By Marie C. Peinado
Aviation Division
While the shutdown had been inching slowly forward, it finally arrived on July 13, 2001! The base’s flags were lowered for the last time during a sober and emotional ceremony. An Air Force C-5 cargo jet, one of the types of military aircraft serviced at Kelly Air Force Base, flew over the closing ceremony to signal its closure and to honor almost 85 years of faithful service to the nation.
Kelly Air Force Base Historical Highlights:
- With World War I raging in Europe, the Aviation Section of the U.S. Army’s Signal Corps was ordered to find a suitable location for a training facility. In November 1916, approval came for a new facility in San Antonio. It would later be named for 2nd Lt. George E. M. Kelly, the first U.S. military pilot killed in a crash of a military aircraft.
- During World War I, Kelly Field was the largest aviation training, classification and reception center in the United States. About 250,000 men passed through its halls-pilots, mechanics and other support personnel to be formed into aero squadrons.
- For most of the 1920s, all flight training was conducted at nearby Brooks Field and Kelly, which served as the Air Corps Advanced Flying School from 1922 to 1941. Almost every Army aviator who earned his wings during this time finished his pilot training at Kelly. These included Charles Lindbergh, Ira Eaker, Hoyt Vanderberg, Pete Quesada, and Curtis LeMay.
- In 1925, Duncan field, which conducted maintenance and supply, was spun off from Kelly, which continued the flight training mission.
- Duncan and Kelly Fields were reunited under the name Kelly Field in 1943, continuing service as a supply and maintenance depot, but the flight training operations were moved to other bases.
- Re-designed Kelly Air Force Base in 1947 provided maintenance and management for the Air Force’s various bombers, fighters, transports, trainers, and other support aircraft until 1998. Base personnel were responsible for management and repair of more than half of the Air Force engine inventory. They also managed aerospace fuels, nuclear weapons and related items and more than 185,000 items ranging from gas turbine engines to automatic test equipment.
- In 1995, the Defense Base Close and Realignment Commission ordered the closure of Kelly.
- Final shutdown of Kelly was completed July 13, 2001.
(Source: The Associated Press)
The Greater Kelly Development Authority, formed by the San Antonio City Council, deserves our congratulations for their successful efforts to lure private-sector work to the base property center in such a short time span. Thirty-seven well-known business companies and nearly 5,000 jobs now occupy the center. The sign in front of the base reads KellyUSA, the name of the new aviation and industrial park on the grounds. Good Luck KellyUSA!