US Air Force Military Training - Yearbook (Lackland, TX)

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trination Wing QAFIWJ. As part of this general reorganization, the 3700th Air Base Group and 3700th Maintenance and Sup- ply Group were formed to do the many tasks required to operate the base. There were also several other groups that performed the Wing's training mission. These were the 3700th, 3710th, and 3721st Basic Training Groups, the 3700th WAF Training Group, and the 3700th Officer Candidate Train- ing Group. fAnother Basic Training Group, the 3730th, had been inactivated on 5 October 1949.1 Also designated was the 3700th Personnel Processing Groupl, which took care of the many administrative tasks that went along with basic training, such as building personnel records and assigning the new recruits to technical training or jobs throughout the Air Force. Sheppard AFB also started getting ready once again to per- form basic training. On 27 July the 3700th Air Force Indoc- trination Wing expanded to include the 3740th Basic Military Training Group at Sheppard. The new group consisted of a headquarters and headquarters Squadron and ten training squadrons. The male BMT program at Lackland had already approached the saturation point in housing and feeding facilities. On 15 July there were 18,423 male basic trainees, 2,082 re-enlistees, 502 WAF personnel, and 296 officer can- didates in training. On 29 July 1950 the base population had grown to 28,803, with 3,500 male trainees already living in tents. Other changes included renaming of the Marksmanship Center as the USAF Marksmanship School on 1 September 1959 and the assignment of the base hospital to the USAF Aerospace Medical Center at Brooks AFB, Texas on 1 October 1959. The hospital had been growing tremendously. ln 1957 the World War Il facilities were partially evacuated and the major medical functions moved into the new nine-story building with 500 beds. ln 1961, a 500-bed addition called the T-Wing was completed Qlt was renamed the Wilford Hall USAF Hospital on 1 March 1963 and was designated a medical center on 1 July 1969.1 Officer Training School COTSJ was established at Lackland on 1 July 1959. The mission of OTS was to train college graduates in the essential fundamentals required for newly commissioned officers in the Air Force. The initial OTS class began training on 18 November 1959. Lackland began taking on a new look during 1962. ln November the first of what was to become many new self- contained dormitories for basic training were completed. Each of these three large buildings provided air-conditioned living quarters, classrooms and covered drill areas for 200 trainees. The distinctive Smokey Bear hat became part of the Military Training lnstructor's uniformg on 31 August 1967, making him look about two feet taller to many newly arrived trainees. The Lackland Military Training Center was renamed the Air Force Military Training Center on 1 January 1973, in recognition ofthe fact that it is the Air Force's only basic train- ing center. lt is also referred to as The Gateway To The Air Force . This is the place where thousands of dedicated young men and women make the transition from civilian life to the United States Air Force. Today Lackland Air Force Base is a busy community spread over almost 7000 acres in the southwest part of San Antonio, Texas. With more than 1000 buildings, the base resembles a small city. lt has a great medical center, a modern shopping complex, theaters, restaurants, bowling alleys, swimming pools, gas stations, and shady residential areas. The main purpose of Lackland, however, is still training. Dor- mitories, classrooms, and athletic fields cover much of the base. The daily population of Lackland now averages over 33,000 people, both military and civilian. This makes Lackland the 31st largest city in Texas. About half of this population is going to school. The great majority of Students are at the Air Force Military Training Center to take basic military training. This demanding 6-week course gives the men and women who enlist in the Air Force a speedy transi- tion from civilian to military life. For them, Lackland is the Gateway to the Air Force and basic training is how they pro- ve to themselves and to the Air Force that they are motivated and capable of joining the aerospace team. Many of the other students at Lackland are taking more ad- vanced technical training in subjects ranging from law en- forcement to electronics. Some of these students represent the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and various civilian government agencies. The Officer Training School commis- sions new Air Force officers. Lackland has also become an in- ternational educational community. Military personnel from over 30 nations come to learn English at the Defense Language lnstitute before going on to study a wide variety of military skills.

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History Of Lackland The land that eventually became Lackland Air Force Base used to be a part of Kelly Field. It was a lonely, desolate place covered by mesquite and crawling with rattlesnakes. The pilots at Kelly used the area as a bombing range and called it the hill known by the pilots because the flat escarpment rose steeply above their airfield. ln 1933 Brigadier General Frank D. Lackland became com- mander oi the Air Corps Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field. He was born in 1884 on a plantation in Fauquier Coun- ty, Virginia. Frank Lackland spent his youth working on the Washington Times newspaper and as a page boy in the U.S. Capitol. He began his military career in 1911 as an lnfan- try Lieutenant and served with George C. Marshall fthen also a lieutenantj in the Philippines before World War I. After transferring to the Air Service of the Signal Corps, he received his wings in 1917. This made Lackland one of the Army's early band of pilots. ln 1922 Major Lackland came to San Antonio to command Duncan Field. Later, as a colonel, he became com- mander of Brooks Field in 1934 before taking command at Kelly in March 1938. While at Kelly he conceived the idea of a major training facility on the hill overlooking the field. Gen- eral Lackland died on 27 April 1943 at Walter Reed Hospital and is buried in the Arlington National Cemetery. The growth of Kelly's hill from a wilderness of brush and cactus to the nation's largest military training center resulted from the foresight of General Lackland. On 10 October 1940, after he had convinced his colleagues and superiors of the ad- vantages of an installation on the hill, three officers were ap- pointed to determine the requirements for establishing an aviation cadet reception center for the Gulf Coast area. Based on the recommendation of this 3-man commission, the War Department approved a facility for 1,300 cadets. A letter from the Adjutant General dated 21 February 1941 authorized 62 buildings, including 42 barracks capable of housing 31 men each, five mess halls, five administration buildings, a fire sta- tion, an infirmary, a post exchange, a recreation building, warehouse, and five school buildings. ln May 1941 the planned training capacity was increased to 2,088 cadets. Contractors' bids to build the new facilities were opened on 5 June 1941 and actual construction started ten days later. The rough terrain slowed progress at first. The only semblance of a road from Kelly was a cow trail leading up to the one existing building on the hill, a small radio shack. Also, the entire area had to be combed for unexploded dud bombs. 8 Lt. Col. Sidney D. Grubbs was in charge of the building effort. As the project officer, he was in reality the first commander of what later would be Lackland Air Force Base. On 30 September 1941, the new development on the hill was designated the Air Corps Replacement Training Center tAir Crewj, Kelly Field, Texas. its mission was to produce potential Army Air Force QAAFJ pilots. lt was one of three such training centers. The first had opened at Maxwell Field, Alabama on 6 September 1941. The third, located at Santa Ana, California, did not open until 1942. The first class of cadets reported for training at San Antonio on 12 November 1941, less than a month before Pearl Harbor. On 1 February 1946 the post was transferred to AAF Technical Training Command and redesignated the AAF Military Training Center. lt absorbed the Basic Training School from Harlingen Field, Texas and began basic training for enlisted personnel on 4 February. The training course was six weeks in length 130 training daysj. On 18 September 1947 the United States Air Force QUSAFJ was born as a separate service. There had been many organizational realignments throughout the Army and the Ar- my Air Force to prepare for the new era. The lndoctrination Division reflected these changes during 1947. Among the more noteworthy changes, the piece of real estate on which the indoctrination Training Center UDTRCJ was located finally received a formal name when it became Lackland Air Force Base QAFBJ on 1 .luly 1947. QT he War Department published retroactive orders for this on 11 .luly.j Ceremonies that mark- ed the naming of the base were held on 12 July. A week after Lackland AFB was named, 21,765 base personnel formed the AAF insignia for the famous San Antonio photographer, E.O. Goldbeck. Lackland AFB grew slowly during the next few years, but saw some important changes. In 1948 some base personnel lived in tents in October 1948 it began basic training for the newly authorized Women in the Air Force QWAFJ. The Air Force led the way toward equal rights in the Military. For ex- ample, OCS went coeducational on 10 Jan 1949. In .lune 1949 Lackland began the integration of black airmen into regular units with whites. Despite predictions of trouble, this change proceeded peacefully. The indoctrination Division itself was replaced on 28 Oc- tober 1949. Taking its place at Lackland without change in mission was the newly designated 3700th Air Force indoc-

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Base Services