The logistics function can be traced before the earliest days of the Air Service, when the Equipment Division of the U.S. Army Signal Corps established a headquarters for its new Airplane Engineering Department at McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio.
Airplane Engineering Department
The Airplane Engineering Department was established by the Equipment Division of the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1917 for World War I experimental engineering. The department had a 1917 Foreign Data Section, and the Airplane Engineering Department was on McCook Field at Dayton, Ohio. McCook Field established the Air School of Application in 1919 and after WW I, the department was renamed the Airplane Engineering Division on 31 August 1918, under Lt Col Jesse G. Vincent (Packard co-engineer of the 1917 V-12 Liberty engine) to study and design American versions of foreign aircraft. The division merged in 1926 with the Air Service's Supply Division[1] (formed by 1919)[2] to form the Materiel Division (Air Corps).[1] In 1920, the Engineering Division's Bureau of Aircraft Production completed the design of the Ground Attack, Experimental, (GAX) aircraft built as the Boeing GA-1, and designed the VCP-1 that won the initial Pulitzer Race in 1920 at Roosevelt Field (the division also designed the TP-1 and TW-1).[3]
Materiel Division
The Materiel Division was set up near Dayton, Ohio on 15 January 1926. The Materiel Division, controlled by the Office of the Chief of Air Corps (OCAC), possessed many characteristics of a major command. It brought together four major functions performed previously by three organizations: research and development (R&D), procurement, supply, and maintenance.
With the construction of nearby Wilbur Wright Field, McCook Field was closed on 1 April 1927, and was subsequently demolished after its assets moved to the new Wright Field, the latter serving as the Air Corps', and later the Army Air Forces', principal R&D center from 1927 to 1947, including the Physiological Research Laboratory which opened in 1935.[4] By 22 August 1935, the division[citation needed] operated an Army Aeronautical Museum at Wright Field,[5] and by 22 November 1935, had an "Industrial War Plans Section".[6] F.B. Vose became the Materiel Division commander on 19 October 1940,[7] with the division employing procurement inspectors at Wright Field the same year.[8] The division had four Field Service Sections: San Antonio, Fairfield, Middletown, and Sacramento.[9]
The Air Corps Maintenance Command was established under the Materiel Division on June 25, 1941 - less than a week after the creation of the USAAF itself on June 20, 1941 - to control supply and maintenance and retained the "Air Corps" designation that remained in effect for the USAAF's training and logistics units. On 11 December 1941, with United States newly engaged in World War II, these four functions were divided between two organizations.[citation needed]
Maintenance Command was redesignated Air Service Command and kept responsibility for supply and maintenance functions.[10]
The chief of the Air Service Command, Brig. Gen. Henry J. F. Miller, was charged with supervision in the United States of all AAF activities pertaining to storage and issue of supplies procured by the Air Corps and with overhaul, repair, maintenance, and salvage of all Air Corps equipment and supplies beyond the limits of the first two echelons of maintenance.[11] The command was directed to compile AAF requirements for Air Corps and other supplies, to procure equipment and supplies needed for the operation and maintenance of AAF units, to prepare and issue all technical orders and instructions regarding Air Corps materiel, and to exercise technical control* over air depots outside of the continental limits of the United States. In addition, ASC received responsibility for coordination with the Army technical services in the supply and maintenance of equipment and supplies procured by them for the use of the AAF. The new command was separated from the Materiel Division but remained a part of the Office of the Chief of Air Corps.
Between October 1941 and March 1942 the Air Service Command remained under the jurisdiction of the Chief of the Air Corps.[12] Immediately after the beginning of the war it moved its headquarters to Washington, where it began operations on 15 December 1941. But a large portion of the headquarters organization remained at Wright Field, where it carried on the greater part of the command's activities. On 15 December 1942, its headquarters moved back to Dayton, establishing itself at Patterson Field, immediately adjacent to Wright Field.
On 9 March 1942, the Air Service Command now became one of the major AAF commands, with relatively clear lines of responsibility and authority. Four air service area commands (San Antonio, Fairfield, Middletown, and Sacramento?), successors to the maintenance wings (and field service sections, originally activated in 1940?), had been activated in December 1941 to supervise the depots in given geographical areas. The depots, of which there were eleven by April 1942, became the centers of depot control areas, which directed the activities of subdepots within defined geographical limits. Unfortunately, the boundaries of some of the depot control areas overlapped those of air service areas, and since the depots were the real focal points of supply and maintenance activities, the air service areas never attained the status of fully functioning ASC subcommands. The air service areas were disbanded on 1 February 1943, to be succeeded by air depot control area commands, which were simply the eleven former depot control areas under a new name. The elimination of the four air service areas was apparently justified by subsequent operations; according to Maj. Gen. Walter H. Frank, commander of the ASC, the step proved "most beneficial."
The Materiel Division was assumed responsibility for R&D and procurement, and was redesignated Air Corps Materiel Command on 1 April 1942. This became Air Force Materiel Command in April 1942; Materiel Command in April 1943, and AAF Materiel Command on 15 January 1944. On 17 July 1944, Air Service Command and AAF Materiel Command were placed under a new organization, AAF Materiel and Services. On 31 August 1944, AAF Materiel and Services was redesignated Army Air Forces Technical Service Command.[14]
Army Air Forces Technical Service Command was redesignated Air Technical Service Command (ATSC) on 1 July 1945.
By 1945, 14 bases in the United States were home to Air Technical Service Commands: Newark, New Jersey; Fairfield, California; Miami, Florida; Middletown, Pennsylvania; Mobile, Alabama; Ogden, Utah; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Oakland, California; Rome, New York; Sacramento, California; San Antonio, Texas; San Bernardino, California; the Spokane Air Technical Service Command at Spokane Army Air Field, Washington State; and Warner Robins, Georgia.[citation needed] In 1945, planning began for a separate, independent United States Air Force. In January 1946, General of the ArmyEisenhower and Army Air Forces GeneralSpaatz agreed on an Air Force organization of seven major commands, including the Air Technical Service Command.[16] ATSC centers were also renamed. For example, San Antonio Air Technical Services Command at Kelly Air Force Base in Texas became the San Antonio Air Materiel Area in 1946.[17]
Air Materiel Command
In 1946 AAF Technical Service Command was redesignated Air Materiel Command, and the air technical service commands were reorganized as Air Materiel Areas:
The functions of research and development and logistics were operated separately during World War II until they were reunited for several years in the late 1940s under Air Materiel Command. Among its forces was the Air Materiel Force, European Area, which was transferred from USAFE in on 1 January 1956. Air Materiel Force, European Area, at Chateauroux Air Depot, France, and Air Materiel Force, Pacific Area, at Tachikawa Air Base, Japan, were of Numbered Air Force status.[19] Often these formations supervised Air Depot Wings, for example the 75th Air Depot Wing which was based at Chinhae Air Base in South Korea during the Korean War.
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wright Field and Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot. Patterson Field is approximately 16 kilometres (10 mi) northeast of Dayton; Wright Field is approximately 8.0 kilometres (5 mi) northeast of Dayton.
Wilbur Wright Field was a military installation and an airfield used as a World War I pilot, mechanic, and armorer training facility and, under different designations, conducted United States Army Air Corps and Air Forces flight testing. Located near Riverside, Ohio, the site is officially "Area B" of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and includes the National Museum of the United States Air Force built on the airfield.
Hill Air Force Base is a major U.S. Air Force (USAF) base located in Davis County, Utah, just south of the city of Ogden, and bordering the Cities of Layton, Clearfield, Riverdale, Roy, and Sunset with its largest border immediately adjacent to Clearfield and Layton. It is about 30 miles (48 km) north of Salt Lake City. The base was named in honor of Major Ployer Peter Hill of the U.S. Army Air Corps, who died in 1935 test-flying NX13372, the original Model 299 prototype of the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. As of 2018, Hill AFB is the sixth-largest employer in the state of Utah. Hill AFB is the home of the Air Force Materiel Command's (AFMC) Ogden Air Logistics Complex (OO-ALC) which is the worldwide manager for a wide range of aircraft, engines, missiles, software, avionics, and accessories components. The OO-ALC is part of the Air Force Sustainment Center.
The Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force (USAF). AFMC was created on July 1, 1992, through the amalgamation of the former Air Force Logistics Command (AFLC) and the former Air Force Systems Command (AFSC).
Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces.
Kelly Field is a Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he was piloting.
Harrisburg Air National Guard Base is a United States Air Force base, located at Harrisburg International Airport, Pennsylvania. It is located 1.7 miles (2.7 km) west-southwest of Middletown, Pennsylvania.
The Army Air Forces Tactical Center was a major command and military training organization of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It trained cadres from newly formed units in combat operations under simulated field conditions around which new combat groups would be formed. It was established as the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics (AAFSAT) in 1942 and redesignated the following year.
General Augustine Warner Robins is often credited as the Father of Logistics in the modern United States Air Force, then known as the Army Air Corps. He was instrumental in the establishment of the first official and workable Air Force supply maintenance and accountability system, and helped establish official guidelines for the training of logistics officers, NCOs, and civilians working for the Air Force. He is the namesake of the city of Warner Robins, Georgia.
The 50th Troop Carrier Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. The wing was formed in 1941 as the 50th Transport Wing, a headquarters for air transport organizations of the Air Corps. In 1942, it became a training organization for troop carrier units deploying overseas. In 1943, it moved overseas, where its units participated in combat in the Mediterranean and European Theaters of Operations. Following V-E Day it remained in Europe until the fall of 1945. Its last assignment was with Third Air Force at Pope Field, North Carolina, where it was inactivated on 31 July 1946. It was redesignated the 50th Air Division in 1959, but was not activated.
The United States Air Force's 88th Air Base Wing is a base support unit located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The wing has been stationed at Wright-Patterson, known familiarly as 'Wright-Patt', since its activation in 1944 as the 4000th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Command) in 1944, and from 1944 to 1994 undergone six redesignations.
The 542nd Combat Sustainment Wing, sometimes written as 542d Combat Sustainment Wing, is an inactive wing of the United States Air Force last stationed at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It was inactivated in June 2010.
The Army Air Forces Proving Ground Command was the primary testing command of the United States Army Air Forces (1946-47), and then the United States Air Force (1947-57).
The Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex (WR-ALC), through about 7,000 employees at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, provides depot maintenance, engineering support and software development to major weapon systems [F-15, C-5, C-130, C-17 and Special Operations Forces (SOF) aircraft]. The Complex achieves command objectives providing a capability/capacity to support peacetime maintenance requirements, wartime emergency demands, aircraft battle damage repair and a ready source of maintenance of critical items.
The Hobson Plan was an organizational structure established by the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1948, following experimental organization in 1947. Known as the "Wing-Base Organization," it replaced the organization used by the United States Army Air Forces (AAF), the predecessor organization of the USAF, which used separate chains of command for combat and support units. The plan made the wing the basic combat unit of the AAF, rather than the group and placed all support elements on a base under the command of the wing commander in addition to combat elements.
The San Antonio Air Logistics Center is a former air depot of the United States Air Force located alongside Kelly Air Force Base. It traced its history to the creation of the San Antonio Air Depot Area Command in the 1940s. Kelly's World War II mission turned the base into a huge industrial complex. It was closed as part of the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
Sacramento Air Logistics Center is a former United States Air Force unit based at McClellan Air Force Base from 1935 until its closure as part of the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
The 3d Troop Carrier Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 63d Troop Carrier Group at Donaldson Air Force Base, South Carolina, where it was inactivated in 1960.
Robins Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force installation located in Houston County, Georgia, United States. The base is located just east of the city of Warner Robins, 18 mi (29 km) south-southeast of Macon and approximately 100 mi (160 km) south-southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. The base is named in honor of Brig Gen Augustine Warner Robins, the Air Force's "father of logistics". The base is the single largest industrial complex in Georgia, employing a workforce of over 25,584 civilian, contractor, and military members.
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