McCoy Air Force Base


McCoy AFB is a former U.S. Air Force installation located 10 miles southeast of Orlando, Florida. It was a training base during World War II. From 1951 to 1975, it was a frontline Strategic Air Command base during the Cold War and Vietnam War. It was Orlando's biggest employer and economic backbone prior to the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971.
With McCoy's closure as an active USAF facility in 1975, the site was redeveloped and is known today as Orlando International Airport, which continues to carry the base's original FAA LID airport code of MCO and ICAO airport code of KMCO.
Over the course of its existence the installation had several names, including Orlando Army Air Field #2, Pinecastle Army Airfield, and Pinecastle Air Force Base.

History

McCoy Air Force Base was named for Colonel Michael Norman Wright McCoy on 7 May 1958. Seven months earlier on 9 October 1957, McCoy was killed in the crash of a B-47 Stratojet, AF Serial No. 51-2177, of the 447th Bombardment Squadron, 321st Bombardment Wing. The six-engine bomber suffered wing failure northwest of downtown Orlando while taking part in a practice demonstration during the annual Strategic Air Command Bombing Navigation and Reconnaissance Competition at Pinecastle Air Force Base. McCoy was the aircraft commander during the flight and the mishap aircraft was one of two at Pinecastle that had been modified to carry the GAM-63 RASCAL air-to-surface missile.
At the time of his death, McCoy was the commander of the 321st Bombardment Wing, the host wing of Pinecastle AFB. A hugely popular figure in Central Florida, he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in a funeral that included a flyover of multiple B-47s.

World War II

The facility originally was built in 1940 as a replacement civilian airport after the takeover and conversion of the Orlando Municipal Airport to Orlando Army Air Base by the United States Army Air Corps. However, with the expansion of Orlando AAB following establishment of the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics in 1942, the new civilian airport was also leased by the now-renamed U.S. Army Air Forces, initially being designated as Orlando Army Air Field #2 and becoming a sub-base of Orlando AAB. On 1 January 1943, it was renamed as Pinecastle Army Airfield.
Pinecastle AAF was aimed to support the training mission of Orlando AAB. Two bomb squadrons of the 9th Bombardment Group at Orlando AAB, the 5th, equipped with B-24 Liberators and the 99th, with North American B-25 Mitchells, Martin B-26 Marauders and Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, operated from Pinecastle during the war. The squadrons had the mission of training future combat aircrews for a wide variety of bombing missions in advanced combat techniques.
In addition to the training mission, beginning in 1943, Pinecastle AAF was used as the AAFSAT Technical Center, operating an Air Force General Maintenance and Supply Depot facility. On 1 June 1944, the 901st Army Air Forces Base Unit, took over the bomber training mission with two squadrons, "G" and "H".
Records indicate that aircraft from Pinecastle AAF performed test bombing of chemical munitions at one of Pinecastle's numerous bombing and gunnery ranges. It is uncertain whether the chemical warfare materials used in these tests were stored at Pinecastle Army Airfield or transported from the Orlando Toxic Gas and Decontamination Yard at Orlando AAB a few hours before a practice bombing run.
With the drawdown and closure of wartime airfields after the German capitulation in May 1945, units from other bases in Florida were consolidated at Pinecastle AAF. On 1 July 1945, jurisdiction of the field was transferred to Air Proving Ground Command at Eglin Field, Florida. The 901st AAFBU was inactivated and replaced by the 621st Base Unit.

Postwar years

In August 1945, under the Proving Ground Command, the base was used for testing of the B-32 Dominator bomber, although operations in 1945 at the field were severely curtailed due to personnel shortages caused by post-war demobilization. Weapons tests of the VB-6 Felix infrared heat seeking and VB-3 Razon radio-controlled gliding bombs were also carried out.
Beginning in January 1946, Bell Aircraft Corporation's chief test pilot Jack Woolams tested the X-1 supersonic aircraft, originally designated the XS-1, at the airfield because of the area's then-remote location and 10,000-foot runway.
In March 1946, the X-1 program was relocated to Muroc Army Air Field, California. The move was a logistics issue as much as anything, as Pinecastle was deemed not suitable for the X-1 project. A move to the remote California desert ensured the X-1 project team could maintain secrecy, an important issue considering the project was highly classified at the time. In addition, Muroc had an expansive landing area, thanks to the surrounding dry lakebeds, and better visibility. The X-1's high sink rate and the problems of keeping the plane in sight amid Florida's frequent clouds also added two more votes in favor of the Army Air Force's decision to go to Muroc.
This aircraft, later flown by then-Captain Chuck Yeager, would be the first aircraft in history to successfully exceed the speed of sound in level flight. With the X-1 project transferred, Pinecastle AAF was closed and the entire site was transferred to the City of Orlando in 1947 with a reversal clause for future military use if deemed to be necessary for national defense purposes.

Cold War

Air Training Command

As a result of the outbreak of the Korean War, the United States Air Force's Air Training Command reacquired and reactivated the facility, renaming it Pinecastle Air Force Base on 1 September 1951. ATC immediately began a $100 million military construction program at the World War II facility, to include lengthening the existing north–south runway and constructing a parallel north–south runway, both over 12,000 feet in length. Actual flight training operations, however, did not begin until early 1952.
The 3540th Flying Training Wing was activated at the base for the purpose of training personnel in Strategic Air Command's new Boeing B-47 Stratojet medium jet bomber. Eighty-four B-47s were allocated for the training, and SAC transferred thirty experienced aircraft commanders to Pinecastle to serve as instructors. According to the basic plan, ATC would train forty-nine crews by the end of 1952. But from the beginning, mechanical problems with the B-47 and a lack of equipment prevented training. In addition, the base was inadequate at the time with regards to training facilities. The first B-47 class arrived at the base on 6 November 1952 and the first B-47 crew training program started a few weeks later when Class 53-6A entered combat crew training on 22 December 1952. The first trained B-47 crews graduated from training during the first half of 1953.
On 1 January 1954, ATC transferred both the B-47 crew training mission at Pinecastle AFB and jurisdiction of the base to the Strategic Air Command.

321st Bombardment Wing and 19th Bombardment Wing

On 15 December 1953, the 321st Bombardment Wing was activated at Pinecastle AFB, absorbing all B-47 bombers and KC-97 tankers at the base. The B-47 combat crew training mission was also transferred from ATC to SAC. Colonel Michael N.W. McCoy, previously commander of the 306th Bombardment Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, was appointed commander of the 321st Bombardment Wing on 24 May 1954, having earned the unofficial distinction of being the "dean" of the Strategic Air Command's B-47 Stratojet aircraft commanders.
In July 1954, the 19th Bombardment Wing joined the 321st at Pinecastle AFB and the two units came under the control of the 813th Strategic Aerospace Division. The 813th was subsequently inactivated in the summer of 1956 when the 19th Bomb Wing moved to Homestead Air Force Base, Florida.
In November 1957, the base was host to the medium and heavy bombers participating in the annual Strategic Air Command Bombing Navigation and Reconnaissance Competition. During the competition, a B-47 aircraft mishap north of downtown Orlando took the lives of Colonel McCoy, Group Captain John Woodroffe of the Royal Air Force, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Joyce, and Major Vernon Stuff during preparations for the event. Despite this tragedy, the 321st Bomb Wing, under the direction of its new commander, Colonel Robert W. Strong, Jr., won the top honors of the meet, including the coveted Fairchild and McKay trophies, distinguishing the 321st as the top B-47 Wing in SAC.

76th Fighter Interceptor Squadron

Another distinguished unit assigned to Pinecastle AFB in November 1957 was the Air Defense Command's 76th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. A descendant of the famous World War II "Flying Tigers," the 76 FIS was commanded by Major Morris F. Wilson and flew the F-89H "Scorpion" all-weather fighter-interceptor. One of the last squadrons to fly the Scorpion, the 76 FIS was transferred from McCoy to Westover AFB, Massachusetts on 1 February 1961.

McCoy AFB

On 7 May 1958, Pinecastle AFB was renamed McCoy Air Force Base in memory of the late Colonel Michael N. W. McCoy. Formal dedication ceremonies were held on 21 May 1958 in conjunction with a mammoth base open house, during which an estimated 30,000 Floridians attended.
In the summer of 1961, a complete reorganization of the base began in order to convert the base from the B-47 Stratojet medium jet bomber to the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber. As part of this program, the 321st Bomb Wing began phasing out its operations in June 1961 and was inactivated in October 1961.

4047th Strategic Wing

On 1 July 1961, the 321st was replaced by the 4047th Strategic Wing, which was designated and organized under its first commander, Col Francis S. Holmes, Jr. The 4047th was part of SAC's "Strategic Wing" concept, which was to disperse its medium and heavy bombers and tanker aircraft over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike. All of the Strategic Wings had one squadron of B-52s, containing 15 aircraft, and most also had a squadron of fifteen KC-135 tanker aircraft. Half of the bombers and tankers were maintained on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled, armed, and ready for combat, while the remainder were used for training in bombardment missions and air refueling operations.
In August 1961, the first B-52D Stratofortresses were assigned to the new wing, and on 1 September 1961 the 347th Bombardment Squadron was reassigned from Westover AFB, Massachusetts to McCoy AFB as the wing's operational flying squadron for the heavy bombers. On 15 September, the 321st Combat Support Group was also organized and on that same date Colonel William G. Walker, Jr., assumed command of the 4047th Strategic Wing.