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From Huffman Prairie To The Moon

The History of Wright-Patterson Air force Base

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 WRIGHTFIELD1927-1934..................................................................2 04
STATE-OF-THE-ART ,927 .................................................................... ,204
TheBirdofPurudise ...................................................................... ,207
EARLY WRlGHT FIELD DEVELOPMENTS. ...................................................... .209
Attack Airplanes ......................................................................... ,210
Bombardment Airplanes ................................................................... .2 12
Transport Airplanes ........................................................................ 216
Observation Airplanes ..................................................................... ,218
PursuitAirplanes..........................................................................22 0
PhotographicAirplanes.....................................................................22 2
TrainingAirplanes.........................................................................22 2
WRIGHT FIELD CONTRIBUTIONS TO WORLD WAR II 1935-1945 ............................ ,223
PRlNClPAL DEVELOPMENTS. ................................................................ ,224
AttackAirplanes ........................................................................ ..22 4
Autogiros and Helicopters .................................................................. ,224
Bombardment Airplanes .................................................................. ..22 5
Transport Airplanes.. .................................................................... ..23 6
Observation Airplanes ................................................................... ...23 9
PursuitAirplanes..........................................................................24 I
TrainingAirplanes.........................................................................24 7
POST-WAR CONTRIBUTIONS TO AVIATION 1946-1951 ...................................... ,249

VII. PATTERSON FIELD 1931-1948 ,257

THE PATTERSON NAME .......................... ...... ......... ,258

A LOGISTICS HERITAGE. ......................... ...... ......... ,259
THE DEPRESSION YEARS. ........................ ...... .......... 262
FAD ACTIVITIES DURING THE 1930s .............. ...... ...... ......... ,264
WORLDWARII .................................... ...... .......... 266
MAJOR ORGANIZATIONS. ........................... ...... ...... ......... ,278
MILITARY TRAINING PROGRAMS. .................... ...... ...... ......... ,279
C,“,LlAN TRAINING PROGRAMS ..................... ...... ...... ......... ,281
ASSISTING WITH THE CREATION OF NEW DEPOTS ...... ...... ......... ,284
COMMAND ASSKNMENTS .......................... ...... ...... ......... ,285
PATTERSON FIELD AND THE END OF THE WAR ... ...... ......... ,289

VIII. WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE 1948-1982. ,293

THE 2750TH AIR BASE WING. ......... .......... ......... ,295

WRIGHT-PATTERSON IN THE 1950s .... .......... .......... ......... ,298
ATlMEOFTRANSITION ................. .......... ... .298
THE 2750TH ABW SUPPORTMISSION ...... .......... .......... ........ ..30 2
ASSOCIATE ORGANIZATIONS ............ .......... .......... ... ,305
A DECADE OF GROWTH. ................ .......... .......... ........ ..30 7
ACTlVlTlES ........................... .......... ......... .3ll

DISASTERS ........................... ......... ,313

WRIGHT-PATTERSON IN THE 1960s. ... ........ -313
ASSOCIATE ORGANIZATIONS ............ .......... .......... ........ ..315
GROWTH.. ........................... .......... .......... ........ ..318
ACTIVITIES ........................... .......... .......... ........ -320
DlSASTERS ........................... .......... .......... ......... ,323
 VII. PATTERSON FIELD 1931-1948
On July I. lY3 I, that portion of Wright Field cast of
Huffman Dam was redesignated Patterson Field in honor of
Lieutenant Frank Stuart Pdttcrson. War Dqwtmcnt Gcner-
al Orders No, S, over the si&naturc of Gcncml Douglas
MacArthur, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, established the
designation. In general tans, Patterson Field consisted of
the xca now known as Area A, Wright-Patterson AFB, and
the whole of the Fairfield Air Depot Reservation (Area C).*
Although located on htterson Field, the Fdirlicld Air Depot
rctaincd its title and continued as a major function of the
new mstallation.
Insofar as can be determined, there was no formal
memorialization or dcdictttion ceremony for Patterson
Field. Local news on July I focused on the dedication of the
Edwin F. Brown Hospital at the National Military Home in
West Dayton. Headlines in the Dayton newspapers for the
entire first two weeks of July I93 I. in fact, uwe dominated
by details of the epic world flight of Wiley Post and Harold
Gatty.
*The Reservation.in turn, ixludcd Huffman Prairie and the World War 1 aitcsof the Fair&&i Aviation Gencrdl Supply Depot and
Wither Wright Field.
Though Patterson Field was csmblished with little fan-
fxc, it soon made its mark in the field of aviation. It was the
scent of many exciting events during the 1930s and
throughout the war years of the 1940s. Patterson Field
became especially noted for its achievements in the field of
logistics during the Van
Patterson Field, with its logistics mission, and Wright
Field. dedicated to engineering advancement, continued
from I93 I until the end of World War 11as separate installa-
tions. By 194S, Wright and Patterson Fields had in-
crcasingly merged functions and identities until it was
generally considered that the two bases weyc joined, al-
though their official merger was not effected until January
13, 194X. The story of F’dttcrson Field, as prcsentcd in this
chapter, is the story of the continuing logistics heritage of
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
251
THE PATTERSON NAME

Frank Stuart F’atterson was born in Dayton, Ohio, on

November 6, 1897, son of Frank Jefferson &tterson and
Julia Shaw Patterson. The elder Patterson and his brother,
John H. Patterson, founded The National Cash Register
Company and tigued prominently in local Dayton history.
Young Frank Stuart descended from a long line of
military officers. His great-grAndfather, Cal. Robert Patter-
son, was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, the Wzu of
1812, and skirmishes with Indians in Ohio, Indiana, and
Illinois. Three uncles were Union Army Civil War captains.
Frank Stuart carried on the family military tradition.
After initial schooling at the Florida-Adirondack prcparato-
ry school, he enrolled at Yale University, from which he
received his Bach&r of Arts degree in the spring of 1918.*
On May 21, 1917, he e&ted as a private in the Aviation
Section of the Enlisted Reserve Corps, U.S. Army.’
He received gnxmd training at the Massachusetts In-
stitute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. After
completing primary training at Buffalo, New York, and
advanced flying training at Mineola, Long Island, New
York, he was assigned to Post Field, Fort Sill, Oklahoma,
for training in aerial observation.
Upon completing observation training, Private First
Class Patterson was honorably discharged from the Enlisted
Raewe Corps on September 14, 1917, at Fort Sill, and
commissioned the following day as a first lieutenant in the
Officers Reserve Corps, U.S. Army, with the aeronautical
rating of pilot.
On may 10, 1918, Lieutenant F%ttason was assigned to
the 137th Aero Squadron at Wilbur Wright Field, near his
hometown of Dayton.’ Orders issued on May 9 at the new
station assigned him to a board of officers “for the pqose
of conducting tests of the DeHavilland Four and Bristol
Fighter airplanes.“~

*He received his degree “in absentia,” as did many of his fellow ck+ssmateswho had joined the Signal CaPs:

258
 sion in France; by a sister, Mary, who was active in wartime
On June 19, 1918, little more than a month after his
Red Cross work; and by other members of the illustrious
arrival at Wilbur Wright, Lt. F%terson and his aerial ob-
Patterson family.*
server, Lt. LeRoy Amos Swan, went aloft in their DH-4,
LeRoy Amos Swan was born June 5, 1894, in Norwich,
Army Air Service Serial #32098, to test newly installed
Connecticut. After attending public schools and the Nor-
machine guns synchronized by Nelson interrupter gear
wich Free Academy, he graduated in 1917 with a bachelor
equipment. Their instructions were to fire about one bun-
of science degree in mechanical engineering from the Mas-
dred rounds into the field from 6,OKl feet, lO,K0 feet, and
sachusetts Institute of Technology.
15,000 feet. They completed the first two trials sue-
Swan enlisted in the Air Service on July 14, 1917, and
cessfully, firing the guns through the propeller as they
was commissioned in the Officers Reserve Corps the fol-
dived. Lt. Patterson then climbed to 15,GOO feet and point-
lowing September. He was assigned to the Air Service and
ed the airplane downward in a step dive. Just as reparts of
attended the aerial observers school at Post Field,
the guns reached the eath, the wings of the airplane were
Oklahoma, as had Lieutenant F%tterson. He was assigned to
seen to collapse and separate completely from the fuselage,
Wilbur Wright Field in April 1918, and Faticipated in a
leaving it to travel nearly across the field at full pawr
number of flights involving machine gun testing.
during its fall. The machine was completely wrecked and
Lieutenant Swan was buried with military honors in his
the crew crushed beyond recognition.’
hometown. According to the local newspapers, he was the
The initial report of the accident wired to Washington
first military nnn from Nonvicb to die during the wx6
indicated that it was not clear whether the wings folded up
The Patterson-Swan accident was not the first involving
or were swept back. It was subsequently determined by the
a DH-4 aircraft in the local arca. The earliest recorded crash
aircraft accident investigation board that:’
in a DH-4occwred May 2, 1917, and killedLt. Cal. Henry
&tterson’s accident believed to be due to shearing of tic rod
J. Damm and Maj. Oscar Brindley.’ Perhaps the ealiest
that passes through fuselage near radiator and connects the
two fittings to which are attached nose drift wires. Accident fatality altogether at the site occurred before it became
occurred while diving hence considerable strain put on Wilbur Wright Field. On May 21, 1912, it is reported that
those two fittings. Tie rod sheared but fittings show very “Fred Southad stole an airplane and went aloft for his
little elongation showing that weakness lay in tie rod. There solo flight,” falling 100 feet to his death when the engine
being nothing else to t&e backward strain on wings, wings failed.’
probably folded back and separated from fuselage.
This report clarified the popular, but erroneous assumption
that bullets from the machine gun shattered the propeller A LOGISTICS HERITAGE
blades, which flew back and tore the wings from the
airplane. Patterson Field’s principal functions from July 1, 193 1
Lieutenant &tterson was buried next to his father in through 1945 were those of logistics. Patterson Field was
Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, on June 21, 1918, following assigned to the Air Corps Materiel Division from its desig-
a military funeral. He was survived by bis mother, Julia nation until October 17, 1941, when the Air Service Corn-
Shaw FXterson Camell; by a brother, Jefferson, who was a mand assumed the logistics functions of the Materiel
lieutenant in the field artillery serving with the 83rd Divi- Division.

*It was Frank Stuti’s first cousin, Frederick Beck Patterson, who later headed the Dayton Air Swvice Committee in its drive to acqure
and donate more than 4,500 acres of land, including the site of Wilbur Wright Field, to the govcmment in 1924 for the creation of
Wright Field.

259
 The “xijor portion of Patterson Field was occupied by
the Fairfield Air Depot (FAD).* By the early l93Os, the FAD AREA OF CONTROL IN 1931
control area of the Fairfield Air Depot had expanded to 23
states, serving 2X of the approximately 50 Air Corps sta- $g Installations
tions in the United States.y Fairfield was linked to other Alabama Maxwell Fiel& Roberts Field
depots in the system hy an air tra”sport supply service, a Arkansas Little Rock
descendant of the earlier Model Airway. The transport Florida Chapman Field
service was staffed at FAD by the 1st Provisional Air Georgia Ca”dler Field; Lawso” Field (Ft. Be”-
Transport Squadron, constituted March 1, 1935 and re- “ing)
designated the 1st Transport Squadron o” June 25, 1935. Illinois Chanute Field; Scott Field; Municipal
The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Transport Squadrons were stationed A&at (Chicago)
Indiana Schce” Field; Stout Field
1OWl NO”t.
Kansas Ft. Leavenworth; Marshal Field (Ft.
Riley)
Kentucky Bowman Field
Louisiana Barksdale
Michigan Selfridge Field; Wayne County Airport
Minnesota St. Paul Municipal Airport; Minnedpolis
Mississippi NO”e
Missouri Lambert Fiel& Richards Field
Ohio Clevela”d Airport; Lu”ke” Airport;
Norm” Fiel&, F’attexs”” Field; Wright
Field
Nebraska Offutt Field
North Carolina Pope Field (Ft. Bragg)
North Dakota NOW
South Caxoli”a NO”e
South Dakota NO”e
Te”“-%Xt? Sky Harbor
West Virgi”ia NO”e
Wzsconsi” NO”e

*FAD succeeded the l%i&ld Aviatio” General Supply Depot, fou”ded in ,917, ad its several successor orga”izatio”s. See Chapta
Ill for the story of the depot to 1931.
nt San Antonio, Middletown, and Rockwell, respectively.
These squadrons comprised the transport system within the
Air Corps, zm idea proposed by Lt. Cal. Augustine Warner
Robins while he was Executive Officer to the Chief of the
Materiel Division.
Statistics from I931 show that, at the time of the nxue
change (to Patterson Field), personnel strength nt the field
mnged between I2 and 15 officers and 5Ci-550 civilian
employees. The monthly civilian payroll ws approx-
innately $67,Om. The level of activity at the base wns
moderate. During June 1931, depot supply received 784
shipments totalling 875,815 pounds and dispatched I.379
orders totalling I ,099,277 pounds. The repair shops re-
ccived 44 ziirplanes and 67 engines for overhaul. Airplane
overhauls completed that month totalled 36, while engine
overhauls numbered 85.l”
In I931 there were437 airplanes of all types assigned in
the FAD control area: attack, bomber, observation, pho-
tographic, pursuit, basic training, ptimtuy training, and
czwgo craft. FAD wx responsible for maintaining these
airplanes in flying condition. The overhaul schedule in
force at that time called for bombers to be overhauled every
I8 months, primary trainers every I5 months, pursuits
every IO months, National Guard airplanes every 2 Yeats.
and all other types once each yew. All of this work wns
accomplished by the FAD Engineering Department in
Building I3 and two small adjacent buildings, 52 and 54.
Administrative personnel wrc originrdly housed in
Building I at the depot. In March 1933, however, n new
headquwters building, Building I I, was completed and
accepted.” A government radio station, WYD, ws first
located at the depot and served both the depot and Wright
Field. In September 1933, the radio station and telegraph
office were consolidated with the message center at Wright
Field and subsequently moved their operations there.
262
THE DEPRESSION YEARS
As Fairtield Air Depot entered the l93Os, the Air COTS
ws in the midst of the five-year expansion program out-
lined by the I926 Air Corps Act. This progrzun, which got
off to a late start, extended until 1932. Numerical goals of
the progrzun included 1,800 serviceable aiplanes, 1,650
officers, and 15,000 enlisted men. In ternx of quality, the
goal wns continuzil improvement of aircraft systems. World
records for altitude, speed, and distance flying were row
tinely broken and reset as the Air Corps struggled to come
of age.
Notwithstanding progress made under this five-year
expansion program, the economic conditions of the Great
Depression were reflected in operations nt the Fairfield Air
Depot. Non-critical depatments were reorganized to en-
able employment of personnel in mission essential depart-
ments. In some cases, positions held by male employees
were reassigned to wonxn, who were hired nt lower sal-
aries. In February 1930, the station supply department was
consolidated with depot supply to eliminate duplicate re
ceiving, shipping, and inspecting departments. In April
1930, the finance and personnel departments were corn
bined in the interest of efficiency.” By July of 1933, funds
to meet the civilian payroll wre restricted to the point
where it became necessary to declare nn occasional admin-
istrative furlough of personnel without prty.
Beginning in 1934, the work force nt the depot ws
augmented by the addition of tcmporxy laborers employea
under Depression-era progrruns. This provided nn interest-
ing chapter in Wright-F’atterson’s history.
In May 1934, the depot set aside several acres of land for
use as zi crunp for men forced to live as transients by the
economic conditions of the Depression. By 1935, S27 men
were living in this camp, according to one xcount. Many of
 THE BRICK QUARTERS

The officers’ brick quarters on titterson Field were con-

stmcted between I933 and 1935. At the time of their corn-
pletion, the new homeshoused all officers stationedat bath
Pattersonand Wright Fields. To minimize effects of the
perpetual rivahy between officers of the two fields, north-
south streetswere assignednumbers and east-weststreets
were given letter designationsrather than names. On July
these men possessed skills of use to the depot, Thus ar- 22, 1977, ten of these streets were dedicated in honor of
mngements were made for them to receive lodging and selected Army Air Corps and Air Force officers.
meals at the camp in exchange for twenty hours of work per
week on the reservation. They also received a subsistence
pay of approximately $1.50 per week in cash?’
One valuable service performed by the transient work-
ers was renovation of buildings on the base. A number of
frame stmctwes had been hastily built during the First
World Was. Buildings Z~,3, and 4, for example, had been
quickly erected south of Building 1, and were essentially
“shells” of corrugated metal with cinder floors. They were
still in use as storage buildings, but had deteriorated greatly
through the Yeats. Building 2 was renovated by a comtner-
cial contractor and Building 3 by the Civilian Work Admin-
istration, a federal agency created to help relieve the na-
tion’s unemployment situation. Building 4, however, was
renovated by the men living at the “Transient Camp.“*
The same group of men perfomxd most of the landscap-
ing associated with construction of the brick officers’ qux-
ten in 1934. The brick quarters complex, composed of 92 l’k tin, tmusem,pteted on “B” Street 01mv Brett Lkiveh
units of officers’ quarters and the Wilbur Wright Officers’ early 193s
Club (today the Officers O+n Mess), were completed by
July I, 1935.

*These three buildings were later linked together to form what is today Building 2, Area C.

263

I

In 1935, the Civilian Conservation Covs also main-
tained a camp on Fxtterson Field. The young men in this
organization had no oflicial relationship with the depot: but
they did assist in sodding lawns, landscaping, and other
tasks during I935 and 1936.
In lamxxy of 1936, with the federal Works Progress
Administration absorbing large numbers of unemployed
laborers, the Transient Camp was discontinued, although
the site of the camp retained the unofficial name “Transient
Camp” for many years. I4
264
,
FAD ACTIVITIES DURING THE 1930s 1
In April and May of 1933. FAD supported the Air Corps
Anti-Aircraft Exercises based at F%erson Field. The ever-
cises were designed primarily to perfect new techniques and
tactics which were being developed in bombardment avia-
tion. FAD personnel were responsible for installin& special
equipment on the airplanes as they arrived from their bases
in Virginia, Texas, California. and New York. This was a
considerable task, and the new equipment also required
constant maintenance.
A period of one month was devoted to intcnsivc training
and equipment conditioning. Squadrons whose normal
peacetime stations were widely separated and which uwc
made up of many different types of airplanes learned to
function as a composite group. The bombardment section
itself was composed of squadrons of twin-engine Curt&
B-2 biplane bombers, Douglas monoplane B-7 bombers,
and Boeing all-metal monopkmc B-9 bombers.
Fiwdl exercises varc held May 15.24. The entire pro-
ceedings received the commendation of Air Corps Chief
Brig. Gen. Benjamin D. Foulois, who was in attendance.‘5
In 1934, FAD tackled a new project as the Air Corps
assumed responsibility for flying the U.S. mail. During the
winter of 1933, the federal government decided to cancel its
air mail contracts with commercial airlines and to delegate
the job to the Army Air Corps. In February 1934, FAD
activities were sharply accelerated to furnish supplies for

the aircraft required to support the mission. Although the
Air Corps was poorly equipped and critically unprepared to
take over responsibility for the air mail on such short
notice, the Engineering Department at Fdirlield did its best
to rncet the challenge. ln eleven days the Engineering
Department performed modifications on sufficient air-
planes to support operations. Rear controls in the cockpits
of %ick and wittz” Keystone biplanes were removed to
make morn for the baggage cornparttnents, and the airplane
structure was reworked. The airplanes were equipped with
instruments to enable blind flying so that air mail schedules
could be met day and night.
Supply personnel at Fairfield took turns sleeping in the
depot in order to meet etnergency requests for stock that
might be received during the night. Depot supet%sors
worked diligently with commercial businesses to ensure
that supplies, including oil and gasoline, would be avail-
able. In addition, supply per&nel were sent to various Air
Corps and commercial installations throughout the country,
where they acted as liaison men for FAD to facilitate
0peratm”s.
Despite these Herculean efforts, the mission was
doomed to failure, the victim of insurmountable diffi-
culties. By June 1Y34, in the face of numerous fatalities and
tragic accidents, the project wzs abandoned and contracts
for flying the mail returned to commercial airlines. Al-
though Air Corps facilities were proven inadequate and
inappropriate for such service at the time, valuable cxperi-
ence was gained and lessons learned,” Perhaps most impor-
tattly, the Air Corps’ inadequate funding support was dra-
matically brought to public attention, and the argument for
increased Air Corps appropriations strengthened.
Public awareness was also increased by the popular
long-distance lY34 Alaskan Ilight initiated by Lt. Cal.
Henry H. “Hap” Arnold and Maj. &dlph Royce. Ten new
Martin YB-IO twin-engine bombers were specially
equppcd for the journey to Fairbanks. Alaska, and return.
In June and July of 1934, FAD pcrwnnel provided support
for the project, preparing the airplanes for the flight. Trial
flights were conducted from Patterson Field to March Field
in California, and to Dallas, Texas, although the Alaska
trip itself was launched from Boiling Field in Washington,
D.C. The complete Ilight occupied one month and included
a brief stop on the return trip at Patterson Field on August
19.X’
A number oSdevelopments in military meteorology can
be traced to activities at F’atterson Field in the 1930s. On
March 26, lY3S. the Adjutant General of the Army ex-
plained a new War Dcpatment policy designed to improve
the mcteurolo&ical service furnished to the Air Corps. It
involved closer technical supervision of the Army service,
more contact and closer cooperation with the larger services
of the U.S. Weather Bureau and the Department of Com-
merce, and the introduction of air mass analysis weather
forecasting, and was expected to yield great benefits to
military pilots. A Signal Corps officer was assigned to each
Army Corps area in which there vas considerable military
air activity to implement the new policy.
A radio transmitter was installed at Paterson Field on
January 8, 1936, to broadcast local weather conditions at
hourly intervals. Pilots and operations officers received this
weather data on a frequency of 37Y kilocycles under the call
letters WXA.”
On July I, lY37, the Meteorolw&d School at Fort
Monmwth, New Jersey, was transferred to Patterson Field
by order of the Chief of the Air Corps. Its name was
changed to the Air Corps Weather School, and the Fairiield
Air Depot Commander was designated as the school corn-
mandam. The first class of 20 students graduated from the
six-month course at l?~tterson Field on January 2X. 1938
The school operated until June I, 1940, when it was trans.
ferred to the Air Corps Technical School at Chanute Field. w
Another significant event in Patterson Field history vas
the opening of the first military Auto&o School in the
United States on April 20, 1938. The purpose of the school
was to train officers as pilots, and enlisted men as mainte-
mmce crews, for the service testing of autogiros. The school
started with three new YG-IB direct control auto&$x, and
augmented its small training fleet until seven were on hand,
 The foregoing special activities provided occasional
breaks in the normally routine work of the Fairtield Air
Depot. As the 1930s came to a close, however, the days of
such routine activity were numbered. kirtield was soon to
become one of scores of depots in the United States charged
with maintaining and distributing the largest stockpile of
wartime materiel in history.

WORLD WAR II

F’rior to World War II, the depot supply operation at

F%ttersonField was modest in size, even though it provided
service to Air Corps stations nationwide. In 1939, the depot
Supply Department of FAD occupied approximately 7,5tXl
qum feet of office space and 306,000 square feel of
warehouse floor space, and employed less than 200 work-
ers. Operations were housed almost entirely in Building I,
wtich had been constructed during the First World War.
Additional workers employed by the Engineering Depart-
ment, the Signal Corps radio section, the fuels and lubri-
cants unit, the lumber yard, the air freight terminal, and
other related units brought total employment at the depot to
nearly 5Oil persons, A standard 40.hour work week was in
effect, with six or eight civilians remaining oo duty over
weekends to handle emergency shipments. Railroad sew
ice consisted of two tracks, which entered Building I from
the east, and a single track which ran from F’atterson Field to
Osbom.”

the largest assembly of such machines ever before gathered

in one location. Hangar 5, erected during World War I,
served as classroom and workshop for the four-week
C”“~SC.
During the first and second course sessions, 12 officer
pilots and 15 enlisted mechanics were trained. These gradu-
aks were then sent to Fort Monroe, Fort Sill, and Fort
Bragg to conduct further tests with the ground services. Lt.
U. F. Gregory, one of three faculty members for the pilots
course, subsequently went co Wright Field to become pro-
ject officer for all of the Amy’s rotary wing aircraft.“’
Among other significant achievements realized at F%tter-
son Field was the world’s first entirely automatic landing,
on August 23, 1937. Capt. George V. Holiomao piloted the
Fokker C-l4B transport airplane used in the test. Capt. Carl
J. Crane, the inventor of the system, and Raymond K.
Stout, the Project Engineer, were also present. (All three
were assigned to the Materiel Division at Wright Field.)
The landing was successfully completed without any assis-
taoce from the human pilet or from the ground. Captams
Crane and Holloman were awarded the Mackay Trophy and
Distinguished Flying Crosses for their achievements.2’

266
 In light of engineering advancements made during the Supplies arrived at the Fairfield depot in ever-increasing
1920s and 193Os, both in the United States and abroad, it quantities-by rail, by mail, by truck, and by airplane. The
was widely recognized that a rapid expansion of the Air Receiving Depxtment in Building 1 soon proved inade-
Corps and its tactical capabilities would be central to the qua and was greatly expanded.24 Plans were hastily made
nation’s rexmamat progran. Prodded hy President Frank- to construct additional buildings and to relocate some of the
lin D. Roosevelt, in April 1939, Congress authorized $300 various Supply Department sections. During a special visit
million for Air Corps development. This allowed the Air to the depot in late 1940, Brig. Cien. Henry H. Arnold
Corps to schedule the production of unheard-of quantities addressed employees. He outlined in graphic tams the
of warplanes. At the Air Corps depas, the need for supply scope of physical growth and increased depot activities that
and repair materials and associated equipment to keep the could be expected, and which in fact soon became reality.”
new airplanes in flying condition increased geometrically. Buildings 2, 3, and 4, south of Building I, were joined
These drastic changes brought a new way of life to the depot together with annexes during 1940 to form one large sttuc-
at Fairfield, Ohio. ture. Barracks, mess halls, and other buildings were rapidly
In May 1935, Cal. Fred H. Coleman, Commanding constructed to house mushrooming numbers of newly-re-
Officer of Fairfield Air Depot, had prepared for the Chief of cruited and transferred military personnel. Large barracks
the Materiel Division a detailed, 45-page outline of con- complexes were located on Wright Avenue across from
struction needed at FXterson Field, as well as a revised Building 1, on Wright Avenue west of Pearson Road, in the
station plan showing proposed locations. For five yeas the axa across Route 4 which became known as “Wood City”
program was studied, proposed, bypassed, and recon- (so named because all of its structures were of wooden
sidered by the Materiel Division, the Field Service Section, construction), and on Skeel Avenue at the fan north end of
the Quartetmaster Corps, and the War Department. In Patterson Field. Hebble Homes, a wartime housing de-
1940, funds amounting to $1,970,000 were finally ear- velopment constructed near the base in Kirfeid, housed
marked for these projects, as part of the Air Corps Expan- primarily civilian employees.
sion Program. Major construction to be accomplished
included:*’
Repair Dock wo,ml
Expansionof Engineering Slmps 572.m
Engine Test Building 26O.m
E+pment Repair Building l58.400
Telephone System l8pJo
Changes in Electric SFrvice 70,lnnl
Enlargement of power plant 3GwxYJ
Rebuilding steam distribution system 53,cal
Rebuilding water distribution system 60X
This nearly $2 million allocation fell short of Colonel
Coleman’s original estimate of funds required by more than
$27O,lXlO. It was, however, the beginning of a tremendous
wartime build-up at the depot. From 1938 to 1945, the face
of Patterson Field was altered drastically as shops, ware-
houses, and military and civilian housing complexes began
to dominate the landscape.

267
 Building 206 was constructed in 1940-1941. The center
section of the airplane repair facility was completed in the
spring of 1941, providing offices for Fxtterson Field Opera-
tions and a convenient hotel for transient pilots. The hotel
became known as the FAD0 Hotel (Fairfield Air Depot-
Operations), a break in the Air Corps tradition of referring
to all airfield hotels as “DeGink.“2b A new air tem?inal,
Building 146, was constructed adjacent to Building 206 in
I943 (on the site of the old Barling bomber hangar).
A repair wrehouse was set up in Building 6 in the fall of
I942 to accommodate the huge mass of reparable materiel
arriving from overseas. In June 1943, Building 80 was
completed to further augtnent storage space and relieve the
already crowded conditions in Building 6. It was con-
structed by combining eight demountable steel hangars,
thus placing 32,000 square feet under roof in a single
mucture.~
A complex of warehouses V&ISconstructed in the
vicinity of Buildings I and 2 during 1941.1943 to accom-
modate the steady deluge of supply materiel at the depot.
New structures included Buildings 70, 71, 72, 114, 174,
252.253.254.255, 257, and 2%. In addition, warehouse
space was leased in some I4 buildings in the Springfield, --
Ohio, area, totaIling more than 561,000 square feet, as
auxiliary storage for the depot. A packing and shipping
department was eventually established in Springfield to
facilitate operations and save time and expense.
’

269

--
 Building 13, used for engine overhaul and repair, was
expanded by consolidating and connecting several existing
buildings during this same period. Building X9, also used
for overhaul and repair, was completed in 1943. Building 95
was erected during 1943 to house the salwge and disposal
branch.
As operations at Patterson Field expanded, so did ad-
ministrative and support needs. The Patterson Field poww
plant was expanded in I942 to service the increased energy
needs of the field. The Patterson Field post hospital, Build-
ing 219, was completed and was activated June 17, 1942. It
was staffed initially by 15 medical officers, S50 enlisted
personnel, and 6 civilians. By December 1942, even this
new facility was inadequate to minister to the ills of all
personnel at both Wright and F%tterson Fields. A canton-
ment-type hospital was activated December 21 in Wood
City, and soon became the main base hospital.z8
*Building IO today servesas Headquuters for the 2750th Air Base Wing
270
In 1943, Building IO was constructed as headquarters
for the Fairfield Air Service Command. * Building 11 con-
tinued to serve as Patterson Field Headquamxs. Extension
wings were added to both ends of Building 11 in I942 to
house additional offices and personnel.
Permanent runway construction took place on titterson
Field during I942 and 1943. Concrete runway “A” (now
Taxiway No. 8) was completed in December 1942. New
concrete taxiways and an extension to Runway “B” (no
longer in use) were built the following sumtna and accept-
ed on September 3, 1943. An extension to Runway “C”
(now Taxiway No. 12) was accepted on October I I, 1943.
Land acquisition during World War II became an impor-
tant factor in Patterson Field’s later development. Of par-
ticular importance was the purchase during I943 and I944
of some 851 acres of Greene County land from the Miami
Conservancy District and private landowners. This acreage
expanded Patterson Field to the northeast, and allowed the
1947 construction of the Very Heavy Bomber (VHB) run-
way, as detailed later in this chapter.
A major construction project at the south end of F%tter-
son Field in 1942 and 1943 was the headquarters complex
for the Air Service Command. The central structures,
Building 262 and its annex, 262A, were completed and
occupied in 1942. Surrounding the headquarters building
were numerous warehouses, as well as bamacks for ASC
personnel. Area A, as the ASC mea came to be known, was
connected to the existing complexes on F’atterson Field by
an extension of Skeel Avenue, but was, in effect, a separate
axa. From I944 until 1948, in fact, Area A was admin.
istratively considered part of Wright Field.
The housing area known as Skyway Park, at the inter-
section of present-day Kauffman Avenue and Colonel
Glenn Highway, was constructed under provisions of the
Lanham Act during the summer of 1944 and provided
housing for ASC civilian personnel. Skyway Park consisted
of 546 family housing units and Skyway Lodge, a donnito-
ry complex that housed another 640 individuals and had its
own cafeteria and clinic. On October 25, 1947, Skyway
Park was transfened from the National Housing Agency to
the Army Air Forces and was designated as “Area P of the
base.*
The extensive physical growth of Patterson Field was
accompanied by signiticant increases in the military and
civilian work forces. By July 1940, civilian employment at
FAD had risen to I,0 13, double the average of the preceding
decade. By January 1942, employment had soared to
9,041; in March of I943 it peaked at 19,433.”
positions since wotnen were prohibited from working in
storerooms and industrial arcas. The critical need for work-
ers in the early months of the war, however, altered this
situation rapidly. By 1942, wotnen worked alongside tnen
in warehouses as storekeepers, and later as tug and truck
drivers. By 1944, more than 50 percent of the work force at
the depot was female.” Many of them had been actively
recruited by the Air Service Commdnd in its effort to till
essential swing and graveyard shifts. ASC hired not only in
the Dayton area but also literally went into the hills and
hamlets of Appalachia to recruit wxnen employees.
military and civilian payroll at both Patterson and Wright
Fields reached $131.5 million, equivalent to 35 percent of
Dayton’s total industrial payroll.”
When wartime operations at Patterson Field shifted to a
24.hour, 7.day-a-week basis, the nature of civil service
appointments was altered. Under the former standard pro-
bation system, nw cmployccs achieved permanent civil
service status after a six-month to one-year period. Under
war stnice appointments, workers were not hired perma-
nently, but were placed on the civil service payroll “for the
duration and six months.“”
273
214
 To acknowledge the very real contribution that civilian
employees were making to the war effort, the War Depart-
ment directed that a special recognition ceremony be held at
each military establishment in the nation. At Fatterson Field
the cewxmny took place on December 8, 1943. Civilian
employees with at least six consecutive months of satisfac-
tory government service were recognized with a special
fihbon. Locally Il.400 employees qualified for and re-
ccived this reco&nition from the Patterson Field Com-
mander, Brig. Cicn. Merrick G. Estabrook, Jr. The attmc-
tive service ribbon awarded was of dwk blue fabric, with
horixmrdl silver stripes on which was centered the Army
Air Forces insignia.”
The work of depot personnel was complicated by pre-
var systems and procedures not designed to handle the
massive increases in materiel activities which resulted from
the war effort. Existing fomx and procedures needed to be
ardlyxd, simplified, and streamlined. A more efticient
stock control system needed to be devised and imple-
mated. Methods had to be perfected for receiving
screening tremendous quantities of materiel from overseas,
and there was the perpetual problem of insuflicient v~xe-
house and stomge space.
Many new concepts were devised by Fairfield Air Depot
personnel and tested at the facility. ln fact, because of its
past history and experience, FAD was often used by the
Army Air Forces as a proving ground for new ideas before
they were adopted for use throughout the supply system.
Thus, in a very real sense, FAD pioneered advances that
presaged many of today’s modern logistics systems.
The emergency in the supply tield was echoed in main-
tenance and repair. The war provided a skyrocketing
urns of mainterudnce and repair work linked to the warplane
production program. The Engineering Section at Fairfield
met this challenge with a like amount of innovation.
BRIG. GEN. ~MERRICK G. ESTABROOK
and
Brig. C&n. MerrickG. Estabmok, Jr. oversaw many of
the dramatic changes that occurred at F%tterson Field imme-
diately prior to World Wa II and during the early years of
the war, serving as Commander of both P&terson Field and
the Fairtield Air DoPot from 1939 to 1943.
According to many who served under him, General
Estabroak spmt long days and nights, at the expense of his
ow health, overseeing the massive construction projects at
Patterson Field and suPervising a staff of steadily-increas-
ing propations. His right-hand men wee Chief Warrant
Officer Charles M. “Smitty” Smith and the Post Adjutant,
Maj. Eugene M. Becher, veterans of the operations at
vol. %&Id Air Dept. The relatively quiet sod closely-knit
Patterson Field community of the 1930s disappzwzd almost
overnight as depot operations geared up and the Post b+-
came a center of watime activity.
More
General Estabroak first served at Wright-F%terson from
September I927 to Jaouzuy 1928, when he was assigned as
Assistant to the Chief of the Supply Branch, Materiel Divi-
sion, at Wright Field. He graduated from the Air Corps
Engineering School.at Wright Field in June 1932, sod from
the Am~y Industrial College in Washington in 1936. In
1936, he returned to Wright Field as Chief, Engineering and
Shops Branch, Materiel Division, and subsequently be-
came Assistant Chief of the Contract Section at Wright
Field.
On September 8, 1939, Colonel Estabrook assumed
command of F%terson Field, and of the Fairlield Air Depot.
In 1943, he served as Commaoder of the nine-state Fairtield
Air Depot Control Area Command, supervising all Air
Service Command units contained therein. On May 21,
1943, he became the first Commander of the newly-created
Fairtield Air Service bommand, one of the eleven ASC
“Keep ‘Em Flying” organizations in the U.S. In September
1943, Estabmok was promoted to the temporary rank of
brigadier general in this paition.
On February 16, 1944, General Estabrwk was trans.
ferred to ASC Headquarters at Patterson Field. He retired
from active service due to disability on August 31, 1944,
and died December 19, 1947.
27s
 complete and detailed work order records were kept on
airplane and engine operations. Work order and airplane
parts-handling procedures were standardized and pub-
lished. Cost accounting was discontinued and replaced with
job control, which recorded man-hour expenditures for the
various operations. Even these streamlined procedures re-
quired a dramatic incrase in personnel to handle the load.
By December 1942, the civilian work force in the engineer-
ing shops had increased to 600 workers.‘4
Transportation of supplies and equipment presented an-
other major problem. Railroads and trucklines became so
overburdened that supply missions were jeopardized. Rail
and motor transportation, formerly under the Quarter-
master’s control, were assigned to a specialized Transporta-
tion Corps under the jurisdiction of the Post Commander. A
tug pool was established to move materiel and equipment
between the various storerooms and the shipping depart-
ment at the depot. A truck pool was then organized to move
supplies between the various depots. Finally, a post Traffic
Section was established to facilitate more efficient rail
service and to supervise the receipt of all commercial rail
shipments to Patterson Field.”
A summary of the monthly activity report submitted
September 30, 1944, by the Supply Division of the Fairlield
Air Technical Service Command to Air Technical Service
Command headquarters illustrated the scope of the work
the depot had very capably organized and accomplished.
During the month of September, the Supply Division re-
ceived 2X.791 individual requests involving 96,5l I dif-
ferent items of stock. These requests resulted in the prepa-
ration of 41,060 individual shipping tickets. The materiel
involved tilled 460 freight cars with 6,165 tons of domestic
and 2,350 tons of overseas shipments. During the same
period, warehouse personnel received 630 incoming freight
cars loaded with 17,622 tons of supplies and equipment, of
which 3, I X7 tons were gasoline and oil shipments.”
Thus Patterson Field and the Fairfield Air Depot w-
emplified the drive and enthusiasm that existed throughout
the Amy Air Forces during the war, in the nzdtional effort to
“Keep ‘Em Flying.”

217
MAJOR ORGANIZATIONS

Since FXterson Field was primarily a logistics hub, its

subordinate tactical organizations were mostly transport
units. The 10th Transport Group, activated May 20, 1937 at
Patterson Field, was a consolidation of the 1st Transport
Group and the 10th Observation Group. The IOtb Transport
Group subsequently was reassigned to Wright Field on June
20, 1938, but returned to F%tterson on January 16, 1941.
The Group transferred to General Billy MitchcU Field,
Wisconsin, on May 25, 1942.
The 10th Transport Group trained at Patterson and
Wri&ht Fields with C-27 and C-33 aircraft, and consisted of
five subordinate squadrons: the 1st (1937.l943), 2nd
(1937.1943). 3rd (1937.1940). 4th (1937.1940). and Sth
(1937.l944).31
The 1st F’rovisional Transport Squadron, as mentioned
prwiously, was activated July IS, 193s at Ekfield Air
Depot and assigned to the 10th Transport Group on May 20,
1937. While at Fatterson, the squadron flew C-27, C-33,
and C-39 aircraft, as well as various civilian and military
modifications of the DC-3.38 The 5th Transport Squadron
was activated at F’atterson Field on October 14, 1933, and
operated C-33 and C-39 aircraft.

278

A second tactical organization to be located at F’dtterson
was the 63rd Transport Group. It was constituted November
20, lY40, activated December I of the same year at Wright
Field, and transferred to Patterson Febmary 17, lY4l.
While at &ttcrson, the 63rd operated C-33, C-34, and C-SO
aircraft. Its fleet transported supplies, materiel, and person-
nel in the continental United States and in the Caribbean
arca.” On September Y, 1941, the group moved m
Brookley Field, Alabama.
For a short period of time a third transport group was
located a~Patterson Field. The 3 16th Transport Group was
constituted Fcbruwy 2. lY42 and activated February I4 at
fitterson. where it was equipped with C-47 aircraft. On
June I7 the organization. with its subordirdte transport
squadrons (the 36th. 37th. 38th, 44th, and 45th). wds
reassigned to Bowman Field, Kentucky.a”
Four other squadrons were assigned briefly to htterson
Field as the Air Corps began expanding for World War Il.
The I lth Transport Squadron, assigned to the 60th Trans.
port Group, was activated December I, lY40 at Patterson
Field; the 13th Transport Squadron, assigned to the 6lst
Transport Group, was activated December 1, lY41 at Patter-
son; the IYth Bombardment Squadron (Medium), assigned
to the 2nd Bombardment Group (Medium) at Mitchel Field,
New York, was activated February I, lY40 at Patterson; and
the 33rd Bombardment Squadron (Medium), assigned to
the 22nd Bombxdmcnt Group (Medium), was also acti-
vated February I, lY40 at Patterson.” The IYth and the 33rd
Bombxdment Squadrons both Hew Douglas B-18 medium
bombers.
MILITARY TRAINING PROGRAMS
One of the most vital functions at Patterson Field during
World War II was the amazing any of training progrxns
conducted by the Fairfield Air Depot. One of the most
impressive military training cl’forts involved teams of mili-
tary specialists known as air depot groups, formed and
trained at Patterson Field to perform all of the functions of a
miniature mobile depot at remote lieId locations. Other
military programs included training for service groups and
sqwdrons, and depot repair squadrons. During lY42 and
early 1943, military personnel wrc recruited from the
f%field Air Depot Control Area Command (FADCAC) and
trdined for duty with these combat support functions in
maximum numbers, frequently approximating 10,000
men.4z
 Fairfield Air Depot was responsible for Phase I (active
tion and unit training) and Phase II (group training). Final
or Phase Ill training was normally conducted at specific
field training stations, although a certain amount of Phase
III training did take place at Fairfield.
In February 1943, FADCAC assumed training respon-
sibility for the scrvicc groups at Lockboume Army Air
Base, Ohio, Kellogg Field, Michigan, and Baa Field,
Indiana. The instruction of other arms and services units
was also supervised by the special sraff at Fairfield.
Two special efforts of the Fairfield training program
resulted in the preparation of the 96th Scrvicc Group, con-
sisting of Black ofticers and enlisted personnel, and the
training of three Chinese-American service squadrons. The
96th was the only such Service Group trained at Fairfield.”
In another special cffcxt at Patterson Field, AAF Nurses
Training Detachment No. 6 was activated on November IO,
1943, to train nurse recruits.a
Special training facilities fur ofticers at FAD included
the U.S. Army Materiel Division Supply School, atab-
lished in October I940 at the direction of the Chief, Mate-
riel Division, and the Engineering Maintenance Officers’
 ORGANIZATIONS AND UNITS TRAINED BY FAD PERSONNEL

The available list of or8anizations and units trained by Fairtield Air Dept pa~onnel during World War II include:
Hq 2054th Ordnance Company (Aviation) Patterson Field
I l57tb Signal Depot Company (Aviation) (Chinese) Springfield, Illinois
9l2th Engineer Headquarters Company %tterson Field
Detachment 905tb Quartermaster (Aviation) titterson Field
Detachment 859tb Signal Sewice company (Aviation) F%tterson Field
838th AAF Specialized Depot Detachment Marion, Ohio
555th Service Squadron (Chinese) Springfield, Illinois
315th Depot Repair Squadron fitterson Field
97th Depa Supply Squadron fitterson Field
96tb Ser%e Gmup (Black) Oscoda, Michigan
88th Depot Repair Squadron P&xson Field
8Stb Depa Repair Squadron Patterson Field
55th Air Depot Group Patterson Field
18th Medical Supply Platoon Patterson Field
1st Mobile Rubber Repair Detachment I?atterson Field
18th Air Depot Group F%tterzon Field
407th Service Squadron (Chinese) F’atterson Field
345th Aviation Squadron (Black) F’atterson Field
1916th Qu~e~asterTNckCompany (Aviation) (Black) Patterson Field
2007th Quartermaster Truck Company (Aviation) (Black) Patterson Field
So”rce: “is., FADCAC md FAX, l!,43-,944, p 12.5.

Training School, established July I942 at the request of the

Air Service Command.” The Supply School also con-
ducted training of enlisted personnel from various supply
squadrons and service gro”ps.

CIVILIAN TRAINING PROGRAMS

Equally important at Fairfield was the training of civil-

ian depot workers to support “Keep ‘Em Fiying” opera-
tions. hior to I939 there had been little need for training
programs for new workers, because skilled employees v~ere
readily available in the Dayton area and could be hired as
needed. When job training was necessary, it was handled on
an individual basis. Wartime expansion dematded that an
ever-increasing number of workers be trained for jobs re-
quiring a multitude of technical and mechanical skills. By
February of I943 the civilian employment office at Patter-
son Field was hiring 300 new employees a day.‘6 FAD was In the Supply Division, civilian workers received job-
responsible for creating training programs for not only its related training beginning in March 1941.4’ Classroom
own employees. but also for thousands of employees sched- instmction was given in such supply procedures as ware-
uled to work in many sub-depot supply and enginwing housing, stock records, inspection, and shipping and
departments activated across the country. receiving.
A shops training school was activated in June 1941 Although originally separate, all training activities con-
(replacing the older aircraft training unit) to provide in- ducted by the Engine&ring and Supply Departments were
sttxtion in all phases of aero repair, engine overhaul, eventually consolidated under a sepxae post training de-
machine shop operations, sheet metal manufacturing, and partment, and later the Personnel and Training Division. A
welding.” Instructors at the school were often challenged to special curriculum unit was assigned responsibility for
create innovative programs !o compensate for the lack of issuing study guides, manuals, worksheets, and other in-
current textbooks. Engines, starters, and generators built sttwtional materials for use in the Fairfield training pro-
from rejected parts were used for demonstration purposes. grates. Within a short time, the group of curriculum writers
A visual aids unit provided a variety of technical films for was augmented by artists, photographic illustrators, drafts-
instructional purposes.” men, veritypists, and other professionals, who together

281
.
prwluced a number of quality training publications. Many
of these manuals received wide distribution in other air
depots in the U.S., and served as the basis for national
standardization of ASC manuals.“’
As classes grew larger, the makeshift classrooms used
on base became inadequate. For a short time, education of
civil&n supply personnel was conducted at Osbom High
School during after-school hours and during the sununer of
1943. In September 1943, the supply school classes were
moved to the new depot training school buildings in Wood
City, Buildings 50, 1044, 104S, and 1046.” The mow
ensured that nmre space and permane”t fixed equtpment
were available to accommodate larger supply and mainte-
nace classes. Engineering Division courses were held in a
special building erected as a theater and auditorjum in Area
C. This building remained in use until 1943, when the
engineering training school also moved to new quarters in
Wood City.”
Recruiting for the depot training programs at FGrlield
was a continual challenge. In order to ensure a high number
of qualilied trainees at Fairfield and other AX depots, the
Air Service Command initiated pre-induction or pre-serv
ice training progratns at vtious high schools and junior
colleges.
Patterson Field cooperated with the Ohio State Board of
Vocational Education and local bwads of education in Ohio
to establish this pre-service instruction. The first course was
set up at Springfield High School on March I, 1943, with a
class of 22 senior boys in a program of aircraft en&ine
repair, Other centers offering pre-service training in engine
repair wcrc set up at Norwood, Portsmouth, Zanesville,
Washington Court House, Cambridge, Franklin, Ironton,
and Hamilton. In addition, Portsmouth and Zanesville of-
fered a course in aircraft repair. During the spring of I944
there were I2 classes with a total enrollment of I90 stu-
dents, and by June 20 the gmduates were ready t” enter the
armed services or accept employment at httcrson Field.”
Additional off-reservation schools were instituted by the
Fairfield Air Service Command in October of 1943, as the
local employment situation became acute. In cooperation
with the State Board of Vocational Education, training
centers were established at nine selected schools in Ohio
and four in Kentucky. Machine shop and sheet metal
courses were offered in four-week sessions. A two-week
engine course was also offered.
The off-reservation schools were soo” supplying train-
ees to the civilian training brdnch at the rate of approx-
imately 15 new workers per week, The Maintenance Divi-
sion at Fairfield cant to depend almost wholly upon this
source fur personnel replacements.‘4
A 1944 report to the FASC commanding oflicer rc-
vealed that from May I, I943 to May I, I944 alone, a total
of $676,065.94 had been invested by the gwernrnent in the
civilian training program at Patterson Field, including the
off-reservation training mentioned above and a radio me-
chanics training program conducted in pat under contract
at the University of Wisconsin.”
283
 ,

ASSISTING WITH THE CREATION OF years ol~cxpcricncc to support this progratn. It became one
NEW DEPOTS of FAD’s most important missions during the war to provide
cxpcrttsc in the establishment, layout, and manning of new
As the American air fleet grew, decentralization of rc- depots and sub-depots.
pair and maintenance facilities became imperative. FAD, as Organization of new depots was ccwrdinatcd by the
one of the oldest pcrmancnt repair depots in the country, Provisional Air Corps Maintcnancc Command, which was
ws called upon to apply lessons learned from its many organized with headquarters at Patterson Field in the spting
of I Y4 I. Sewice and training at depots in the castcm part of
the country wcrc the responsibility of the Fairfield Pro%
sional Maintcnmcc Group. Key personnel Sor new sub-
depots wcrc recruited from among the engineering and
supply employees at FAD. A total of 41 sub-depots wcrc
cstablishcd by FAD by September lY42, of which 21 rc-
mained under FAD control.x~
Once new depots were established, the cm&l need for
trained, experienced pcrswmcl had to be met immediately.
Training for these personnel ws provided by FAD instmc-
ton both at Fairfield and on-site. Trained personnel from
FAD often remiincd at these depots as key supervisors:”
Everything ws rush, both at Fairlield and at the sub-depots
as each was established. Thousands of new employees were
being hired and atI departments of the Fairtictd Air Depot
were being rapidly expanded. The relative handful of train-
ed and qualified employees were urgently nccdcd in each
department to train and suPervise hundreds of new workers.
Graduallv howcvcr the trainine momam at Fairfield
produced sufficient tmincd personnel to east the situation,

SUB-DEPOTS UNDER FAIRFIELD AIR DEPOT CONTROL, 1942

DATE
OFFICIAL NAME OFFICIAL ADDRESS ACTIVATED
Akmce Sub-DePot Alliance, Nebraska Sep. 2. I942
Baa Sub-DePot Fort Wayne, Indiana Max 21, I942
Berry Sub-DePet Nashville, Tennessee Jan. IO, I942
Bowman Sub-Depa Louisville, Kentucky Max 21, ,942
Chanute Sub-Depot Rantoul, Illinois Sep. 16. I942
Coffeyville Sub-&Pot Coffeyville, Kansas Aug. 2, I942
George Sub-Dept Lawrenceville, Illinois Jun. 16, I942
Kellogg Sub-DePot Battle Creek, Michigan Sep. t, I942
Lockboume Sub-Depot Lockboume, Ohio Jul. 23 1942
Madison Sub-Depot Madison, Wisconsin Jun. 19, I942
Rapid City Sub-Depot Rapid City, South Dakota JuL 20, I942
Saline Sub-Dept Saha, Kansas Sep. 1, 1942
Scott Sub-DePot Belleville, Illinois Aug. 15, I941
Sedalia Sub-Depot Sedalia, Missouri Sep. 2, I942
Selfridge $&Depot Mt. Clemens, Michigan Ma. 12, I942
Shaw Sub-DePa Sumter, South Camha ht. I, I941
Sioux City Sub-Depa Sioux City, Iowa Aug. I, I942
Sioux F&Us Sub-DePat Sioux Falls, South Dakota Jun. 19, I942
Smyma Sub-Depa Smyma, Tennessee May 15, I942
Tolxka Sub-bPet Topka, Kansas Aug. 1, I942
Wayne County Sub-Depot Romulus, Michigan Jan. IO, 1942
8ource: Hi%, FAD, t9,7-t94,. Exhibit 64.

284
 remained under the guidance of the Materiel Division for
sotne time. The new command was headquartered at Patter-
son Field. The Field Service Section, however, retained its
quxters at Wright Field. The awkwardness of this xra”ge-
rnent soon became apparent, and on June 19 the Main&
mace Command offices moved to Wright Field. On August
28, 1941, the Maintenance Command was instmcted to
establish sub-depots at all stations under the direct control
of the Chief of the Air Corps. As previously mentioned.
FAD played a large role in this program.
The Air Cotps Maintenance Command, however, had
been established to perform a specific, limited jo&that of
supplying the Air Corps and maintaining its equipment. By
the summer of 1941, the nature of the Air Corps had
changed, with the establishment of the combined Army Air
Forces and the rapid cxpaxion of the Air Force Combat
Command (formerly GHQ Air Force). It was clearly evi-
dent that an expanded maintenance organization was
Duting I942 and 1943, emphasis was given to the needed, one that would assutne supply and maintenance
concept of specialized depots with each depot assigned one Sunctions for both branches of the Am~y Air Forces.
or more classes of sptue parts, equipment, and supplies for In October 1941, the Maintenance Command was re-
specified aircraft. By the end of 1943, specialized depots organized as the Air Sewice Command to meet this need.
had become the backbone of the Air Corps supply system, Air Service Command Areas were established with bound-
with 6X of the Air Corps depots classified as such.‘” aries that at first coincided with Air Force boundaries, and
later followed depot control area boundaries. On December
I I, 1941, the Air Service Command was separated from the
COMMAND ASSIGNMENTS Materiel Division entirely and became directly responsible
to the Chief of the Army Air Forces, with headquarters in
The story OS the Fairfield Air Depot’s command assign-
rnents from I941 until the depot’s deactivation in 1946 is a
complex but interesting one. Changes in command oc- PATTERSON FIELD COMMANDERS
curred both prior to and during the war with some frequen-
cy, to rcfiect organizational changes pursued at the national Maj. Albert L. Sneed Jul. I931
level. They were necessitated by changing wartime needs Lt. Cal. Fred H. Coleman Nov. 1933
and continuous efforts to improve materiel managen~ent in Lt. Cal. l,mius H. Houghton Jul. 1936
support of AAF prograns. Cal. Merrick G. Estabrook, Jr. Sep. I939
As part of the Air Corps depot system, Fairfield was Cal. James A. Woodruff Feb. 1943
Cal. Raymond E. Culbertson Dec. 1943
under the jurisdiction of the Field Service Section of the
Cal. Elmer E. Jose J”1. I944
Materiel Division from I926 until 1941. As supply and
maintenxtce requirements intensitied, the Materiel Divi- Colonel ,ose was the last Commmder of Rmerson Field
sion was divided, and its logistics functions separated from as a sepante facility. FromDecember9, 1944, until Wright
those of engineering and procurement. Effective March 15, and Rmerson Fields were redesignated Wright-Rmerson
1941, logistics became the responsibility of the Provisiowdl AFB on January 13, 1948, cae of the facility shifted
Air Corps Maintenance Command, established as a increasingly toward the merger.
“service test” of the maintenance command system under From December 9, 1944, to November 5, 1945, the
the direction of the Materiel Division. The Provisiomdl .Patterson Field commander, peg se, was Brig. Gen. H. A.
Maintenance Commdnd consisted of its Headquarters, the Batron, Commander of the Fairfteld Air Technical Service
Field Service Section, the 50th Transport Wing, and the six Command. On November 6, 1945, a combined staff was
appointed for tbz concurrent operations of Wright and Pat-
major depots, including F&ield. Subordinate to this Corn-
terson Fields under Brig. Gen. Joseph T. Morris, current
mand, two Provisional Maintenance Group Areas
Commander of Wright Field and the 4OGOth Am~y A&
(PMGAs) were established, the Fairfield PMGA and the Forces Base Unit. General Morris continued in command
San Antonio PMGA. The Fairfield PMGA encompassed on December 15, 1945, when Wright and F’attcrson Fields
the Fairfield Air Depot and sub-depots at Selma, Montgom- were combined for administrative purposes under an urn-
ery, and Maxwell Fields in Alabama, and Eglin Field in brella organization designated the Anny Air Forces Tech-
Florida. nical Base (AAFTB), and on December 9, 1947, when the
On April 29, 1941, the designation “Provisional” was AAFTB was redesignated the Air &rce Technical Base
dropped and the Air Corps Maintenance Command was (AFl-B).
officially established by the War Dep&ment, although it

285
Washington. The Field Semite Section remained at Wright,
Field until the new ASC headquarters building (Building
262) was completed at F?~tterson Field. In Scptemher lY42,
Field Service Section headquarters moved to the new F%tter-
son Field location. Meanwhile, in March lY42, the Mate-
riel Division was elevated to command status. The Materiel
Command retained responsibility for the engineering and
procunxnent work of the Army Air Forces and was head-
quartered temporarily in Washington. On April I, lY43,
Materiel Command headquarters returned to Wright Field.
As the war progressed, further changes were made in
the Air Sewice Command. In December lY42, ASC head-
quxtcrs moved from Washington to Patterson Field: Build-
ing 262. Coinciding with the move. the Field Service
Section was officially discontinued. On December 19, the
Air Service Command was authorized to disband the Air
Sewice Area Commands and to activate Air Depot Control
Areas. On February I. 1943, the Air Service Command
outlined a. new organization of eleven Air Depot Control Offices for the FADCAC organization were cstahlished
Areas. At that time. the depot at F%Grfield was redesignated in the F?merson Field post headquarters, Building 11, side
the Fairfield Air Depot Control Area Command (FADCAC). by side with base offices, To an extent, functions of the
with responsibility for a nine-state arca (Ohio, Iowa. Mich- FADCAC offices and the base administrative of~ficcs were
igan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, intermingled, with area and base officers perfoming duties
and Kentucky). Installations contained in this nine-state of either headquarters. This situation resulted from a short-
area included 21 storage depots, I6 sub-depots, 3 servicing age of available officers to staff hoth offices and the farnil-
detachments, 4 air depot detachments, 2 air cargo depot iarity of most personnel with base operations. A clear and
detachments, and 2 overhaul detachments. distinct separation of the two offices was not achieved until
FADCAC officer strength on February 22, I943 stood at March X, 1944, at which time Building IO was completed
1,013, with 41 assigned to area headquarters, I97 to the as a separate headquarters for the control area command.5~
Rdrficld Air Depot, 81 to sub-depots, 90 to storage depots, Meanwhile, a conference of all control area command-
348 to tactical units, and the remainder to smaller ing officers was held at Air Service Command headquarters
organizations. on March l-2, 1943, to explain the new ASC organizational

286
structure, how the various ASC divisions were to operate
within it, sod how the system extended down through the
depots and into the sub-depots. lo all, the internal reorgao-
izatioo of the Air Service Command was completed in
slightly roore than four months. It had been ably imple-
mated under the direction of Maj. Gen. Walter H. Frank
and his staff at F’attersoo Field, with special guidance
provided by Brig. Gen. Robert E. Wood (Retired). Wood,
then F’resideotof Sears RoebuckCorporation, assistedGem
eraI Frank in applyiog modern industrial organizational
coocepts to the military supply and maintenance system.
As the system of depot control areas was further refined,
Gcoeral Frank recommended that each control area be
identified as “Air Service Command,” preceded by the
name of the town in which the respective headquarters were
located. Thus, effective May 17, 1943, the Fairfield depot
command was redesignated the Fairfield Air Service Com-
mand (FASC).““Respoosibilities ofthe command remained
the sxne.
On August 31, 1944, the Materiel Commmd at Wright
Field and the Air Service Command at Patterson Field v~ere
combined and redesignated the Army Air Forces Technical
Service Command, once again centralizing control of ai1
logistics and enginecriog operations. New command head-
quarters were set up at the former AX headquarters build-
ing (Building 262),”
The name of FASC was changed to the Fairfield Air
Technical Service Command (FATSC) on December 6,
1944, reflecting the organizational change.* Just prior to
this ozonechange, on November 27, 1944, FASC hcadquar-
ten and the Patterson Field bae command wre agate
mcr&ed, so that the Commanding General of FATSC also
commanded the F%tterson Field Army Air Base and the
4lGUth Army Air Force Base Unit. The designation Fair-
field Air Technical Service Command remained in effect
until the depot’s deactivation in January lY46.
OnMarch 9, 1946, the AirT~~hni~~lSe~i~eC~mrnand
was renamed Air Materiel Command (AMC). Hcadquar-
ten for the command remdincd in Building 262. The Air
Materiel Command (predecessor of today’s Air Force Lo-
gistics Command) remained the parent command for both
Wright and Patterson Fields until their merger in January
194X, and subscqucntly assumed command authority over
Wright-Patterson AFB.
PATTERSON FIELD AND THE
END OF THE WAR
The small air depot at Fairfield, Ohio, had opened in
IYIX as the Sriield Aviation General Supply Depot to
serve World War1 Signal Corps aviation schools. By 1945,
it had greatly expanded, ably sewing the needs of the World
War II Army Air Forces around the world. Its host, F%tter-
son Field, had expanded from a sn~dll, closely-knit 1930s
,x months followin& the wr, F’atterson Field ws an
2 sepaation center for military personnel. In Sep-
L. ,jber lY45, the 4265th AAF Base Unit Separation Center
was activated under the command of Cal. Richard Gimbal.
The Center was located in Wood City at F?aterson Field. in
buildings formerly used for civilian training. In the early
weeks, up to I50 men were separated daily, with the pro-
 .
cessing period per man averaging nearly 36 hours. By the
end of December the Center had accelerated the separation
process to nearly 1,000 men per day. As of November 13,
194s. records indicate that 14,675 enlisted men and 3,508
officers had been processed. In total, more than 35,000 men
were scpaated through the Center.
The Separation Center was established primarily to
discharge officers and enlisted men aniving from Army Air
Forces posts elsewhere, but did everything possible to
expedite the discharge of men stationed at Patterson Field.
Initially, members of the Women’s Army Corps (WACs)
were “ot processed at Patterson but were sent to the nearest
service and groundforce point of separation. Base news-
papers indicate, however, that WACS were eventually al-
lowed to separate at F?xttersonas ~ell.~~
Depot functions at Patterson Field underwent substan-
tial reduction, and were eventually discontinued entirely in
the months following V-J Day (August IS, 1945). Post-war
reorganization called for supply-maintenance depot func-
tions to be concentrated in selected Air Materiel Areas (the
successors to the Air Technical Service Command control
areas). ExiTfield was one of the depots selected for deactiva-
tlon, and the long history of the air depot at Fairfield thus
came to an end. On the first of January 1946, the Fairlield
Air Technical Service Command was officially deactivated
and its functions reassigned to other Air Materiel Areas.
Most ATSC personnel were assigned to other agencies on
Wright and Patterson Fields or transferred to other Air
Materiel Areas.
290
The physical appexance of Patterson Field also
changed as the base settled into its post-war mission. Expe-
rience gained during the war had emphasized the impor-
tance of coordinated planning. From 1943 on, construction
at Wright and Patterson Fields, as well as land acquisition,
had been handled through the action of coordinated plan-
ning boards. Mastcr plans were drawn up by city planners
of national reputation, approved by the Commanding Gen-
era1 of the Army Air Forces, and cxccuted under the direc-
tion of local installation planning boards. In 1945, the
master plans for both Wright and Patterson Fields were
integrated into a single master plan for the Wright-ktterson
complex, presaging the eventual integration of both fields
into one installation.f’~’
One of the major projects of the new master plan was the
construction of the VHB runway at Patterson Field in
1946.1947. Designed to service the very heavy bombers
and .jet-powered aircraft anticipated in the post-war period,
the new nmway was X,OW feet long and 300 feet wide, with
an additional overun of I ,OW feet at each end, and a load
capacity of 300,000 ibs/ftz,* Paterson Field was chosen as
the site of the VHB nmway rather than Wright Field because
of the more llexible limits on its military reservation bound-
aries, and because the existing topography was more adapt-
able to the physical proportions of a VHB ~nway.~
By late 1945, Wright and Patterson Fields had begun to
merge functions and services. As detailed in Chapter V,
Wright and htterson Fields, along with two satellite organ-
zatlons, were consolidated under an umbrella organization
known as the Am~y Air Forces Technical B&, Dayton,
Ohio. On December 15, 1945, Brig. Gcn. Joseph T. Mar-
ris, previously the Wright Field Commanding General,
took command of the new administrative organization.
On December Y, 1947, the AAF Technical Base,
Dayton, Ohio, was redesignated the Air Force Technical
Base, reflecting the independent status of the U.S. Air
Force. One month later, on Jmuxy 13, 1948, the installa-
tion’s designation was finalized as Wright-Patterson Air
Force Base, culminating more than thirty years of
development.
 .

292
WADC/WADD Digital Collection at the Galvin Library, IIT

From Huffman Prairie To The Moon

The History of Wright-Patterson Air force Base

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