Scott Air Force Base
Scott Air Force Base | |||||||||
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Near United States of America | |||||||||
Coordinates | 38°32′N 89°52′W / 38.533°N 89.867°W | ||||||||
Type | US Air Force base | ||||||||
Site information | |||||||||
Owner | Department of Defense | ||||||||
Operator | US Air Force | ||||||||
Controlled by | Air Mobility Command (AMC) | ||||||||
Condition | Operational | ||||||||
Website | www | ||||||||
Site history | |||||||||
Built | 1917 | (as Scott Field)||||||||
In use | 1917 – present | ||||||||
Garrison information | |||||||||
Current commander | Colonel John Poole | ||||||||
Garrison |
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Airfield information | |||||||||
Identifiers | AMSL | ||||||||
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Airfield shared with MidAmerica St. Louis Airport Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] |
Scott Air Force Base (
The base is operated by the
The base currently employs 13,000 people, 5,100 civilians with 5,500 active-duty Air Force, and an additional 2,400 Air National Guard and Reserve personnel. It was announced in June 2014 that two new cybersecurity squadrons will be added to the three currently on base.
Its airfield is also used by civilian aircraft, with civilian operations at the base referring to the facility as MidAmerica St. Louis Airport. MidAmerica has operated as a Joint Use Airport since beginning operations in November 1997.
History
World War I
During World War I, Secretary of War
After inspecting several sites, the U.S. War Department agreed to the lease June 14, 1917. Congress appropriated $10 million for its construction, and 2,000 laborers and carpenters were immediately put to work. The layout of Scott Field was typical of aviation fields built during World War I. Construction began in June 1917. The government gave the Unit Construction Company 60 days to erect approximately 60 buildings, lay a mile-long railroad spur, and to level off an airfield with a 1,600 foot landing circle. Construction was underway when the government announced, on July 20, 1917, that it would name the new field after Corporal Frank S. Scott, the first enlisted service member killed in an aviation crash.[4][5] Scott had died after an unexpected engine failure had brought down the aircraft that Lieutenant Lewis Rockwell had been giving him an orientation flight in at College Park, Maryland, on September 28, 1912.
Scott Field began as an aviation-training field for World War I pilots in August 1917 when the
Training units assigned to Scott Field were:[6]
- Post Headquarters, Scott Field – October 1919
- 114th Aero Squadron, February 1918
- Re-designated as Squadron "A", July–November 1918
- 221st Aero Squadron, December 1917
- Re-designated as Squadron "B", July–November 1918
- 242d Aero Squadron (II), April 1918
- Re-designated as Squadron "C", July–November 1918
- Squadron "D", July–November 1918
- Flying School Detachment (Consolidation of Squadrons A–D), November 1918 – November 1919
By 2 September, William Couch, a civilian flying instructor, and Scott Field Commander, Major George E. A. Reinburg, made the first flight from Scott Field in a
Determined to improve the recovery of Scott's downed pilots, Captains Charles Bayless (post surgeon), Early Hoag (officer-in-charge of flying) and A.J. Etheridge (post engineer), along with Second Lieutenant Seth Thomas, designed two air ambulances, or hospital planes—using a configuration likely modeled after one in use at Gerstner Field, Louisiana. By the summer of 1918, Scott Field's engineering department had completed the rear cockpit modifications needed to convert two Jennies. Not long thereafter, on 24 August 1918, as aviator with a broken leg became Scott's first air evacuated patient.[4]
Also reassuring was the support Scott Field enjoyed from the local community. Plenty of curious sightseers came just to watch the construction or catch a glimpse of airplane activity, but many from the local community also gave morale support to their "Sammies" (Uncle Sam's boys). They hosted dances and receptions, established a library branch on the field, and invited soldiers into their homes for Thanksgiving dinners. Likewise, Scott Field hosted sporting events with their community neighbors. On 17 August 1918, they invited the public to attend a field meet and flight exhibition—Scott's first air show.[4]
Flying was discontinued at Scott Field after the war and the base population dropped. The War Department purchased Scott Field in 1919 for $119, 285.84[5]
Inter-War period
Scott Field's future became uncertain after the 11 November 1918 armistice with Germany and the end of World War I. Large scale demobilization closed many U.S. airfields. Scott's remaining units were organized into a Flying School Detachment, and the field itself was designated as a storage site for demobilized equipment. Welcome news came early in 1919, with the War Department's announcement of its decision to purchase Scott Field, a decision influenced by Scott's central location and exceptional purchase price of $119,285.84. This gave Scott a promise of a future; however, it still lacked a mission.[5]
Scott was transformed into a lighter-than-air (LTA) station in 1921, with the transfer of the Army Balloon and Airship School from
Consistent with the transformation of the facility, Major John A. Paegelow was selected as commanding officer of the facility in 1923, succeeding Colonel C. G. Hall who left the facility "to pursue a course of instruction in rigid airships with the Navy."[8] Paegelow had been during World War I the commander of all Allied lighter-than-air activities on the warfront.[8]
A couple of highlights of Scott's LTA era (1921–1937) include the 74-mph speed record for dirigibles, set by Scott Field's TC-1 in 1923, and the American free balloon altitude record of 28,510 feet, set in 1927, by Captain Hawthorne C. Gray. Captain Gray would have set a 42,470-feet world record later that same year had he survived that flight.[5]
In the late 1920s, emphasis shifted from airships to balloons. In 1929, the 12th Airship Company was inactivated and replaced the next day by the 1st Balloon Company. Airplanes began to dominate activities at Scott Field by the mid-1930s, and a series of airship mishaps led the Chief of the Army Air Corps to recommend an end to LTA activities in May 1937, and the following month Scott's LTA-era came to an abrupt end.[4][5]
Scott Field's central location was advantageous when it was considered for the relocation site of the
New housing, industrial and administrative buildings were completed by May 1939. The expansion program continued into 1940 with the construction of 21 more buildings, including a 200-man barracks, a 300,000-gallon elevated water tank, a 43-bed hospital, Hangar No. 1 and a General Headquarters Air Force office.[4][5]
Scott Field, as it existed at the end of the 1940 expansion program, is listed as the Scott Field Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.
World War II
With the outbreak of World War II, the GHQAF move to Scott was cancelled. Instead, Scott Field reverted to its former role as a training installation. On 1 June 1939, one of Scott's Balloon Groups was redesignated as a headquarters unit of the Scott Field Branch of the Army Air Corps Technical Schools. Subsequently, various technical schools moved to Scott. Its communications training era began in September 1940 with the opening of the Radio School.[4]
After September 1940, the primary wartime mission of Scott was to train skilled radio operator/maintainers; to produce, as the Radio School's slogan proclaimed, "the best damned radio operators in the world!" Scott's graduates flew in aircraft and operated command and control communications in every Theater of the War, and were often referred to as the "Eyes and Ears of the Army Air Forces." By the end of World War II, Scott's Radio School—becoming something of a "Communications University of the Army Air Forces", where it expanded during the war to fill about 46 large school buildings on base. It was from this course that many specialized radio and communications courses evolved, and had graduated 77,370 radio operator/mechanics. While all had been important to the nation's victory, two of the schools better known graduates were
Though the Radio School was the primary World War II-era mission, it was not intended to be Scott's only mission. The Air Corps had also planned for Scott to become a major air terminal due to its centralized location in the United States. In 1940, a $1 million project began to construct four mile-long concrete runways. Though not fully completed until November 1942, the portions that were complete provided a capability to give advanced flying school graduates instruction in instrument and night flying, navigation, photography, and administrative flights. By late 1943, the Radio School students were in the air as well, practicing code transmission under actual flight conditions. Unfortunately, airfield operations had to be sharply curtailed in May 1944, after an accidental tool-spark set fire to Hangar 1—Scott's only hangar. Repairs were not completed until May 1945.[4]
United States Air Force
The U.S. Air Force became a separate service on 18 September 1947, and on 13 January 1948, Scott Field was re-designated as Scott Air Force Base and the 3310th Technical Training Wing assumed host responsibility from the 3505th Army Air Forces Base Unit. In 1948, Scott's Radio School was re-organized, with the radio operator and control tower courses relocated to
In early 1949, Secretary of Defense
Throughout the USAF transition, Scott's primary mission remained technical training; however, Scott's aeromedical evacuation mission continued to grow. By the end of 1950, Douglas
In 1957,
With the re-alignment to MATS, Aeromedical evacuation continued to grow and in 1964, Scott's host wing was re-designated as the 1405th Aeromedical Transport Wing. Increasing importance placed on airlift and the decision by the Navy to set up its own transport command led to the Military Air Transport Service being re-designated as
The 375th gained another mission in 1978; Operational Support Airlift. Scott received its first
As the 375th reorganized, it transitioned to a Military Airlift Wing in 1990 and an Airlift Wing in 1991. In 1992, Military Airlift Command inactivated and its personnel and assets were combined with others to form
AMC's
The 375th Airlift Wing officially became the 375th Air Mobility Wing on 30 September 2009. The Total Force Integration effort called for the creation of an associate unit consisting of active duty KC-135 pilots, boom operators, and maintainers who worked side by side with their counterparts in the 126th Air Refueling Wing. The 375th Operation Group staff had administrative responsibilities for 135 aircrew members and maintainers under the
On June 25, 2014, the base was awarded two new cybersecurity squadrons that will add over 300 personnel, and an additional $16 million infrastructure improvements. The base presently has three cyber units.[10]
Major Commands to which assigned
- Signal Corps, U.S. Army, 20 July 1917
- Bureau of Military Aeronautics, 20 May 1918
- United States Army Air Service, 24 May 1918
- United States Army Air Corps, 2 July 1926
- General Headquarters Air Force, 1 March
- Air Corps Technical Service (exempted station), 1 July 1939
- Air Corps Technical Training Command, 26 March 1941
- AAF Training Command, 31 July 1943
- Re-designated: Air Training Command, 1 July 1946
- Military Air Transport Service, 1 October 1957
- Military Airlift Command, 1 January 1966
- Air Mobility Command, 1 June 1992 – present[11]
Major units assigned
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Based units
Flying and notable non-flying units based at Scott Air Force Base.[12][13][14][15][16]
Units marked GSU are Geographically Separate Units, which although based at Scott, are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location.
United States Air Force
Air Mobility Command (AMC)
Air Combat Command (ACC)
Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC)
Air Force District of Washington
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Air National Guard (ANG)
Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC)
Civil Air Patrol (CAP)
United States Army
Department of DefenseUnited States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM)
Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA)
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Geography
The residential part of the base is a
According to the United States Census Bureau, the base has a total area of 9.7 km2 (3.7 sq mi), all land.
Demographics
As of the
There were 682 households, out of which 78.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 90.5% were married couples living together, 4.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 2.9% were non-families. Of all households, 2.8% were made up of individuals, and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.83, and the average family size was 3.90.
On the base the age distribution of the population shows 44.7% under the age of 18, 7.8% ages 18 to 24, 40.6% ages 25 to 44, 6.6% ages 45 to 64, and 0.3% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 100.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.2 males.
The median income for a household on the base was $51,290, and the median income for a family was $52,258. Males had a median income of $39,289 versus $24,674 for females. The
Public transportation
Light rail
Bus
Five MetroBus Illinois lines serve Scott Air Force Base via Shiloh–Scott station:[22]
- 12 O'Fallon Fairview Heights
- 17X Lebanon – Mascoutah Express
- 20X New Baden Express
- 21 Main Base Shuttle
- 21X East Base Shuttle
Additionally, the St. Clair County Transit District operates the SCCTD Flyer, a flexible routing bus, on the grounds of Scott Air Force Base[23] along with the MidAmerica Airport Shuttle connecting Shiloh–Scott station with the passenger terminal.[24]
In popular culture
The location was featured in the 2018 film Rampage.
Scenes from the 2021 Netflix film Don't Look Up are set at Scott Air Force Base.[citation needed]
See also
- Illinois World War II Army Airfields
- Central (later Eastern) Technical Training Command
- Central Air Defense Force (Air Defense Command)
- List of Training Section Air Service airfields
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- ^ "Airport Diagram – Scott AFB/Midamerica (BLV)" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. 12 September 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
- ^ William R. Evinger: Directory of Military Bases in the U.S., Oryx Press, Phoenix, Ariz., 1991, p. 147.
- ^ "Scott Air Force Base Guide". military.com. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t United States Air Force. Scott Air Force Base History Archived 2007-08-15 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed December 10, 2006.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Scott AFB National Park Service factsheet".
- ^ 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)
- ^ "Machinery is being installed". The Airship Log. Vol. 1, no. 1. Belleville, Illinois: Meyer & Farrell. 4 May 1923. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Major John A. Paegelow, Commander of Scott Field". The Airship Log. Vol. 1, no. 1. 4 May 1923. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^
- ^ "Scott AFB lands two new cybersecurity squadrons". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. June 25, 2014.
- ^ a b Mueller, Robert, Air Force Bases Volume I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982, Office of Air Force History, 1989
- ^ "About Us". Scott AFB. US Air Force. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
- ^ "Units". 932nd Airlift Wing. US Air Force. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
- ^ "567th Cyberspace Operations Group". Air Forces Cyber. US Air Force. 3 October 2016. Archived from the original on 2019-04-17. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
- ^ "635 Supply Chain Operations Wing (AFMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. US Air Force. 7 October 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
- ^ "SDDC Organization". Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command. US Army. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
- ^ "AF Installation & Mission Support Center".
- ^ "Air Force Bands > U.S. Air Force Bands > U.S. Air Force Band of Mid-America > About Us".
- ^ "AFMAA Units".
- U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
- ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "Illinois System Map" (Map). Metro Transit. April 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ "Scott Air Force Base (SAFB) Flyer Service Zone". St. Clair County Transit District. August 1, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
- ^ "MidAmerica Airport Shuttle". St. Clair County Transit District. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
Further reading
- Kennedy, Betty R. An Illustrated History of Scott Air Force Base, 1917–1987. Scott AFB, Ill: Military Airlift Command, Historical Office, U.S. Air Force, 1987. OCLC 17277677
- Scott Air Force Base. Baton Rouge, La: Army and Navy Pub. Co, 1950. OCLC 28481277
- Scott Air Force Base. [S.l.]: Book On Demand Ltd, 2012. OCLC 855242959
- Warner, Patricia K. A Brief History of Scott Air Force Base, 1917–1992. Scott AFB, Ill: Twenty-second Air Force, Military Airlift Command, U.S. Air Force, 1992. OCLC 31775818
External links
- Official website Scott AFB
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective March 21, 2024
- Resources for this U.S. military airport:
- FAA airport information for BLV
- AirNav airport information for KBLV
- ASN accident history for KBLV
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KBLV
- Scott AFB Directory and PCS Guide
- 360 Degree Virtual Tour of Scott Heritage Air Park