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The Technical Division, Air Training Command is an inactive
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 ...
unit. It was assigned to the
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 ...
, stationed at
Scott Air Force Base Scott Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in St. Clair County, Illinois, near Belleville and O'Fallon, east-southeast of downtown St. Louis. Originally Scott Field, it was one of 32 Air Service training camps established af ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
. It was inactivated on 14 November 1949.


History


Origins

Technical training in the Air Service began about the same time as pilot training. In order to keep its airplanes operational, there was a need for skilled mechanics and other technicians. At first, men who already possessed some mechanical experience received training at civilian trade schools and state universities. Problems arose and the expense led the Army to set up two mechanic schools, one at
Kelly Field Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-use airport, Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he ...
, Texas and another in a large building in
St Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...
that the War Department took over.Manning During
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the school at Kelly Field had trained over 2,000 more mechanics. Though the school in St Paul closed after the end of the war, Kelly remained in operation and trained some 5,000 more mechanics before January 1921. When the supply depot at Love Field, Dallas, closed in 1921 and moved to Kelly, the Air Service mechanics's school was forced to move to
Chanute Field Chanute may refer to: *Chanute, Kansas, United States **Chanute High School *Octave Chanute Octave Chanute (February 18, 1832 – November 23, 1910) was a French-American civil engineer and aviation pioneer. He advised and publicized many aviat ...
, Illinois. In 1922, the school was expanded when the photography school at
Langley Field Langley may refer to: People * Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name * Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer * Langley Wakeman Collyer (1885–1947), one ...
, Virginia, and the communications school at
Fort Sill Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (137 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark a ...
, Oklahoma, both joined the mechanics course at Chanute, congregating all technical training in the Air Service at that location. The facility at Chanute was re-designated as the Air Corps Technical School in 1926, with the former separate schools becoming "Departments". In 1930, two more Departments were established at Chanute, the Department of Clerical Instruction and the Department of Armament. Technical training expanded in 1938 at
Lowry Field Lowry Air Force Base (Lowry Field from 1938–1948) is a former United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) training base during World War II and a United States Air Force (USAF) training base during the Cold War. From 1955-1958, it served as the i ...
, Colorado, when the Photography, Armament and Clerical instruction were moved from Chanute to the new facilities in Denver. In 1939, Scott Field, Illinois, came under the Air Corps Technical School when the Department of Basic Instruction, responsible for the basic training of all new recruits, was established at Scott. It moved to Chanute in 1940 when Scott became the Air Corps Radio school.


Technical Training Command

On 1 June 1939, the Air Corps Technical School at Chanute Field was elevated to the Command level, being re-designated as Air Corps Technical Training Command. With the expansion of the Air Corps after May 1940, technical training was expanded rapidly. By early November 1941, students were entering technical training at the rate of 110,000 per year, and after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the student flow rose sharply: 13,000 men entered technical training schools in January 1942 and 55,000 in December 1942. To accommodate this rapid growth in students, additional installations were established. New technical training bases included
Keesler Field Keesler Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Biloxi, Mississippi, Biloxi, a city along the Gulf Coast in Harrison County, Mississippi, Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. The base is named in honor of aviator 2nd ...
, Mississippi, and
Sheppard Field Sheppard Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located north of the central business district of Wichita Falls, Texas, Wichita Falls, in Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the largest training base and most divers ...
, Texas, both activated in 1941 with a mission of technical training. Also, because technical schools did not require flying facilities, the Army Air Forces took over a total of 452 hotels, as well as warehouses, theaters, convention halls, athletic fields, parking lots, and various other structures to accommodate student classroom space. The number of hotels at the peak of training included 337 in
Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean ...
; 62 in
St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...
; 46 in
Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...
; three in
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, and two in
Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...
. The heavy burden of the greatly expanded program for technical training had forced the Air Corps to establish the Air Corps Technical Training Command on 1 March 1941. Temporary headquarters for the new command was established at Chanute Field on 26 March; In September a permanent headquarters for the command was selected at Tulsa, Oklahoma. Further decentralization was achieved by grouping the technical schools into two districts. In a functional arrangement which placed basic military and aviation mechanic training under one command and remaining specialties under another, the first district included Scott Field, Lowry Field, and Fort Logan; the second district was composed of Chanute Field, Keesler Field, Sheppard Field, and Jefferson Barracks. This organization was abandoned on 1 November 1941 when Air Corps Technical Training Command revised the two districts and announced that four technical training districts would be established on a geographical basis to manage the expansion. These were: * First Technical Training District, Greensboro Center, North Carolina * Second Technical Training District,
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
* Third Technical Training District,
Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...
* Fourth Technical Training District,
Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
Later, in November 1942, a Fifth Training District with headquarters at
Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean ...
, was created to supervise the numerous technical training activities in Florida. On 31 July 1943, the Army Air Forces reorganized AAF Training Command with the establishment of subordinate commands, three for flying training and three for technical training. The five districts that had belonged to Technical Training Command were disbanded and realigned. * First District at Greensboro was replaced by the Eastern Technical Training Command * Second District in St Louis was replaced by the
Central Technical Training Command Central Technical Training Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was assigned to the Army Air Forces Training Command, stationed at Saint Louis, Missouri. It was inactivated on 1 March 1944. History The command was esta ...
(CTTC) * Fourth District in Denver was replaced by the
Western Technical Training Command Western Technical Training Command was a command of the United States Army Air Forces. It was assigned to the Army Air Forces Training Command, and stationed at Denver, Colorado throughout its existence. It was inactivated on 15 October 1945. ...
(WTTC) The Third District at Tulsa, Oklahoma was divided between WTTC and CTTC. The Fifth District in Miami Beach was absorbed into the ETTC. Requirements in the combat theaters for graduates of technical training schools and even pilots proved to be smaller than initially expected, so the Army Air Forces reduced the size of these training programs in January 1944. The Central Technical Training Command in St. Louis was discontinued 1 March 1944. All schools previously in the central command, with the exception of Keesler Field, became part of the eastern command. Keesler went to the western command. Simultaneously, the headquarters of Eastern Technical Training Command moved from Greensboro, North Carolina, to St Louis.


Postwar era

With the end of the war in September 1945, on 15 October Training Command delegated all stations and activities of the Western Technical Training Command to the jurisdiction of the Eastern Technical Training Command, which it re-designated as Technical Training Command. Its headquarters was moved to Scott Field, Illinois. Most training schools were closed as part of the demobilization of the armed forces. Technical Training Command retained seven bases as training schools: * Scott Field, Illinois : 3505th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Technical School) : 3310th Technical Training Wing * Chanute Field, Illinois : 3502d Army Air Forces Base Unit (Technical School) : 3345th Technical Training Wing * Keesler Field, Mississippi : 3704th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Technical School and Basic Training Center) : 3380th Technical Training Wing * Boca Raton Field, Florida : 3501st Army Air Forces Base Unit (Technical School, Radar) : School inactivated 5 May 1947 * Lowry Field, Colorado : 3705th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Technical School) : 3415th Technical Training Wing * Buckley Field, Colorado : 3702d Army Air Forces Base Unit (Technical School) : Placed on inactive status 10 July 1946; later became a sub-field of Lowry AFB * Amarillo Field, Texas. : 3701st Army Air Forces Base Unit (Technical School, Basic Training Center) : Placed on inactive status 17 July 1946 On 1 July 1946, with the establishment to
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 ...
, Technical Training Command was re-designated as Technical Division, Air Training Command. Also, the training schools at the bases which remained open were consolidated into the Army Air Forces (later Air Force) base units. After the establishment of the United States Air Force in September 1947 and the implementation of the
Hobson Wing-Base plan The Hobson Plan was an organizational structure established by the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1948, following experimental organization in 1947. Known as the "Wing-Base Organization," it replaced the organization used by the United States A ...
in 1948, the Base Units were discontinued, and ATC established new Technical Training Wings at each base. This new plan made the training organizations uniform with the other major commands throughout the Air Force. Boca Raton Field was severely damaged by several hurricanes in the fall of 1947. It had already been targeted for closure, but the hurricanes accelerated the move of what could be salvaged of its facilities to Keesler. It took Keesler personnel several weeks to dry out and repair radar equipment. As a result, the radar school didn't open at its new location until early 1948. Austere postwar military budgets led to additional consolidations and all of the technical programs suffered from shortages of instructors—problems that existed been with the schools throughout the postwar era. The last half of 1949 was an exercise in austerity. President
Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...
decided that the country could only afford a 48-group Air Force. With only a minimum of operating funds available, the Secretary of Defense directed major spending cuts throughout the Department of Defense (DOD). In a re-organization, 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.


Lineage

* Constituted as the Eastern Technical Training Command : Activated on 31 August 1943 : Redesignated Army Air Forces Technical Training Command on 15 October 1945 : Redesignated Technical Division, Air Training Command on 1 July 1946 : Inactivated on 14 November 1949


Assignments

*
Army Air Forces Training Command The United States Army Air Forces during World War II had major subordinate Commands below the Air Staff level. These Commands were organized along functional missions. One such Command was the Flying Training Command (FTC). It began as Air Cor ...
(later Air Training Command), 31 August 1943 – 14 November 1949


Schools

* Basic Training Center #7,
Atlantic City Training Center The Atlantic City Training Center is a closed United States Army Air Forces center in Atlantic City in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. It was last assigned to the United States Army Air Forces Personnel Distribution Command. It was ...
, New Jersey * RADAR Technical School,
Boca Raton Army Airfield Boca Raton Army Air Field was a World War II United States Army Air Forces airfield, located northwest of the 1940s borders of Boca Raton, Florida. During World War II, it operated the only training for the then new and secret technology of ra ...
, Florida * Basic Training Center #10; HQ ETTC,
Greensboro Training Center The Greensboro Training Center (Greensboro Overseas Replacement Depot) is a closed United States Army Air Forces installation. It was last assigned to the United States Army Personnel Distribution Command. It was closed on 15 December 1946. ...
, North Carolina * Aircraft Mechanics Technical School; Basic Training Center, Gulfport Field, Mississippi * Aircraft Mechanics/Weapons Technical School; Basic Training Center #2,
Keesler Field Keesler Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Biloxi, Mississippi, Biloxi, a city along the Gulf Coast in Harrison County, Mississippi, Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. The base is named in honor of aviator 2nd ...
, Mississippi (Reassigned to WTTC, 1 March 1944) * Basic Training Center #4; Officer Candidate School,
Miami Beach Training Center Miami is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a population of 6.14 million, is the second-largest metropoli ...
, Florida * Weapons/Photography Technical School; Basic Training Center #9, Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina * Basic Training Center #6, St. Petersburg Training Center, Florida (moved to Lincoln AAF Nebraska, WTTC, 1943) * Intelligence Technical School; Aviation Cadet School; Radio Technical School,
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
,
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Added 1 March 1944 when consolidated with
Central Technical Training Command Central Technical Training Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was assigned to the Army Air Forces Training Command, stationed at Saint Louis, Missouri. It was inactivated on 1 March 1944. History The command was esta ...
: * Aircraft Mechanics Technical School,
Chanute Field Chanute may refer to: *Chanute, Kansas, United States **Chanute High School *Octave Chanute Octave Chanute (February 18, 1832 – November 23, 1910) was a French-American civil engineer and aviation pioneer. He advised and publicized many aviat ...
, Illinois * Aircraft Engine Technical School, Stout Army Air Field, Indiana * Basic Training Center #1,
Jefferson Barracks The Jefferson Barracks Military Post is located on the Mississippi River at Lemay, Missouri, south of St. Louis. It was an important and active U.S. Army installation from 1826 through 1946. It is the oldest operating U.S. military installatio ...
, Missouri * Radio Mechanics/Radio Operation Technical School, Scott Field, Illinois * Radio Mechanics/Aircraft Radio Maintenance Technical School, Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota * Radio Mechanics/Radio Operation Technical School, Tomah Army Airfield Technical School, Wisconsin * Radio Mechanics/Radio Operation Technical School, Truax Field, Wisconsin


Stations

* Greensboro Center, North Carolina, 1 November 1941 * St. Louis, Missouri, 1 March 1944 * Scott Field, Illinois, 15 October 1945 – 14 November 1949


References


Notes


Bibliography

* Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas {{Portal bar, Aviation Training commands of the United States Army Air Forces Military units and formations established in 1946 Divisions of the United States Air Force Military units and formations disestablished in 1949 1946 establishments in Illinois 1949 disestablishments in Illinois