Gunter AFB
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Gunter Annex is a
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
installation located in the North-northeast suburbs of
Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...
. The base is named after former Montgomery mayor William Adams Gunter. Until 1992 it was known as Gunter Air Force Base or Gunter Air Force Station. It has been a military training base since its opening in 1940. Gunter Annex is a subordinate installation under the administration of the
42d Air Base Wing The 42nd Air Base Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Air University of Air Education and Training Command. It is stationed at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, Alabama and is the host unit for Maxwell-Gunter. The wing's primary mis ...
at nearby
Maxwell Air Force Base Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. ...
.


Overview

Gunter Annex is the home of the Business and Enterprise Systems (BES) Directorate. The BES provides and supports secure combat information systems and networks for the United States Air Force, the Department of Defense and other Federal Government Agencies. The BES Directorate is a part of the
Air Force Life Cycle Management Center The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), headquartered at Wright-Patterson AFB, is one of six centers reporting to the Air Force Materiel Command.AIR FORCE LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT CENTER (AFLCMC) Posted 8/3/2012 Printable Fact Sheet Le ...
(AFLCMC), which is headquartered at
Wright-Patterson AFB Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wr ...
, Ohio, and its subordinate activity at
Hanscom AFB Hanscom Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base located predominantly within Bedford, Massachusetts, with portions extending into the adjoining towns of Lincoln, Concord and Lexington. The facility is adjacent to Hanscom Fie ...
, Massachusetts. The
26th Network Operations Squadron The 26th Network Operations Squadron (26 NOS), United States Air Force, is a network operations unit located at Gunter Annex, in Montgomery, AL. History The squadron was established as the 1987th Communications Squadron on 1 June 1966, at Nakh ...
provides network defense for the Air Force Enterprise Network (AFNET). The 689th Network Operations Squadron is a Classic Associate Unit to the 26th NOS and is also located on the Annex but falls under Air Force Reserve Command. The host unit of Gunter Annex is the
42d Air Base Wing The 42nd Air Base Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Air University of Air Education and Training Command. It is stationed at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, Alabama and is the host unit for Maxwell-Gunter. The wing's primary mis ...
, headquartered at Maxwell AFB. The former 42d Bombardment Wing took over host duties at both Maxwell AFB and Gunter AFB on 1 October 1994 when the wing was redesignated and reassigned from the closing of
Loring Air Force Base Loring Air Force Base was a United States Air Force installation in northeastern Maine, near Limestone and Caribou in Aroostook County. It was one of the largest bases of the U.S. Air Force's Strategic Air Command during its existence, and was ...
,
Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
.


History


William Adams Gunter

The facility is named after William Adams Gunter (1871–1940), a long-time mayor of Montgomery Alabama. Mayor Gunter was an aviation advocate who championed aviation and was a major force behind the construction of the original Montgomery Municipal Airport at this site in 1929. There were several efforts to have the airport officially named in his honor while he was still living. Although he successfully resisted these efforts, the site is still commonly referred to by residents as 'Gunter Field'.


World War II

In 1940, the 'Plan for the Expansion of the Air Corps Training Program' was published and indicated a need for a preliminary flying school in the Montgomery area. The Commandant of the
Air Corps Tactical School The Air Corps Tactical School, also known as ACTS and "the Tactical School", was a military professional development school for officers of the United States Army Air Service and United States Army Air Corps, the first such school in the world. ...
at
Maxwell Field Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. ...
, Colonel Walter Weaver, picked the Montgomery Municipal Airport and the surrounding area as the location for the flying school. This included a newly built, but as yet unoccupied state hospital for
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
patients. In June 1940, the
War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet ...
approved the recommendation to lease the land. In August 1940 the first military personnel arrived and construction began. The hospital was used as a headquarters building and Colonel
Aubrey Hornsby Aubrey Thomas Hornsby I (January 8, 1895 – May 23, 1981) was a U.S. Army officer and pioneer aviator who reached the rank of Brigadier General. He began his Army career during World War I as an artillery observer, seeing service in France a ...
was the project officer and later the first commanding officer. The Army leased the 187 acre municipal airport and purchased an additional 300 acres for the cantonment area. Complicated leasing agreements delayed construction and the Army facilities were not completed in time, so the first two classes, Class 41-A with 107 students and Class 41-B, trained at Maxwell Field on the other side of town. The first class to train at Gunter was 41-C which began instruction on 28 November 1940. In late 1940, Mayor Gunter died and, on the recommendation of Colonel Hornsby, the flying field was officially named "Gunter Field" in early 1941. By July 1941, construction of the field was largely complete. In addition to the main airfield, the following known sub-bases and auxiliaries were used: *
McLemore Auxiliary Field McLemore Auxiliary Field is a former facility of the United States Army Air Forces located in Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army m ...
*
Elmore Auxiliary Field Elmore Auxiliary Field is a former facility of the United States Army Air Forces located in Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army maj ...
(now Wetumpka Municipal Airport) *
Mount Meigs Auxiliary Field Mount Meigs Auxiliary Field is a former facility of the United States Army Air Forces located in Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Arm ...
* Taylor Field * Dannelly Auxiliary Field *
Deatsville Auxiliary Field Deatsville Auxiliary Field is a former facility of the United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial ...
In 1943, 3,500 foot long hard surfaced runways were added. Gunter was the first base established by the Southeastern Training Center exclusively for Basic Flight Training. As such, it also trained instructors and other personnel for the other Basic Training bases opened in the Southeast that included Cochran AAF in Macon, Georgia; Bainbridge AB, Georgia;
Greenville AAF Donaldson Air Force Base is a former facility of the United States Air Force located south of Greenville, South Carolina. It was founded in 1942 as Greenville Army Air Base; it was deactivated in 1963 and converted into a civilian airport. It ...
, Mississippi; Shaw AAF in Sumter, South Carolina; and at Augusta, Georgia's civilian-run Bush Field. Students would come to Basic Flight Training after completing Primary Training. In 1941, the Basic course was 10 weeks in length in which the student received 70 flying hours. After completion of the course, students would be chosen for advanced single or multi-engine training. During World War II, the field served as a flying school for not just Army pilots, but for
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
(under the
Arnold Scheme The Arnold Scheme was established to train British RAF pilots in the United States of America during World War II. Its name derived from US General Henry H. Arnold, Chief of the United States Army Air Forces, the instigator of the scheme, which ...
),
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and
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as well. By 1944, there were nearly four hundred aircraft assigned to Gunter Field. The primary aircraft used for Basic Training, by both the Army and the Navy, during most of the war was the fixed gear
Vultee BT-13 The Vultee BT-13 Valiant is an American World War II-era basic (a category between primary and advanced) trainer aircraft built by Vultee Aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps, and later US Army Air Forces. A subsequent variant of th ...
and BT-15 Valiant. By later 1944, the BT-13s and 15s were worn out and they began to be replaced by the
North American AT-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft, which was used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Ro ...
. After World War II ended, flight training was transferred to Spence AAF (
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) and, other than some contingents of French and
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flight students, aviation training ended at Gunter. By February 1946, Gunter's remaining aircraft were transferred to Maxwell Army Air Base and the field went to "stand by" status. In January 1948 Gunter Field was redesignated Gunter Air Force Base. In May 1950, the Air University located its Extension Course Institute there. In October of that year, a branch of the School of Aviation Medicine was also established.


Air Defense Command

In 1957 a
Semi Automatic Ground Environment The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was a system of mainframe computer, large computers and associated computer network, networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image ...
(SAGE) Data Center (DC-09) was established at Gunter AFB. The SAGE system was an early generation computer network linking Air Force (and later FAA)
United States general surveillance radar stations United States general surveillance radar stations include Army and USAF stations of various US air defense networks (in reverse chronological order): * Joint Surveillance System (JSS), with radar stations controlled by joint FAA/USAF ROCCs beginni ...
into a centralized center for continental air defense, intended to provide early warning and response for a Soviet nuclear attack. It was initially under the
Montgomery Air Defense Sector The Southeast Air Defense Sector (SEADS), was a unit of the US Air Force located at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Florida. It provided air defense and surveillance of the southeastern region of the US. SEADS closed in winter 2005 ...
(MoADS), established on 8 September 1957. MoADS was synonymous with 32nd NORAD Region, which encompassed an area from the Cuban landmass north to Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. MoADS was a blockhouse with 18 inch thick steel-reinforced concrete walls designed to withstand anything but a direct nuclear hit. There were 4 floors, with the bottom floor for inputs, the second floor for computer systems, and the fourth floor for operations. SAGE sites had twin AN/FSQ-7 computers that encompassed an area the size of a football field. These
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
-built systems were tube-based with wire and washer memory banks. IBM also built in excellent diagnostics and redundancy, so the system should always be operational. The memory was 64K, with the incoming radar information storage was on magnetic drums and the maximum response overload before collapse was around 45 seconds. In the 1960s, MoADS also assisted in hosting
William Tell William Tell (, ; ; ; ) is a legendary folk hero of Switzerland. He is known for shooting an apple off his son's head. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albrecht Gessler, ...
, a then-annual competition of
Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for air defense of the continental United States. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air De ...
(ADC), later
Aerospace Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command of the United States Air Force, responsible for air defense of the continental United States. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was establishe ...
(ADC), and
Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...
fighter-interceptor squadrons that was held at
Tyndall AFB Tyndall Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located east of Panama City, Florida. The base was named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lt. Frank Benjamin Tyndall. The base operating unit and host wing is the 325th Fighter Wing (3 ...
, Florida. In the 1960s, this competition included live shoot-downs of Firebee aerial target drones launched from Tyndall AFB, and obsolescent
QB-47E Stratojet The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft. ...
bombers and
BOMARC The Boeing CIM-10 Bomarc ("Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center") (IM-99 Weapon System prior to September 1962) was a supersonic ramjet powered long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) used during the Cold War for the air defense of Nor ...
missiles launched from nearby
Eglin AFB Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing (formerly the 96th Air Base Wing). The ...
, Florida. On 16 December 1960, the SAGE facility at Gunter controlled two
BOMARC The Boeing CIM-10 Bomarc ("Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center") (IM-99 Weapon System prior to September 1962) was a supersonic ramjet powered long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) used during the Cold War for the air defense of Nor ...
-B missiles launched from
Eglin AFB Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing (formerly the 96th Air Base Wing). The ...
and directed their interception of a
QB-47E Stratojet The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft. ...
drone flying at 500 mph at 30,000 feet. William Tell also showcased various air defense development programs. One was the Mach 3+
YF-12 The Lockheed YF-12 is an American Mach 3+ capable, high-altitude interceptor prototype, developed and manufactured by American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. The interceptor was developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s a ...
interceptor that later became the basis for the
SR-71 The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a retired Range (aeronautics), long-range, high-altitude, Mach number, Mach 3+ military strategy, strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Co ...
strategic reconnaissance aircraft. In the early 1960s, a YF-12 would launch from
Edwards AFB Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is Edwa ...
, California, climb to around 70,000 feet and intercept a drone over the Gulf of Mexico that was launched Eglin AFB, shoot it down, and then return to Edwards AFB. This was a spectacular show of advanced technology of that time. MoADS was inactivated on 1 April 1966 and redesignated as the 32d Air Division. DC-09 with its
AN/FSQ-7 The AN/FSQ-7 Combat Direction Central, referred to as the Q7 for short, was a computerized air defense command and control system. It was used by the United States Air Force for ground-controlled interception as part of the Semi-Automatic Grou ...
computer remained under the 32d Air Division until it and the Air Division were inactivated on 31 December 1969 when technology advances allowed the Air Force to shut down many SAGE Data Centers.


Gunter Annex

In 1971, nearly of Gunter were returned to the city of Montgomery. In that year the Air Force Data Systems Design Center moved there and in 1972 the Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy came to Gunter. In early 1973, Gunter was redesignated an "Air Force Station". In 1976, Gunter received one of the early Arpanet drops which is the precursor to the internet as it is known today. The 1977 Arpanet Logic Map (illustrates the drop in the bottom center of the Picture. Major construction was undertaken in the 1980s and 1990s, thanks to the advocacy of Congressman William Dickinson, and in 1988 Gunter was redesignated an "Air Force Base". The primary tenants were still the Extension Course Institute, the Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy and the Air Force Data Systems Design Center. In March 1992, Gunter was again redesignated, this time as Maxwell Air Force Base, Gunter Annex, and now falls under the command of nearby
Maxwell Air Force Base Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. ...
.


Previous names

* Army Air Corps Basic Flying School, Municipal Airport, Montgomery, Alabama, 27 August 1940 * Gunter Field, 10 February 1941 * Gunter Air Force Base, 13 January 1948 * Gunter Air Force Station, 1 February 1973 * Gunter Air Force Base, 1 July 1988 * Maxwell Air Force Base, Gunter Annex, 1 March 1992


Major commands to which assigned

* Southeast Air Corps Training Center, 27 August 1940 * Air Corps Flying Training Command, 23 January 1942 : Re-designated: Army Air Forces Flying Training Command, 15 March 1942 * Army Air Forces Training Command, 31 July 1943 * Army Air Forces School, 15 December 1945 * Re-designated: Air University, 12 Mar 1946 *
Air Training Command The Air Training Command (ATC) is a former United States Air Force (USAF) 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 ...
, 15 May 1978 : Re-designated:
Air Education and Training Command The Air Education and Training Command (AETC) is one of the nine List of major commands of the United States Air Force, Major Commands (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force (USAF), reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force. It was esta ...
, 1 July 1993


Major ADCOM units assigned

*
Montgomery Air Defense Sector The Southeast Air Defense Sector (SEADS), was a unit of the US Air Force located at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Florida. It provided air defense and surveillance of the southeastern region of the US. SEADS closed in winter 2005 ...
, 8 September 1957 – 1 April 1966 : Redesignated:
32d Air Division The 32d Air Division (32d AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was last active with Air Defense Command, assigned to First Air Force at Gunter Air Force Base, Alabama, where it was inactivated on 31 December 1969. The d ...
, 1 April 1966 – 31 December 1969 *
Fourteenth Air Force The Fourteenth Air Force (14 AF; Air Forces Strategic) was a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). It was headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The command was responsible for the organizatio ...
, 1 April 1966 – 1 July 1968


Education

Maxwell Air Force Base properties are zoned to
Department of Defense Education Activity The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) is a federal school system headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, responsible for planning, directing, coordinating, and managing prekindergarten through 12th grade educational programs on beh ...
(DoDEA) schools for grades K-8. The DoDEA operates Maxwell Air Force Base Elementary/Middle School. High school students are zoned to
Montgomery Public Schools Montgomery Public Schools is a school district headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. The current Superintendent of Montgomery Public Schools is Melvin Brown. The district serves the city of Montgomery and surrounding Montgomery ...
, with
Dr. Percy L. Julian High School Dr. Percy L. Julian High School (formerly Robert E. Lee High School) is a State school, public high school in Montgomery, Alabama, United States, serving Educational stages, grades ninth grade, 9–twelfth grade, 12. The school is part of t ...
(formerly Robert E. Lee High School) as the zoned high school for the Gunter Annex. By 2019, the Autauga County Schools and
Elmore County Public School System The Elmore County Public School System is a public school district serving most of Elmore County, Alabama. Text list/ref> Its headquarters are in Wetumpka.Pike Road Schools's board of trustees agreed to allow Maxwell AFB on-post families to send their children to
Pike Road High School Pike Road High School is a public school in Pike Road, Alabama, United States, a part of Pike Road Schools. The school site was home to the People's Village School, later renamed Georgia Washington Middle School, until it was acquired by the s ...
.


See also

* Alabama World War II Army Airfields * 74th Flying Training Wing (World War II) *
United States general surveillance radar stations United States general surveillance radar stations include Army and USAF stations of various US air defense networks (in reverse chronological order): * Joint Surveillance System (JSS), with radar stations controlled by joint FAA/USAF ROCCs beginni ...


References

* Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas * Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), ''Locating Air Force Base Sites, History’s Legacy'', Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC. * ''A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946–1980'', by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado * Winkler, David F. (1997), ''Searching the skies: the legacy of the United States Cold War defense radar program''. Prepared for United States Air Force Headquarters Air Combat Command.
Information for Gunter AFB, AL
{{Authority control Installations of the United States Air Force in Alabama 1940 establishments in Alabama Military education and training in the United States Semi-Automatic Ground Environment sites Buildings and structures in Montgomery, Alabama Aerospace Defense Command military installations