Scott Field:
A History of Showcase Achievements During World War I, Secretary of War Newton Baker advocated an expanded role for aviation. Business and political leaders on both sides of the Mississippi River wanted the Midwest to be chosen as a site for one of the new "flying fields." Aerial expert Albert Bond Lambert joined the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce and directors of the Greater Belleville Board of Trade to negotiate a lease agreement for nearly 624 acres of land. After inspecting several sites, the U.S. War Department agreed to the lease June 14, 1917.
It was going to take a tremendous amount of time, money and manpower to build the aviation field—one of the first aviation stations built for the nation's World War I effort. Congress appropriated $10 million for its construction, and 2,000 laborers and carpenters were immediately put to work. The government gave the Unit Construction Company 60 days to erect approximately 60 buildings, lay a mile-long railroad spur to connect the field with the main line of the Southern Railroad, and to level off an airfield with a 1,600 foot landing circle. Construction was well underway when the government announced it would name the new field after Corporal Frank Scott, the first enlisted person to be killed in an aviation crash. Frank Scott enlisted in the Field Artillery at Fort Slocum, N.Y., at the age of 24. A lengthy illness in July 1911 led to his reassignment to the Signal Corps Aviation School at College Park Flying Field, Md., where he later served as a mechanic for one of the Wright Type-B biplanes. Interested in flying, Corporal Scott asked Lieutenant Lewis Rockwell to take him along on a flight. The unfortunate opportunity came Sept. 28, 1912.
First, Lieutenant Rockwell made a solo run over College Park at the remarkable speed of 40 miles-per-hour with a crowd of 300 watching below. Confident everything was in good order; he landed and brought Corporal Scott on board. After reaching 150 feet, the pilot leveled off and soared for about 10 minutes. But as he brought the plane in for a landing, the craft developed engine trouble and crashed to the ground in pile of splintered wood and torn canvas. Corporal Scott was killed instantly, and Lieutenant Rockwell died later that evening.
Both men were buried in Arlington National Cemetery on Oct. 1, 1912. ?e decision to name the aviation site at Belleville after Corporal Scott is a lasting tribute to those who lost their lives during the early years of military aviation. Construction was completed by the end of August, and the first flight from Scott Field occurred on Sept. 2, 1917, in a Standard biplane. Ultimately, Curtiss JN-4D "Jennies" would become the primary trainer because the eight-cylinder, 90-horsepower craft could be operated from either the front or rear seat position. Flying instruction began on Sept. 11, 1917, and just seventeen days later, pilot cadet trainee Cadet Merrit O. White made the first solo flight. Everything moved fast in a wartime environment, including the dangerous act of learning to fly airplanes. A judgment error or weather shift could produce severe accidents in the fragile aircraft of the day, so it soon became apparent that Scott Field needed a medical air evacuation capability.
Determined to improve the recovery of downed Scott pilots, Captains Charles Bayless (post surgeon), Earl Hoag (officer-in-charge of flying) and A. J. Etheridge (post engineer), along with Second Lieutenant Seth Thomas, designed two air ambulances, or hospital ships, by modifying Jenny aircraft to carry patients. On Aug. 24, 1918, Scott's air ambulance transported its first patient after an aviator broke his leg. Despite the many jokes made about the "red coffin," its presence was undoubtedly reassuring to all.
Also reassuring, was the support Scott Field members enjoyed from the local community. Plenty of curious sightseers came just to watch the construction or catch a glimpse of airplane activity, but many from the local community also gave morale support to their "Sammies" (Uncle Sam's boys). They hosted dances and receptions, established a library branch on the field, and invited soldiers into their homes for Thanksgiving dinners. Likewise, Scott Field hosted sporting events with their community neighbors and, on Aug. 17, 1918, they invited the public to attend a Field Meet and Flight Exhibition—Scott's first Air Show.
Scott Field's future became uncertain after the Nov. 11, 1918, signing of the armistice ending World War I. Large scale demobilization closed many air fields. Scott's remaining units were organized into a Flying School Detachment, and the field itself was designated as a storage site for demobilized equipment. Welcome news came early in 1919, with the War Department's announcement of its decision to purchase Scott Field—a decision influenced by Scott's central location and exceptional purchase price of just $119,285.84. This gave Scott a promise of a future, but it still lacked a mission. The new mission came in 1921, when Scott Field was selected to become a lighter-than-air (LTA) station—the first inland airship port in the nation. Many new facilities had to be built to accommodate its new balloon/airship mission. The most notable addition was the three-block long, one-block wide, 15-story high airship hangar. It was second in size only to the naval station hangar in Lakehurst, N.J. Many dirigible speed records and balloon altitude records were set at Scott during this period; however this mission came to an abrupt end in 1937, when the Chief of the Army Air Corps decided to stop all lighter than air activities.
The following year, Scott was chosen to become the new home to the General Headquarters Air Force (GHQAF). To prepare for the new headquarters mission, the old wooden buildings, airship mooring mast and even the airship hangar had to be taken down. (Today, only Building P-7, a 1923 electric substation remains.) The old Scott Field LTA station more than doubled in size as the Works Progress Administration and numerous contractors constructed nearly 100 colonial style buildings—including Hangar 1, P-2 main gate, P-3 headquarters—and four one-mile long concrete runways.
With the outbreak of World War II, the headquarters move was cancelled and Scott reverted back into a training installation. Its communications training era began in September 1940 with the opening of the Radio School. To accommodate the new training mission, Scott Field went through yet another period of expansion and construction. Area 1, adjacent to the new colonial structures, was built to accommodate 2,205 students; Area 2, on the south end of the airfield, was built to accommodate another 5,670 students. And still more support facilities were built on the east side of the airfield in Area 3, and south end in Area 4. Completed in the 1940s, many of these structures continue to be used today.
During World War II, Scott's Radio School set out to produce, as its slogan professed, "the best damned radio operators in the world!" Often referred to the "eyes and ears of the Army Air Forces," Scott's 77,370 graduates flew in aircraft and operated command and control communications in every Theater of the War. While all had been important to the nation's victory, two of the schools more well known graduates were Medal of Honor recipient Technical Sergeant Forrest Lee Vosler, and the future first Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, Paul Airey.
?e U.S. Air Force became a separate service on Sept. 17, 1947, and a few months later on Jan. 13, 1948, Scott Field was redesignated as Scott Air Force Base. Throughout the USAF transition, and into the Korean War, Scott's primary mission remained technical training; however Scott's aeromedical evacuation mission continued to grow. By the end of 1950, Douglas C-54 Skymasters were brining 200 patients a week to Scott. In October 1957, Scott realigned from Air Training Command to the Military Air Transport Service; starting its transition to air mobility— primarily aeromedical evacuation. The last remaining training classes closed in February 1959, ending Scott's technical training era. Aeromedical evacuation operations continued to grow and in 1964, Scott's host wing was redesignated as the 1405th Aeromedical Transport Wing to reflect its new role as the lead for all continental U.S. aeromedical evacuation operations. Increasing importance placed on airlift led to the Military Air Transport Service being redesignated as Military Airlift Command in 1966. Associated with this reorganization, the 1405th was discontinued and its mission and resources (even its emblem and motto) were absorbed by the newly activated 375th Aeromedical Airlift Wing. The addition of a fleet of C-9A Nightingales in 1968 further expanded the 375th's aeromedical mission, leading to the activation of a 1400th Air Base Wing to manage Scott AFB.
The Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973; the same year Scott's Patient Airlift Center coordinated 61 aeromedical missions to bring 357 former Prisoners of War back to the U.S. in Operation HOMECOMING. (One of the mission C-141s will be displayed in the airpark.) In June 1973, the 1400th Air Base Wing inactivated returning host wing responsibilities to the 375th Aeromedical Airlift Wing. By 1975, the 375th had gained responsibility for the worldwide aeromedical evacuation system. As a result, the 375th played a role in a myriad of aeromedical evacuation missions ranging from the movement of Jonestown, Guyana, airstrip ambush survivors in 1978, to evacuation of freed American hostages from Iran in 1981, to evacuation of Marines from Beirut barracks bombing in 1983.
The 375th gained another big mission in 1978; the continental U.S. operational support airlift (OSA). This mission had grown dramatically over the years. Scott received its first T-39A (later CT-39A) Sabreliner in 1962, for training and some OSA missions. After 1978, the 375th was managing a dispersed continental fleet of 104 Sabreliners flying a combined 92,000 hours a year. The CT-39As began to be phased out in 1984, the same year the first three Gates C-21A Learjets arrived at Scott. As the Cold War drew to a close, the Air Force began implementing a new "objective wing" structure that enabled wings to operate multiple types of aircraft. Under this 'one base, one wing, one boss' concept, the various aeromedical units realigned to their respective host wings. As the 375th reorganized, it transitioned to a Military Airlift Wing in 1990 and to an Airlift Wing in 1991.
In 1992, Military Airlift Command inactivated— as did many Cold War-era major commands—and its personnel and assets were recombined with others to form a new Air Mobility Command (AMC). With its activation, AMC took up residence in MAC's headquarters building and replaced it as the Air Force component of U.S. Transportation Command—a DoD Unified Command headquartered on Scott since its 1987 activation. Later in the 1990s, two new partners joined Scott's team, the MidAmerica Airport and the 126th Air Refueling Wing (Illinois Air National Guard). A 1987 Federal Aviation Administration authorization, followed by a 1991 joint use agreement— and a considerable amount of construction— resulted in the 1998 opening of the new MidAmerica Airport. Similarly, the 1992 realignment of refueling units to AMC, plus the planned MidAmerica construction, led to a 1995 Base Realignment and Closure committee recommendation to relocate the 126th Air Refueling Wing (ANG) from O'Hare International Airport to Scott AFB—a relocation that was completed in October 1999. The result was a win-win situation enabling all to share in Scott's new modernized and expanded capabilities.
Into the next decade, AMC went through a major reorganization to establish its warfighting headquarters. AMC's Fifteenth and Twenty-First Air Forces became Expeditionary Mobility Task Forces in 2003. They, along with all AMC's wings and independent groups realigned to a newly activated Eighteenth Air Force—on inactive status since 1958. ?e new ready mobility operations capability would speed AMC's support for contingencies and humanitarian missions.
The 375th also underwent a major transition in 2003, as age, noise, maintenance, and lack of demand, led to the Air Force's retiring the C-9A Nightingale fleet. In the years that followed, the C-21A operational support airlift fleet was reorganized and reduced. Together these events caused a flying mission restructuring that today has Scott's three wings using a diverse mix of assigned and non-assigned aircraft to support aeromedical airlift, operational support airlift, and air refueling missions.
