Luke Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States., effective 20 December 2007 It is located west of the central business district of Glendale, and west of Phoenix. The majority of Luke AFB is in the Glendale city limits.
Luke AFB is a major training base of the Air Combat Command (ACC), training pilots in the F-16 Fighting Falcon. On 31 March 2011, the F-35 Lightning II was announced to be replacing the F-16 as the primary training aircraft at Luke, although the date of deployment of the new aircraft to Luke and reorganization plans were not announced. On 16 July 2013, the Air Force announced that Luke AFB will house a total of 144 F-35A Lightning IIs. The first F-35A Lightning II arrived to the base on March 10, 2014.Additional F-35s coming to Luke AFB – Af.mil, 16 July 2013Griset, R. (2020). Luke Air Force Base. Arcadia Publishing.
It is a designated superfund site due to a number of soil and groundwater contaminants.
History Frank Luke Jr.
Luke Air Force Base was named after Second Lieutenant Frank Luke (1897–1918). Lt Luke is a posthumous Medal of Honor recipient and the number-two United States flying ace in World War I.
Born in Phoenix in 1897, the "Arizona Balloon Buster" scored 18 aerial victories during World War I (14 of these German observation balloons) in the skies over France. Lieutenant Luke was shot down at Murvaux between Verdun and Stenay, France, on 29 September 1918, after he had destroyed three enemy balloons. Surviving the crash of his SPAD S.XIII, Lieutenant Luke drew two pistols and fired on German soldiers, killing several of them before he was killed.
Luke Field, Oahu, Hawaii Territory (now the Naval Air Station Ford Island), was previously named in his honor.
Origins In 1940, the U.S. Army sent a representative to Arizona to choose a site for a U.S. Army Air Corps training field for advanced training in conventional fighter aircraft. The city of Phoenix bought of land, which they leased to the government at $1 a year effective 24 March 1941. On 29 March 1941, the Del. E. Webb Construction Co. began excavation for the first building at what was known then as Litchfield Park Air Base. Another base known as Luke Field, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, released its name so the Arizona base could be called Luke Field. Advanced flight training in the AT-6 Texan began at Luke in June that same year. The first class of 45 students, Class 41 F, arrived on 6 June 1941 to begin advanced flight training in the AT-6, although a few essential buildings had been completed. Flying out of Sky Harbor Airport until the Luke runways were ready, pilots received 10 weeks of instruction and the first class graduated 15 August 1941. Then-captain Barry Goldwater served as director of ground training the following year.
World War II
During World War II, Luke Field was the largest fighter training base in the U.S. Army Air Forces, graduating more than 12,000 fighter pilots from advanced and operational courses earning the nickname "Home of the Fighter Pilot".
The base was under the control of the 37th Flying Training Wing (Advanced Single-Engine), Western Flying Training Command, AAF Flying Training Command. During the years of World War II, more than 17,000 pilots trained at Luke Field, making it the largest single-engine advanced flying training school in the U.S. More than a million hours of flying were logged, primarily in the AT-6 Texan, along with some transitioning to P-40 Warhawk fighters and later the P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt.
Although continually modified during the war years, the course of advanced flight training at Luke averaged about 10 weeks and included both flight training and ground school. Around 60 hours of flying instruction covered formation flying, navigation, and instrument flying, as well as a bit of aerial acrobatics. About 20 additional hours of flight practice concentrated on aerial and gunnery training.
Ground school, or classroom training for the advanced flying course, varied from about 100 to 130 hours and was intermingled with flight time in the aircraft. Cadets flew in the morning and attended ground school in the afternoons, or flew training missions in the afternoon after a morning of ground school. At the peak of the training program at Luke, some students were required to attend night classes. Ground school included instruction in navigation, flight planning, radio equipment, maintenance, and weather.
By 7 February 1944, pilots at Luke had achieved a million hours of flying time. By 1946, however, the number of pilots trained dropped to 299 and the base was deactivated 30 November that year.
A World War II film, A Guy Named Joe, included some footage filmed at Luke.
United States Air Force
Air Training Command
Soon after combat started in Korea, Luke field was reactivated on 1 February 1951 as Luke Air Force Base, part of the Air Training Command (ATC) under the reorganized United States Air Force (USAF). A steady pipeline of trained bomber-escort pilots was needed by Strategic Air Command (SAC), and the mission of Luke AFB was to augment the jet fighter combat crew training in operation at Nellis AFB. The school at Luke was designated by ATC as the USAF Air Crew School (Fighter Bomber/Escort).Griset, R. Luke Air Force base. Arcadia Publishing, 2020. p. 37.
The program was to be conducted by the Federalized Michigan Air National Guard 127th Fighter Group, which had transferred from Continental Air Command to ATC, effective 10 February. The wing moved from Romulus Airport, Michigan, to Luke on 23 February, and on 1 March ATC established the USAF Air Crew School (Fighter-Bomber/Escort) at Luke. Fighter-bomber training began on 1 March 1951 in the P-51 Mustang, being replaced by early-model F-84C Thunderjets.
Effective 5 March, the 127th was redesignated as the 127th Pilot Training Wing. On 1 November 1952, the active-duty 3600th Flying Training Wing (Fighter), under Commander Charles F. Born, replaced the Air National Guardsmen. ATC flying training squadrons at Luke included: 3601st Fighter Interceptor (later Combat Crew Training) Squadron, 1 November 1952 – 31 December 1957 3602d Fighter Interceptor (later Combat Crew Training) Squadron, 20 November 1952 – 31 December 1957 3603d Fighter Interceptor (later Combat Crew Training) Squadron, 20 November 1952 – 31 December 1957 3604th Fighter Interceptor (later Combat Crew Training) Squadron, 20 November 1952 – 31 December 1957
The 3600th FTW became the dedicated training organization for both USAF and NATO pilots in the F-84. The F-84D began having electrical problems with the hot, dry Arizona air, which dried out the aircraft's electrical insulation. They were replaced by F-84E, and shortly afterwards to the F-84G, which was then in use by SAC. In October 1954, ATC redesignated the 3600th as a "Combat Crew Training Wing" to describe its mission better.
In January 1954, the swept-wing F-84F Thunderstreak began to arrive, and three additional dedicated squadrons were activated: 3605th Fighter Interceptor (later Combat Crew Training) Squadron, 12 May 1954 – 31 December 1957 3606th Fighter Interceptor (later Combat Crew Training) Squadron, 12 May – 13 October 1954 Redesignated 3607th Combat Crew Training Squadron, 20 October 1954 – 10 June 1957 3608th Fighter Interceptor (later Combat Crew Training) Squadron, 12 May 1954 – 31 December 1957
F-84Fs replaced the straight-winged earlier models in the original four squadrons by the end of 1956, giving the wing seven squadrons of 21 aircraft each, or about 150 aircraft; 30 more were received in 1957 as some of the older production blocks were transferred to Air National Guard units or to reclamation at Davis-Monthan AFB.
For several years, the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project at Sandia Base, New Mexico, had provided all atomic, biological, and chemical (ABC) warfare training for the USAF. Beginning in October 1954, ATC added ABC instruction to its fighter-pilot programs at Luke and Nellis. In addition, ATC established six general ABC courses to train aircrews already in the field, using mobile training teams.
Formation of the USAF Thunderbirds
On 25 May 1953 the 3600th Air Demonstration Team was officially organized and established at Luke, still officially carrying this designation, now known as the United States Air Force Thunderbirds. At Luke, the squadron initially operated F-84G Thunderjets, as the aircraft had to be able to show how good training made a typical aircraft easy to handle. The aircraft had to be stable for maneuvers in formation, reliable enough to meet show schedules, and rugged for the demonstration team. In addition, the F-84G was the first fighter in the USAF with aerial refueling capability. To convert the aircraft from combat to demonstration, technicians removed the guns and plugged the gun ports.
In 1955, the USAF selected the swept-wing F-84F Thunderstreak as their second aircraft. The Thunderstreak was modified for the team by adding smoke tanks for the first time, and red, white, and blue drag chutes. In addition, the extreme heat from the lead aircraft, , required moving the slot's radio antenna from the jet's fin. For the first time, a solo was added to the diamond displays, increasing the show time to 19 minutes.
The unit was reassigned to Nellis AFB, Nevada on 23 June 1956.
Tactical Air Command 4510th Combat Crew Training Wing F-100 Super Sabre era
By the end of 1957, ATC basing structure had changed considerably as the result of tactical commitments, decreased student load, and fund shortages. During 1958, ATC discontinued its Flying Training and Technical Training Air Force. As a result, Luke AFB was transferred to Tactical Air Command (TAC). This reassignment came about as the result of a USAF-directed study of the feasibility of putting combat crew training under the appropriate zone of interior operational commands.
With the transfer to TAC, the ATC 3600th FTW was redesignated as the 4510th Combat Crew Training Wing, and flying training at Luke was changed to the F-100 Super Sabre. F-100 training squadrons were: 4511th Combat Crew Training Squadron, 1 January 1958 – 1 October 1964 (formerly ATC 3601st CCTW) 4512th Combat Crew Training Squadron, 1 January 1958 – 15 October 1969 (formerly ATC 3602d CCTW) 4513th Combat Crew Training Squadron, 1 January – 1 November 1958 (formerly ATC 3603d CCTW) 4514th Combat Crew Training Squadron, 1 January 1958 – 15 December 1969 (formerly ATC 3604th CCTW) 4515th Combat Crew Training Squadron, 1 January 1958 – 18 January 1970 (formerly ATC 3605th CCTW) 4516th Combat Crew Training Squadron, 1 January 1958 – 1 April 1970 (formerly ATC 3608th CCTW)
During the 1960s, thousands of American fighter pilots left Luke to fly missions in the skies over Vietnam in the F-100. In July 1968, the first "LA" tail codes were placed on the tails of Luke-based aircraft.
58th Tactical Fighter Training Wing F-4 Phantom II era
The 58th Tactical Fighter Training Wing replaced the provisional 4510th CCTW on 15 October 1969. Although Luke remained under the jurisdiction of TAC, the HQ USAF-controlled (AFCON) 58th TFTW gave the wing at Luke a permanent lineage and history that the TAC provisional wing could not carry.
The provisional squadrons of the 4510th were redesignated as: 310th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (formerly 4514th CCTS) 311th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (formerly 4515th CCTS) 425th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (GSU at Williams AFB, Arizona) 426th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (formerly 4515th CCTS) 550th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (formerly 4516th CCTS) 69th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (formerly 4518th CCTS) (F-104G West German training squadron)* 418th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (formerly 4519th CCTS) (F-104G West German training squadron)*