929, it was announced that the ACTS would be twice as large as originally planned. On February 11 it was announced that $1,644,298 had been allowed for ACTS construction. This was not including an additional $324,000 the Secretary of War had approved previously for non-commissioned officer barracks and a school building after a conference with Congressman Hill. On March 12 a conference between a Major Kennedy, Chief of Buildings and Grounds of the Army Air Corps and commandant of the ACTS, and Congressman Lister Hill to determine the locations of the buildings and types of construction. In March 1929, personnel at Maxwell provided flood relief to citizens of Montgomery. This was the first time at which food and supplies were airdropped by U.S. military forces during a major civilian emergency.

On July 9, 1929, Captain Walter J. Reed and a battery of attorneys checked titles for the land. The War Department also announced the same day that the plan had changed to where the ACTS would be four times as large as originally planned with 200 officers and 1,000 enlisted men. At the time this made Maxwell Field the largest (as far as personnel) Army Air Corps installation in the southeast. Approximately 300 signatures to the deed of the land occupied by the Air Corps Tactical School were signed, of which, one was signed by a minor. Chairman of the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce James Hearin said "several cases had to be taken to court." Despite the obvious rush for signatures, by October 5, deeds to the land were signed and mailed to the War Department.

On December 17, 1929, Congressman Lister Hill introduced a bill to appropriate $320,000 for the acquiring of 1,075 acres (4 km2) of land in Montgomery County as apart of an expansion program for Maxwell Field. This was a particularly bold move at the time by Hill because of the stock market crash. Effects of the crash had yet to take place; however, the panic caused by the crash had certainly captured Montgomery’s attention.

Austin Hall was built in 1931 to serve as the Air Corps Tactical School's main building.

On January 25, 1930, President Herbert Hoover asked Congress to re-appropriate an additional $100,000 for the main school building at Maxwell Field. President Hoover’s policy was to speed public works to offset unemployment. February 1930 Congressman Hill’s resolution was passed in the House of Representatives, 80 acres (320,000 m2) were to be added to Maxwell Field for expansion purposes. George B. Ford and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. designed the overall layout of Maxwell. They were hired by the Army Quartermaster Corps. Ford used an approach that clustered similar functions together. This technique provided plenty of open space and gave each cluster a distinct appearance.

On September 17, 1931, the first ACTS training occurred at Maxwell Field. Forty-one students met at 8:40 a.m. in the operations office conference room for general instruction. Classes were divided into sections, with some pilots sent on check flights, while others were sent out to become familiar with the surrounding countryside to become familiar with emergency landing field locations.

The morning of September 22, opening exercises of the Air Corps Tactical School were held. On September 24, the Air Corps Tactical School was officially launched. The address was made by Major General James E. Fechet, chief of the Army Air Corps also attending were Congressman Lister Hill and commandant of the Air Corps Tactical School Major John F. Curry. General Fechet, along with announcing his impending retirement, declared that the forty-one student officers could be future generals of the Air Corps. At a later luncheon General Fechet also lauded Montgomery’s attitude toward the Air Corps.

The 1931-1932 faculty included Army Air Corps (AC), Army Infantry (Inf), Army Chemical Warfare Service (CWS), and Army Field Artillery (FA) instructors. Initially, the school's curriculum reflected the dominating influence of General William "Billy" Mitchell. Mitchell was a strong believer in the importance of gaining and maintaining air superiority during a conflict. He argued strongly for pursuit aircraft in combination with bombers. Mitchell regarded enemy pursuit forces as the most serious threat to successful bombing operations and felt that the task of American pursuit was not necessarily to escort bombers but to seek out and attack enemy fighters. During the first five years of the school's operation, Mitchell's beliefs formed the basis for instruction at the tactical school. However, by the mid-1920s the school's emphasis had shifted from pursuit to bombardment aviation.

On July 16, 1933, Congressman Lister Hill secured approval from the War Department for $1,650,075 for immediate spending at Maxwell Field. Hill’s request was justified by increased enrollment at the Air Corps Tactical School and the desperate need for employment for the local Montgomery population. At the start of October 1933 bids opened for four construction projects that were to start immediately (1933-1934 construction at Maxwell Field employed an average of 500 plus workers).

Overhead Maxwell Field in 1937

The Air Corps Tactical School opened July 15, 1931. The school evolved into the Air Force's first tactical center until the imminence of American involvement in World War II forced a suspension of classes in June 1940 that resulted in permanent closure of the school.

One of the school's notable achievements was its development of two aerial acrobatic teams: the "Three Men on a Flying Trapeze", put together by then-Captain Claire L. Chennault in 1932, and the Skylarks in 1935. In 1940, it was announced that the installation was to be converted into a pilot-training center. During following years, Maxwell was home to six different schools that trained U.S. military aviators and their support teams for wartime service. As World War II progressed, the number of required pilot trainees declined, and the Army Air Forces decided not to send more aircrew trainees to Maxwell Field. However, in July 1943, the Army Air Forces announced a specialized school for pilots of four-engine aircraft. The first B-24 Liberator landed at the field later that month. In early 1945, B-29 Superfortress bomber training replaced the B-24 program.

Air University, an institution providing continuing military education for Air Force personnel, was established at Maxwell in 1946, prior to the Air Force becoming an independent service. Today, it remains the main focus of base activities. In 1992, the 3800th Air Base Wing was disbanded and the 502nd Air Base Wing took over as the host wing, which two years later gave way to the current 42nd Air Base Wing.

See also

References

  1. ^ FAA Airport Form 5010 for MXF PDF, retrieved 2007-05-10
  2. ^ Maxwell Air Force Base (official site)


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