Maxwell Air Force Base
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
| The information on this page may change as a result of the 2005 U.S. Base Realignment and Closure Program (BRAC 2005). |
Maxwell Air Force Base (offically know as Maxwell-Gunther Air Force Base) is a United States Air Force facility near Montgomery, Alabama. It is the headquarters for Air University, a major component of Air Education and Training Command and is the Air Force’s center for Professional Military Education (PME).
Maxwell AFB currently hosts Air Force Officer Training School, one of the USAF commissioning sources. As of 2005, the base is one of three which hosts ROTC summer field training encampments.
The Civil Air Patrol currently holds headquarters at Maxwell AFB.
The Department of Defense has proposed a major realignment of the base as part of the Base Realignment and Closure program announced on May 13, 2005.
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 Air Force Base (AFB). The Wrights taught the principles of flying, which included take-offs, balancing, turns, and landings. The first recorded heavier-than-air night flights in aviation history occurred at the Alabama field on 25 May 1910. Two days later the Wright brothers directed the closing of the school.
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. The field went through several name changes, but finally, on 8 November 1922, the War Department redesignated the depot as Maxwell Field. The depot’s first official flying mission was carried out until after that. Observation missions where flown from there between 1927 and 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 test was a success and played a major role in the eventual establishment of permanent airmail service in the southeast.
On 5 December 1928, the War Department announced that the Air Corps Tactical School (ACTS) would relocate from Langley Field to Maxwell. In March 1929, personnel at Maxwell provided flood relief to citizens of Montgomery. This was the first time that food and supplies had been airdropped by US military forces during a major civilian emergency.
One of the school’s notable achievements was its development of two aerial acrobatic teams: the Flying Trapezers 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 US 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 the a specialized four-engine pilot school. The first B-24 Liberator landed at the field late that month. Early in 1945, B-29 Superfortress bomber training replaced the B-24 program.
The Air University. a college for U.S. Air Force officers, was established at Maxwell in 1946. It continues to this day to be the main focus of base activities
The Department of Defense has proposed a major realignment of the base as part of the Base Realignment and Closure program announced on May 13, 2005.
External links
- Official website (Source for History) (http://www.maxwell.af.mil/)
- BRAC 2005: Closings, Realignments to Reshape Infrastructure (http://www.defenselink.mil/news/May2005/20050513_1081.html)
