Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he was piloting.
In 2001, pursuant to BRAC action, the former Kelly AFB runway and land west of the runway became "Kelly Field" and control of this reduced size installation was transferred to the adjacent Lackland Air Force Base, part of Joint Base San Antonio.Joint Base San Antonio 502d ABW The base is under the jurisdiction of the 802d Mission Support Group, Air Education and Training Command (AETC).
Kelly Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the United States entry into World War I, being established on 27 March 1917.William R. Evinger: Directory of Military Bases in the U.S., Oryx Press, Phoenix, Ariz., 1991, p. 147. It was used as a flying field; primary flying school; school for adjutants, supply officers, and engineers; mechanics school, and as an aviation general supply depot.World War I Group, Historical Division, Special Staff, United States Army, Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War (1917–1919)
Kelly Air Force Base and its associated San Antonio Air Logistics Center of the Air Force Materiel Command (formerly Air Force Logistics Command) was closed as an independent installation and its assets realigned by the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
Current status Kelly Field supports flight operations of two tenant commands, the Air Force Reserve Command's 433d Airlift Wing, operating the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy and the Texas Air National Guard's 149th Fighter Wing, operating the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.
The remaining 1,873 acres (758 hectares) of land, including hangars and industrial facilities previously known as the San Antonio Air Logistics Center, is operated by the Greater Kelly Development Authority (a political subdivision of the State of Texas, now renamed the Port Authority of San Antonio) as the Port San Antonio business park.
Several large warehouses on the grounds of Port San Antonio were cleared, cleaned, and equipped with large mobile air conditioning units to house evacuees from Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita in September 2005.
History Kelly Field is named in honor of 2nd Lieutenant George Edward Maurice Kelly. Lt. Kelly, who after a course of training at the Curtiss Aviation School, Rockwell Field, California, was ordered to Fort Sam Houston, near San Antonio. While attempting to land on 10 May 1911 in order to avoid running into a tent and thereby possibly injuring several others, Kelly died in a crash, falling into the ground.San Antonio Air Logistics Center Office of History, Kelly AFB, Texas. A Brief History of Kelly Air Force Base. San Antonio, June 1993.Location of U.S. Aviation Fields, The New York Times, 21 July 1918
Origins In August 1913, U.S. Army Chief Signal Officer Brigadier General George P. Scriven testified before the U.S. House of Representatives concerning the establishment of a military aeronautical center in San Antonio, Texas. The center was to be built for the Aviation Section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps. General Scriven described San Antonio as “the most important strategic position of the South,” in response to the unrest resulting from the Mexican Revolution. In 1916, when Fort Sam Houston was the primary site of the Corps’ aerial equipment and personnel, The San Antonio Light predicted that the city would be “the most important military aviation center in the U.S.”
In November 1915, the newly created 1st Aero Squadron arrived at Fort Sam Houston after a cross-country flight from Fort Sill, Oklahoma. However, the squadron remained at the post only until March 1916, whereupon it left to join Brigadier General John J. Pershing’s Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa on the U.S.-Mexico border. Problems experienced by the 1st Aero Squadron on that expedition and the ongoing war in Europe persuaded Congress to improve and expand the nation's air arm.
It was quickly apparent that Fort Sam Houston had inadequate space for additional flying operations, especially with newer and more powerful aircraft. Major Benjamin Foulois, with the support of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, selected a site five miles southwest of the city for a new aviation airfield on 21 November 1916. Bordered by the Frio City Road on the northwest, the site was also adjacent to the Southern Pacific Railroad, providing easy access by road and rail. In addition, the new site was relatively flat, and thus suitable for flying operations. Initially, the site was called the South San Antonio Aviation Camp.
World War I
On 5 April 1917, four aircraft took off from Fort Sam Houston, flew across San Antonio and landed on the new airfield, which at the time was a cleared cotton field. Tents had been erected as hangars, however, a permanent presence at the airfield was not established until 7 May when 700 men arrived. A week later, the population had grown to 4,000. Construction of the facility was rapid, with the United States now at war and the mission of the new airfield was to train aviators to be sent to the Western Front in France. The ground was cleared and scores of buildings - hangars, barracks, mess halls, a street system, electrical and plumbing systems, warehouses, machine shops were all constructed during the summer.
By the end of June, it was clear that Foulois' original site, known unofficially as Kelly Field #1, was too small to train both new recruits and aviation cadets. A committee of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce provided the necessary land and presented the proposition to the Aviation Production Board in Washington, D.C., in June 1917. A contract was signed in July 1917, comprising all of what was Kelly Field #2. Two additional tracts of land, planned to be Kelly Field #3 and #4 were released in the fall of 1917 at the suggestion of British and French aviators who were of the opinion that being so close together, would result in accidents and collisions.Kroll, H. D. (1919), Kelly field in the great world war, San Antonio Printing Company
Kelly soldiers organized approximately 250,000 men into "Aero Squadrons" during the hectic months of 1917 and 1918. Eventually, 326 squadrons were formed at Kelly during World War I, with all but twenty of these moving to other installations in the U.S. or overseas. The majority of Aero Squadrons were combat support squadrons. Kelly Field served as the first reception and classification center, testing thousands of recruits before assigning them to specific jobs and squadrons for training. The Air Service Mechanics School Enlisted Mechanics Training Department turned out an average of 2,000 mechanics and chauffeurs a month. Kelly also trained bakers and cooks, and the Aviation General Supply Depot moved to the field from its old location in downtown San Antonio.
Many of the American-trained World War I aviators learned to fly at Kelly field, with 1,459 pilots and 398 flying instructors graduating from the Kelly aviation schools during the course of the war.
Flight training units assigned to Kelly Field:Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the First World War, Volume 3, Part 3, Center of Military History, United States Army, 1949 (1988 Reprint) 103d Aero Squadron, August 1917 2d Aero Squadron, November 1917 Re-designated as Squadron "A", July–November 1918 115th Aero Squadron (II), March 1918 Re-designated as Squadron "B", July–November 1918 117th Aero Squadron (II), March 1918 Re-designated as Squadron "C", July–November 1918 178th Aero Squadron, January 1918 Re-designated as Squadron "D", July–November 1918 180th Aero Squadron, December 1917 Re-designated as Squadron "E", July–November 1918 235th Aero Squadron (II), April 1918 Re-designated as Squadron "F", July–November 1918 243d Aero Squadron (II), April 1918 Re-designated as Squadron "G", July–November 1918 244th Aero Squadron (II), April 1918 Re-designated as Squadron "H", July–November 1918 245th Aero Squadron (II), April 1917 Re-designated as Squadron "I", March 1918 110th Aero Squadron (Repair), August 1917 Re-designated: 804th Aero Squadron (Repair), February 1918 Re-designated as Squadron "K", July–November 1918 Flying School Detachment (Consolidation of Squadrons A-J), November 1918-November 1919
Once deployed to France, most of the Kelly Field graduates were sent to the AEF Third Air Instructional Center, Issoudun Aerodrome, France for advanced pursuit training. In addition to the flying school at Kelly Field, Selfridge Field, Michigan was also used for pilot training, and the British Royal Flying Corps (RFC), operated flying schools for American pilots in Toronto, Ontario and several fields at Camp Taliaferro, Texas.
The thousands of enlistees who came to Kelly devised numerous ways to entertain themselves during their infrequent time off. Among these organizations were a glee club, a minstrel show, and the "Famous Kelly Field Players," a club of professional vaudeville entertainers in uniform. Many clubs traveled around the South Texas area and gained fame for the morale-building shows.
Between the wars
At the end of the war, the Army Air Service, along with the rest of the Army, faced crucial reductions. Thousands of officers and enlisted men were released, leaving only 10,000 men to fly and repair the planes and engines left over from the war. Hundreds of small flying fields closed, forcing consolidation of supply and aviation repair depots. Kelly, however, was one of the few that remained open.
On 13 December 1919, the United States House of Representatives passed an appropriations bill for $9.6 million for the purchase of additional land at military camps “which are to be made part of the permanent military establishment.” Kelly Field No. 2 was allocated $349,600 of this amount.United Press, “House Passes Bill To Buy March Field,” Riverside Daily Press, Riverside, California, Saturday evening, 13 December 1919, Volume XXXIV, Number 269, page 8.
In 1921, the aviation repair depot in Dallas moved to Kelly to join with the supply depot, forming the San Antonio Intermediate Air Depot.
Brooks Field became the center for primary training and Kelly for advanced training. Each phase of instruction lasted about six months initially, with advanced training later divided into three months each of basic and advanced instruction
The 10th School Group (later the Advanced Flying Training Wing and the Advanced Flying School) was formed at Kelly Field #2 in 1922. There, student pilots mastered the advanced skills of pursuit, bombardment, attack, and observation. Most of the Army aviators trained between the two World Wars attended this school. Charles Lindbergh, the first man to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic, graduated from the Advanced Flying School in 1925. Other graduates included former Air Force Chiefs of Staff Generals Thomas D. White, Curtis E. LeMay, John P. McConnell, Hoyt Vandenberg, and John Dale Ryan. Major General Claire Chennault of World War II "Flying Tiger" fame taught at the school.
In 1925, Kelly Field #1 was renamed Duncan Field in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Duncan. Formerly stationed at Kelly Field, Duncan died in an airplane accident at Bolling Field in Washington, D.C.. Kelly Field #2 became simply, Kelly Field. Both fields conducted their training, maintenance, command, and supply functions separately for the next 18 years.