Davis-Monthan Air Force Base by: Eric Roach 1 1

Base History Overview Namesake Early Years WWII Era Postwar years Cold War Modern Era Base Info Summary

Namesake 2nd Lt. Samuel H. Davis Native Tusconian, Attended UofA, then joined the Army Air Service in 1917 Was killed in an aircraft accident while serving in Florida while on a training mission in a JN-6 in 1921

Namesake 1st Lt. Oscar Monthan Born in Dewsbury, England. Moved to AZ in 1900 In 1917 Joined Army Air Corps. Graduated from Boston School of Technology and became the Chief Engineer at Rockwell Field, CA Was considered one of the foremost aero-engineers Died in crash of B2-Bomber during a training mission 1924

Early Years In 1919 Tucson Chamber of commerce established the nation’s first municipally-owned airfield at the present day rodeo grounds Rapid growth in aviation meant a move to its present site and a runway was built when the city acquired the land for it Davis-Monthan Field was dedicated in 1927 by Charles Lindbergh and it became the largest municipal airport in U.S.

Early Years Contd. Municipal Airport Military Operations Standard Airlines (later acquired by American Airlines) began flights to and from Tucson Military Operations Began at the field when Sergeant Simpson relocated his fuel and service operation to the site in October 1927 Civil and military operations worked well together until the early 1940s when military requirements forced civilian aviation activities to relocate

WWII Era As the United States prepared for WWII Davis-Monthan Airport became Tucson Army Air Field in 1940. The U.S. Army Air Corps first assigned the 1st Bomber Wing, 41st Bomb Group, and 31st Air Base Group, activation on 30 April 1941. With its new military role, on 3 Dec 1941 the name of the base was changed to Davis-Monthan Army Air Field. Corps leaders started to increasingly utilize the airfield, sending Boeing B-24 Liberator heavy bombers and Douglas B-18 Bolo which were utilized for training and observation missions.

Postwar Years On 13 January 1948 the name was changed to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base The base became the storage site for hundreds of decommissioned aircraft. Tucson’s dry climate and alkali soil made it an ideal location for aircraft storage and preservation B-29s and C-47 “Gooney Birds” And Eventually most all aircraft

Cold War The 43rd Air Refueling Squadron activated there and became the first unit dedicated to air refueling in history Strategic Air Command (1949) established the 355th FW Base was Transferred to Tactical Air Command 30 years later A-10 became the main aircraft for training and deployment

Modern Era Currently Air Combat Command MAJCOM 93rd Rescue and 214th Reconnaissance groups operate out of DM AFB Pararescue Jumpers General Atomics MQ-1B Predator

355th Fighter Wing Info Col James P. Meger 355th FW/CV Col John A. Cherry 355th FW/CC Chief Master Sgt. Vincent L. Howard 355th FW/CCC

Summary Namesake Early Years WWII Era Postwar years Cold War Modern Era Base Info

References QUESTIONS? www.dm.af.mil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davis%E2%80%93Monthan_Air_Force_Base