Air Training Command


The Air Training Command is a former United States Air Force Major Command designation. It was headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, but was initially formed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. It was re-designated as Air Education and Training Command following a merger with Air University on 1 July 1993.
ATC was organized on 1 July 1946 as a re-designation of Army Air Forces Training Command as part of the re-organization of the United States Army Air Forces after World War II.
For nearly 50 years, ATC was the primary training organization of the United States Air Force from its inception as an independent service in September 1947. It provided pilot and aircrew training; technical training, and enlisted and officer basic training.
At the end of the Cold War, it was merged with Air University in July 1993 as part of a major top-to-bottom reorganization of the USAF. Personnel, equipment and resources of both organizations were re-designated as Air Education and Training Command, which assumed the mission of both organizations, but retained AU as a subordinate organization within AETC.

History

Postwar era

Formation

On 1 July 1946, Army Air Forces Training Command was re-designated as Air Training Command . Since the end of World War II in September 1945, AAF Training Command had been undergoing rapid contraction, actually begun earlier in 1945 as planners understood the changing forces of the war against Nazi Germany, which ended in May 1945. Excess training bases across the United States had begun to be shut down and units consolidated during the summer of 1945 as the training needs of the USAAF was being refocused to support the requirements of those USAAF combat units in the war against Imperial Japan. The Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 and the end of the war in the Pacific in September 1945 began a rapid demobilization of the U.S. armed forces. Large numbers of temporary training bases were closed and units were discontinued in late 1945 and early 1946 as the US military transitioned from a wartime footing to a peacetime one.
For that reason, ATC was organized in the summer of 1946 to become the main training organization of the postwar USAAF. One of the major organizational changes of the postwar USAAF was the elimination of the "command" organizational echelon. While most wartime Commands became "Air Divisions" in the postwar USAAF table of organization, the USAAF Training Command was elevated to the major air command echelon along with the new Tactical Air Command, Strategic Air Command and Air Defense Command.

Organization

ATC was organized around the AAFTC's Flying Training Command and Technical Training Commands, which were redesignated as the ATC Flying and Technical Training Divisions on 1 November 1946. A third Division was formed with the creation of the ATC Indoctrination Division, which was organized around the Military Training Center in San Antonio, Texas. All three Divisions of ATC were co-equal in status.
In June 1946, the USAAF discontinued the World War II Flying Training Wings allocated to AAFTC and each training installation was commanded by its designated Army Air Forces Base Unit. In September 1947, upon establishment of the United States Air Force as an independent service, the AAFBUs on the permanent Army Air Forces bases became Air Force Base Units upon the bases' transfer to the USAF. By mid-1948, with the adoption by the USAF of the Hobson Plan Wing-Base organization, the AFBUs were discontinued or redesignated in favor of new USAF four-digit "table of distribution units" established by USAF or the Major Commands.
The Army Air Forces had set a post-war goal of 70 groups; however, Congress balked at funding the ambitious undertaking. Instead, the USAAF had to downscale its plans, settling on 55 groups. Congress passed the National Security Act of September 1947, and soon after, the Air Force became a separate service with its own civilian service secretary, equal to the Army and Navy.
By 31 December 1947, the USAF was 55 groups strong, with ATC being allocated thirteen training bases. Earlier in the year, the ATC commander, Lieutenant General John K. Cannon, had told General Carl A. Spaatz, USAF Chief of Staff, that ATC would do all it could to bring the new groups up to strength, but the training capability of ATC was extremely limited due to a severe lack of personnel and training funds.
The initial training bases of Air Training Command were:
ATC's Flying Division began its first jet fighter transition course at Williams Field in 1946. However, by early 1947, the USAAF had sped up its conversion to jet aircraft. The only way training needs could be met was by limiting course quotas to commands already using jet aircraft. Also, the training program was handicapped by the fact that no dual-control jet trainer aircraft existed.
In addition, the pilot training program was consolidated into two classes, Basic and Advanced. Also, the wide variety of training aircraft were reduced to streamline the training program. Jet training aircraft and courses were also added, along with helicopter training as the new wartime technologies were added into the postwar Air Force inventory as fully operational weapons systems. Austere postwar military budgets led to additional consolidations and all of the flying programs suffered from shortages of aircraft replacement parts, qualified maintenance personnel, and instructors...problems that existed with the schools throughout the early postwar era.
Technical Division was given the responsibility of assembling and training two specialized arctic training teams. Their mission was to indoctrinate USAAF units and individuals destined for polar assignments in personal survival and in the care and use of equipment in cold weather climates. In March 1947, budgetary cuts caused a major reduction in force of graded civilian employees. Technical Division had no choice but to fill empty civilian instructor slots with military personnel. That left the schools with a high percentage of instructors with little, if any, teaching experience and, in some cases, very limited knowledge of course material. In fact, many of these new instructors had just graduated from the courses they were now expected to teach.
Indoctrination Division consolidated all basic training at what became Lackland Air Force Base in 1946. Separation criteria were progressively lowered for both officer and enlisted personnel as part of the postwar demobilization. Training Command losses from separations were not made up by gains from recruits and returnees and shortages were particularly acute in maintenance, mess, clerical, and medical personnel. In 1948, Air Training Command began rebuilding its training complex, but the command was still reeling from the heavy losses it sustained in its instructor force by demobilization.
Berlin Airlift
By 1948, ATC was still reeling from the heavy losses it sustained in its instructor force in 1947. Then the personnel withdrawals that had to be made in support of the Berlin Airlift and the expansion of Strategic Air Command combined to handicap even more the training bases at the same time that pilot production increased. Plans called for ATC to add five additional flight training bases and by year's end the command had already activated four: Perrin AFB, Texas; Enid AFB, Oklahoma; Waco AFB, Texas; and Las Vegas AFB, Nevada.
In a 17 September letter to the field, Headquarters USAF directed all commands to release many highly experienced personnel in support of the Berlin Airlift. Officials in Air Training Command were so concerned about the effect this loss of personnel would have on mission accomplishment that a return letter was sent to Washington asking which of the new flying training bases—Waco or Enid—was to be written off. The only way ATC was able to provide personnel for these schools was by taking individuals from other bases.
Consolidation of Divisions
When the Berlin Blockade ended in 1949, the Air Force was again hit with reductions that resulted in forced reorganizations and reduced training. Austere postwar military budgets led to additional consolidations and all of the technical programs suffered from shortages of instructors...problems that existed with the schools throughout the early postwar era. The last half of 1949 was an exercise in austerity. President Harry S. Truman decided that the country could only afford a 48-group Air Force and with only a minimum of operating funds available, the Secretary of Defense directed major spending cuts throughout the Department of Defense. In a reorganization, Technical Division, Air Training Command was inactivated on 14 November 1949 when Air Training Command absorbed its subordinate Divisions into its command organization to comply with the budget reduction directive.

Korean War

The outbreak of the Korean War on 25 June 1950 indicated that ATC would soon see an increase in training requirements. By 1 July, the Air Force had directed ATC to accelerate training to fill the needs of a new 95-wing Air Force. A few days later, ATC found itself with a new mission: combat crew training.
ATC's primary mission in the Korean War was to train pilots, navigators and enlisted aircrew for combat and to fill the need of the expanded 95-wing USAF. The first school opened at Nellis AFB, Nevada. In August, the Air Staff raised the rate of pilot production from 3,000 to 4,000 per year, and by the end of the year, it had climbed to 7,200. At the same time, the need for training technicians also rose. As it had in World War II, ATC met the increased training requirements by contracting with civilian schools.
These were former World War II pilot training airfields that were placed in reserve status after the war. Air Training Command applied the "Air Base" designator to these military-supervised/contractor-operated flying training bases. At about the same time, ATC redesignated the 3595th Pilot Training Wing as the 3595th Training Wing. On 17 July 1950, Nellis AFB began a special training program to provide 115 combat-ready F-51 Mustang pilots for Far East Air Forces and 92 combat-ready F-80 Shooting Star pilots to serve as replacements for casualties in the first months of the Korean campaign.
The Korean War caused Lackland AFB, Texas to overflow with trainees. During the first two weeks of 1951, the population at Lackland AFB jumped from 36,513 to over 70,000 personnel. With the large influx of enlisted personnel requiring indoctrination training, Air Training Command took interest in the former Sampson Naval Training Station, New York for use as an addition Basic Military Training base for enlisted personnel. Custody of most of the property of the training center was transferred to the Air Force in 1950, and the Air Force named the facility Sampson Air Force Base on 15 November 1950. The Air Force spent about $6 million on renovations and Air Training Command established the 3650th Indoctrination Wing to manage the base and conduct Basic Training. The first trainees arrived on 1 February 1951, with the base employing about 700 civilians and had 600 permanent party uniformed USAF personnel. Eventually, about 6,000 Air Force recruits would be trained at Sampson AFB. The Air Force also built a runway and other facilities at Sampson and converted the base to its needs. By 1953, a single paved 5000 foot north–south runway was completed and a control tower, fire station and aircraft parking ramp was built on the west side, with B-25 Mitchell, C-47 Skytrain, and C-45 Expeditor aircraft assigned.
In addition to Sampson AFB, a third BMT center was established at Parks AFB, California to accommodate new enlistees. A former World War II Navy Seebee training facility known as Camp Parks, the Air Force had to completely rebuild the base. Base personnel were initially housed in temporary facilities and ate from a field mess. The first group of Airmen arrived at Camp Parks in the Summer of 1951; mass training began in March 1952.
The USAF had Far East Air Force engaging in direct combat, and Tactical Air Command mobilizing reserve forces and deploying active duty units and personnel to the combat zone. Strategic Air Command, while not deploying its nuclear-capable strategic bomber force, brought B-29 Superfortresses out of five years of storage and deployed them to Okinawa with combat crews from active duty and reserve units.
Beginning on 24 July 1950, all technical training programs went on a six-day-a-week operation. That reduced by almost 17 percent the amount of time it took to train an enlisted technician. Multiple shifts also ran. While this increased the need for more instructors, it limited the amount of housing and dining facilities needed. Along with this, the amount of dormitory space given each student was reduced from to 60, and at Keesler AFB and Sheppard AFB the space was even less...only per student. Finally, the interval between class entries also decreased. All of this was an effort to train students as quickly as possible and get them in the field.
The announcement of unlimited recruiting in December 1950 caused major problems for Lackland AFB. Clothing and bedding were in short supply, and it got to the point where new recruits were issued only the minimum essentials. Clothing stocks had to be drastically reduced at other ATC bases so recruits could receive essential clothing—although it was impossible to provide exact sizes. Lackland AFB had only been constructed to handle about 28,000 recruits, but by January 1951 the number exceeded 70,000. Officials had no choice but to establish a tent city. Lackland AFB completely exhausted the Air Force's supply of steel folding cots and mattresses. Others had to make do with canvas cots. At one time, the base had almost 10,000 recruits sleeping on canvas cots, without mattresses.
There was no time to prepare, and that meant the quality of training suffered...both flying and technical training. Because troops in the Far East received priority in the supply system, ATC also faced across-the-board shortages in equipment such as armament, radar, aircraft spares, maintenance items, clothing, bedding, and office equipment. Shortages of spare parts even caused a reduction in helicopter training at San Marcos AFB and B-29 training at Randolph AFB later in the war.
The Air Force initially resorted to an involuntary recall of Air Force Reservists and Air National Guardsmen to fill the gap while Air Training Command expanded its training efforts to meet wartime demands. By 1 July, the Air Force had directed ATC to accelerate training to fill the needs of a new 95-wing Air Force. A few days later ATC found itself with a new mission: combat crew training.
As a direct result of the rapid expansion of the training needs of the Air Force as a result of the Korean War, ATC reversed its 1949 decision to eliminate training divisions and consolidate all command level organizations at its headquarters. Headquarters USAF approved the decentralization in early 1951. While ATC had sought numerical designations for its new air forces—Thirtieth Flying Training and Thirty-first Technical Training Air Forces—USAF officials recommended functional rather than numerical designations. Thus, ATC's new subordinate organizations became the Flying Training Air Force and the Technical Training Air Force.
Plans called for FTAF to be headquartered at Randolph AFB and TTAF at Lowry AFB; however, the unexpected escalation of training at those bases meant facilities were not available. Thus, ATC established the FTAF headquarters at Waco, Texas near James Connally AFB, and TTAF took up residence at the Gulf Coast Military Academy near Keesler AFB. A third organization, the Crew Training Air Force, was activated on 16 March 1952 and headquartered at Randolph AFB.