This week in AFLCMC history and spotlight on Joint Base San Antonio Published Nov. 29, 2021 By Air Force Life Cycle Management Center History Office In this edition of Heritage Hangar, you'll learn about old and new airplanes and tidbits of what happened this week many years ago. 29 NOV 1967 (Digital / C3I & Network Directorates) The Electronic Systems Division at Hanscom announced a $7.2 million contract to Radio Corporation of America (RCA) for the production of 22 tactical air traffic control towers to provide visual air traffic control in areas where fixed control facilities are inadequate or unavailable. The towers would be used with other air traffic facilities such as search radar, airfield lighting, communications, and navigational aids. Once operational, this equipment enabled Air Force personnel to turn an unattended landing strip, in a matter of hours, into an instrumented airfield capable of controlling and landing all types of aircraft under all weather conditions. 30 NOV 1956 (Armaments Directorate) The jet-propelled Martin TM-61 Matador surface-to-surface tactical missile made its final test flight. With a range of several hundred miles, the Matador cruised at 650 mph and had a ceiling of 35,000 feet. It could carry a conventional or nuclear warhead. Similar to the German V-1 "buzz bomb" of World War II, Matador launched from a mobile 40-foot trailer using a booster rocket that fell away in flight, leaving the Matador to be powered by a jet engine. Unlike the V-1, the Matador was controlled electronically from the ground during flight, becoming the first tactical guided missiles in the USAF inventory. The first TM-61 unit deployed overseas to West Germany in March 1954. Matador units were also deployed to Korea and Taiwan. 01 DEC 1983 (Fighter & Advanced Aircraft Dir.) At Edwards AFB, CA, the YA-10B completed its last flight in a night/adverse weather attack evaluation program. In March 1979, the first preproduction A-10A (t/n 73-1664) was returned to the Republic factory for modification, which chiefly entailed the addition of a second cockpit for a Electronic Warfare Officer. A Head-Up Display, Low Light Level TV, terrain following radar systems, and the FLIR system, among other specialized components. Ultimately, the LANTIRN program obviated the need for the specialized aircraft. The aircraft was stored and would later go on display in the Edwards AFB aircraft museum. 02 DEC 1936 (Bombers Directorate) The Boeing YB-17 made its maiden flight. While awarding a contract to the less expensive B-18 Bolo, the Air Corps was so impressed with the B-17 that they used a legal loophole to order 13 YB-17s as test aircraft. The “Flying Fortress” ultimately entered full-scale production as the first truly mass-produced bomber. Primarily used in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany, they were also used to raid Japanese shipping. The B-17’s legendary ability to survive extensive battle damage, belly landings, and ditchings made it the favorite among World War II aircrews. 03 DEC 1945 (Fighter & Advanced Aircraft Dir.) The 412th Fighter Group at March Field, CA, received its first Lockheed P–80 Shooting Stars, becoming the first U.S. Army Air Forces fighter unit equipped with jet-propelled aircraft. In 1948, “pursuit” aircraft became “fighters,” so the P-80 became the F-80 fighter. The P-80 was the first American aircraft to exceed 500 mph in level flight, the first American jet airplane manufactured in large quantities, and the first U.S. Air Force jet used in combat during the Korean War. Although designed as a high-altitude interceptor, the F-80 was flown as a day fighter, fighter-bomber and photo reconnaissance aircraft during the Korean War. 04 DEC 1947 (Bombers Directorate) The YB-36 Peacemaker made its first flight. The second of two experimental B-36s ordered by the Army Air Force, had been chosen as the production prototype on 7 April 1945. In its third flight on 19 December 1947, the YB-36 reached an altitude of more than 40,000 feet, a significant feat at that time. Nevertheless, it was not accepted by the Air Force until 31 May 1949. The B-36 was the long-range strategic nuclear bomber for Strategic Air Command prior to the the B-52. More than 380 B-36s were built for the USAF, but the B-36 never dropped a bomb in anger, nor even fired its cannon at an enemy airplane. 05 DEC 1949 (Digital / C3I & Networks Directorates) A successful Soviet atomic bomb test in August, 1949, several years earlier than expected, alarmed U.S. defense experts. The Air Force wanted funding for a more robust radar network called “Supremacy,” but diverted $50 million from other projects, to what was expected to be an interim radar network called “Lashup.” There were 44 Lashup radar stations operational when network went into operation on 1 June 1950. Stations were geographically grouped by Air Divisions which each had a ground-controlled intercept (GCI) center. Phaseout of the Lashup radar stations began in January 1952. AFLCMC Installation Spotlight: Joint Base San Antonio Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) was established in 2010 at the recommendation of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 2005. JBSA was created with the consolidation of Fort Sam Houston (Army), Lackland Air Force Base, Randolph Air Force Base, and Camp Bullis (Army). Thus the history of this post correspondingly diverges, following each of the previously independent installations. The oldest of these facilities is the U.S. Army’s Fort Sam Houston, which was built on 92 acres of land donated by the city of San Antonio. Construction began in 1876. It began as a Quartermaster depot, but its mission quickly expanded, also housing infantry units. In 1890 the post was given the name Fort Sam Houston and had become the second largest Army base in the United States. In the two decades that followed, Fort Sam Houston saw continuous expansion and improvements to the post during World War I and World War II, including a POW camp in the northern most area of the installation (Dodd Field). During the Cold War, the base hospital, Brooke Army Medical Center, which had correspondingly grown, established a medical training center to train enlisted medical personnel. Some 50 years after breaking ground at Fort Sam Houston, construction began nearby at what would be Randolph Field. World War I had demonstrated that the U.S. was well behind in the area of airpower, so Congress acted, passing the Army Air Corps Act of 1926, which initiated a significant expansion of the arm, including 2,300 acres for a new field near Schertz, TX. With its city-like layout that was unlike any other installation in the Army Air Corps, Randolph Field was dedicated in June 1930. Throughout its existence, Randolph Air Force Base served as a critical hub for training pilots and combat systems officers. What became known as Lackland Air Force Base originated from a segment of Kelly Field west of Leon Creek and was originally called San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center (later re-designated Army Air Forces Military Training Center). Like Randolph, the post experienced massive growth in its mission and its size during the course of World War II. After the war, it also began training Officer Candidates, and would be named Lackland Air Force Base in 1947. It would also be called the “Gateway to the Air Force” in light of its training and indoctrination mission for new airmen, which only expanded throughout the Cold War. AFLCMC has several organizations operating at JBSA, including the AFLCMC Gunsmith Shop as well as important elements of the C3I & Networks Directorate such as the Level Up cyber team.