Gunter Air Force Base
Encyclopedia
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
installation located in the North-northeast suburbs of Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
. The base is named after former Montgomery mayor William Adams Gunter. Until 1992 it was known as Gunter Air Force Base or Gunter Air Force Station. It has been a military training base since its opening in 1940.
Gunter Annex now falls under the command of nearby Maxwell Air Force Base
Maxwell Air Force Base
Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force installation under the Air Education and Training Command . The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, US. It was named in honor of Second Lieutenant William C...
.
Overview
Gunter Annex is the home of the Headquarters 754th Electronic Systems Group (HQ 754th ELSG). The 754th Electronic Systems Group provides andsupports secure combat information systems and networks that increase the capabilities of our commanders and leaders of the United States Air Force (USAF), the Department of Defense and other Federal Government Agencies.
The 754 ELSG is a part of the 554th Electronic Systems Wing
554th Electronic Systems Wing
The 554th Electronic Systems Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force located at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts.The 554th Electronic Systems Wing's precursor organization was deactivated on Nov. 1, 1991, as the 554th Operations Support Wing...
, which is headquartered at Hanscom Air Force Base
Hanscom Air Force Base
Hanscom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately south-southwest of Bedford, Massachusetts. The facility is a joint use civil airport/military base with Hanscom Field which provides general aviation and charter service.The host unit at Hanscom is the non-flying...
, Massachusetts. The Group directly supports the Wing’s mission of providing the USAF with a wide array of horizontally integrated IT products and services and ensures timely, decision-ready information that delivers high quality solutions to support mission requirements.
The host unit of Gunter Annex is the 42d Air Base Wing
42d Air Base Wing
The 42nd Air Base Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Education and Training Command Air University. It is stationed at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, Alabama...
, headquartered at Maxwell. The former 42d Bombardment Wing took over host duties at the complex on 1 October 1994 when the wing was redesignated and reassigned from the closing of Loring Air Force Base
Loring Air Force Base
Loring Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base that was under the operational control of the Strategic Air Command for most of its existence. In 1992, it was transferred to the newly-established Air Combat Command, and it was finally closed as an active Air Force installation in...
, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
.
William Adams Gunter
The facility is named after William Adams Gunter (1871–1940), a long-time mayor of Montgomery Alabama. Mayor Gunter was an aviation advocate who championed aviation and was a major force behind the construction of the original Montgomery Municipal AirportMontgomery Regional Airport
Montgomery Regional Airport , also known as Dannelly Field, is a joint civil-military public airport located six miles southwest of the central business district of Montgomery, a city in Montgomery County and the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama...
at this site in 1929. There were several efforts to have the airport officially named in his honor while he was still living. Although he successfully resisted these efforts, the site is still commonly referred to by residents as 'Gunter Field'.
World War II
In 1940, the 'Plan for the Expansion of the Air CorpsUnited States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
Training Program' was published and indicated a need for a preliminary flying school in the Montgomery area. The Commandant of the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field
Maxwell Air Force Base
Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force installation under the Air Education and Training Command . The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, US. It was named in honor of Second Lieutenant William C...
, Colonel Walter Weaver, picked the Montgomery Municipal Airport and the surrounding area as the location for the flying school. This included a newly-built, but as yet unoccupied state hospital for tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
patients. In June 1940 the War Department approved the recommendation to lease the land.
In August 1940 the first military personnel arrived and construction began. The hospital was used as a headquarters building and Colonel Aubrey Hornsby
Aubrey Hornsby
Aubrey Thomas Hornsby I was a U.S. Army officer and pioneer aviator who reached the rank of Brigadier General...
was the project officer and later the first commanding officer. Runways were constructed and quarters were built and in November the first class of two hundred arrived.
In late 1940, Mayor Gunter died and, on the recommendation of Colonel Hornsby, the flying field was officially named 'Gunter Field' in early 1941. By July 1941, construction of the field was largely complete.
During World War II, the field served as a flying school for not just Army pilots, but for British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Canadians
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
as well. By 1944, there were nearly four hundred aircraft assigned to Gunter Field; primarily trainers of the North American
North American Aviation
North American Aviation was a major US aerospace manufacturer, responsible for a number of historic aircraft, including the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F-86 Sabre jet fighter, the X-15 rocket plane, and the XB-70, as well as Apollo Command and Service...
BT-14 and AT-6
T-6 Texan
The North American Aviation T-6 Texan was a single-engine advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces, United States Navy, Royal Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and into the 1950s...
, Vultee BT-13 types. At this time, Gunter Army Airfield had a 3,500 ft. hard-surface runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
, as well as seven satellite airfields in the area.
After World War II ended, flight training was transferred to Spence Army Air Field (Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
) and, other than some contingents of French and Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
flight students, training ended there. By February 1946 Gunter's remaining aircraft were transferred to Maxwell Army Air Base
Maxwell Air Force Base
Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force installation under the Air Education and Training Command . The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, US. It was named in honor of Second Lieutenant William C...
and the field went to 'stand by' status.
In January 1948 Gunter Field was redesignated Gunter Air Force Base. In May 1950 the Air University located the Extension Course Institute there. In October of that year a branch of the School of Aviation Medicine was established.
Air Defense Command
In 1957 a Semi Automatic Ground EnvironmentSemi Automatic Ground Environment
The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment was an automated control system for tracking and intercepting enemy bomber aircraft used by NORAD from the late 1950s into the 1980s...
(SAGE) Data Center (DC-09) was established at Gunter AFB. The SAGE system was a network linking Air Force (and later FAA) General Surveillance Radar stations into a centralized center for Air Defense, intended to provide early warning and response for a Soviet nuclear attack. It was initially under the Montgomery Air Defense Sector (MoADS), established on on 8 September 1957. On 16 December 1960, the SAGE facility at Gunter controlled two BOMARC-B missiles launched from Eglin AFB, Florida, and directed their interception of a QB-47E Stratojet
B-47 Stratojet
The Boeing Model 450 B-47 Stratojet was a long-range, six-engined, jet-powered medium bomber built to fly at high subsonic speeds and at high altitudes. It was primarily designed to drop nuclear bombs on the Soviet Union...
drone flying at 500 mph at 30,000 feet. MoADS was inactivated on 1 April 1966, and re designated as the 32d Air Division. DC-09 with its AN/FSQ-7
AN/FSQ-7
The AN/FSQ-7 was a computer model developed and built in the 1950s by IBM in partnership with the US Air Force. Fifty-two were built and used for command and control functions for the Semi Automatic Ground Environment air-defense system...
computer remained under the 32d AD until it, and the Air Division was inactivated on 31 December 1969 when technology advances allowed the Air Force to shut down many SAGE Data Centers.
Gunter Annex
In 1971, nearly 800 acres (3.2 km²) of Gunter were returned to the city of Montgomery. In that year the Air Force Data Systems Design Center moved there and in 1972 the Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy came to Gunter. In early 1973, Gunter was redesignated an 'Air Force Station'.Major construction was undertaken in the 1980s and 1990s, thanks to the advocacy of Congressman William Dickinson
William Dickinson
William R. Dickinson is a professor emeritus of geoscience at the University of Arizona and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Prior joining the University of Arizona, Dickinson was a professor at Stanford University...
and in 1988 Gunter was redesignated an 'Air Force Base'. The primary tenants being, still, the Extension Course Institute, the Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy and the Air Force Data Systems Design Center.
In March 1992, Gunter was again redesignated, this time as Maxwell Air Force Base, Gunter Annex and now falls under the command of nearby Maxwell Air Force Base
Maxwell Air Force Base
Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force installation under the Air Education and Training Command . The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, US. It was named in honor of Second Lieutenant William C...
Previous names
- Army Air Corps Basic Flying School, Municipal Airport, Montgomery, Alabama, 27 August 1940
- Gunter Field, 10 February 1941
- Gunter Air Force Base, 13 January 1948
- Gunter Air Force Station, 1 February 1973
- Gunter Air Force Base, 1 July 1988
- Maxwell Air Force Base, Gunter Annex, 1 March 1992
Major commands to which assigned
- Southeast Air Corps Training Center, 27 August 1940
- Air Corps Flying Training Command, 23 January 1942
- Re-designated: Army Air Forces Flying Training Command, 15 March 1942
- Army Air Forces Training Command, 31 July 1943
- Army Air Forces School, 15 December 1945
- Re-designated: Air UniversityAir UniversityThe United States Air Force Air University is a component of the United States Air Force's Air Education and Training Command, headquartered at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. Air University is the U.S. Air Force's primary center for professional military education.-Organization:Air Force...
, 12 Mar 1946 - Air Training CommandAir Training CommandAir Training Command is a former major command of the United States Army Air Forces and United States Air Force. ATC came into being as a redesignation of the Army Air Forces Training Command on July 1, 1946...
, 15 May 1978
- Re-designated: Air Education and Training CommandAir Education and Training CommandAir Education and Training Command was established July 1, 1993, with the realignment of Air Training Command and Air University. It is one of the U.S. Air Force's ten major commands and reports to Headquarters, United States Air Force....
, 1 July 1993
Major ADCOM units assigned
- Montgomery Air Defense Sector, 8 September 1957-1 April 1966
- Redesignated: 32d Air Division, 1 April 1966-31 December 1969
- Fourteenth Air ForceFourteenth Air ForceThe Fourteenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Space Command . It is headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California....
, 1 April 1966-1 July 1968
See also
- Air Training CommandAir Training CommandAir Training Command is a former major command of the United States Army Air Forces and United States Air Force. ATC came into being as a redesignation of the Army Air Forces Training Command on July 1, 1946...
- Maxwell Air Force BaseMaxwell Air Force BaseMaxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force installation under the Air Education and Training Command . The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, US. It was named in honor of Second Lieutenant William C...
- Alabama World War II Army AirfieldsAlabama World War II Army AirfieldsDuring World War II, the United States Army Air Force established numerous airfields in Alabama for antisubmarine defense in the Gulf of Mexico and for training pilots and aircrews of USAAF fighters and bombers....
- List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations