FOR RESIDENTS
2012 Aeromodeling Expo - Sat, Feb 25th 16-Feb-2012
Wings Over the Rockies Museum presents the 2012 Aeromodeling Expo on Saturday, Fe..
Firehouse Theater Presents Coronado Feb 24th thru March 24th 16-Feb-2012
Firehouse Theater presents Coronado By Dennis Lehane Directed by Luke..
LRA Board of Directors - Tuesday, February 28th 28-Feb-2012
4th Tuesday of every month 7:30-8:00 a.m. executive session 8:00-10:00 a...
LRA Design Review Committee - Thursday, March 1 01-Mar-2012
Thursday 8:00-10:30 a.m. Meeting Location: 200 Quebec Street, Bldg 600 S..
history of lowry
Origins
In 1934 the Army Air Corps realized it was outgrowing its facilities at Chanute Field, Illinois and began looking for a new facility where it could consolidate all of its Air Service Technical training schools.
After looking at more than 80 sites across the nation, a military committee submitted a list to Congress with the names of six cities that would meet their needs. Denver ranked first, and Congress approved the Air Corps project in 1937, but Chanute remained the headquarters of the Air Corps Technical School & home to the aircraft mechanics school.
The Army formed a new branch for armament & photography training in Denver, and on October 4, 1937 the Works Progress Administration (WPA) began work to convert the grounds of the former Agnes Memorial Sanatorium into a modern airfield.
In February 1938 Lowry Field came under the jurisdiction of the Air Corps Technical School, still headquartered at Chanute. The Departments of Photography and Armament moved to Lowry, followed in September by the Department of Clerical Instruction.
Classes in aerial photography began at Lowry in 1938 and aircraft arrived in June of that year. The first aircraft to land on the new paved runway was a B-18 Bolo. The sanatorium's main building became the base headquarters. In addition, the largest single barracks, housing 3,200 men, was completed in mid-1940.
World War II
Initially assigned to the Air Corps (Later Army Air Forces) Technical Training Command, the Army Air Forces Flying Training Command redesignated as the Army Air Forces Training Command on 7 July 1943, assumed responsibility for both flying and technical training. Lowry Field became the headquarters of the Western Technical Training Command.
Lowry specialized in technical training of aerial photography image interpreters at the beginning of the war, later expanding to armament, and clerical schools during Jul 1943-Jan 1944. Lowry changed from a technical school to a predominantly flying installation when flight engineering, B-29 pilot transition, and B-29 crew training began in 1943. In 1944, the flying training increased with the addition of B-29 Flight Engineer training.
Postwar era
With the end of the war, Lowry became a separation station for the Armed Forces. By the end of the 1945, Lowry was processing an average of 300 discharges a day.
In mid-October 1945, AAF Training Command delegated all stations and activities of the Headquarters Western Technical Training Command from Lowry to the new Technical Training Command at Scott Field, Illinois as part of the initial draw down of the AAF after the end of World War II. On 1 July 1946, Lowry was assigned to the Army Air Forces new Air Training Command, which it would be a part of for almost the next 50 years.
The postwar mission of Lowry again turned to Intelligence Training, as by mid- 1946 most of these people had left the service, returning to their civilian occupations. As a result, HQ AAF directed Air Training Command and Air University to establish formal courses, which were established at Lowry in July 1947. Courses taught were focused on basic training in intelligence techniques needed for combat reporting, photographic intelligence, prisoner of war interrogation, and briefing and interrogation of combat crews.
On 24 June 1948, Lowry Field was renamed Lowry Air Force Base as a result of the United States Air Force becoming a separate branch of the Armed Forces of the United States. On 26 August 1948, the 3415th Technical Training Wing was established at Lowry to command and control all training organizations at the base.
Cold War
With the beginning of the Korean War, Lowry Air Force Base expanded its training program. Courses taught, in addition to photography and armament, included rocket propulsion, missile guidance, electronics, radar-operated fire-control systems, computer specialties, gun and rocket sights, and electronically operated turret systems.
Also during the 1950s, Lowry functioned as President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Summer White House from 1952 - 1955.
In July 1954 USAF officials named Lowry as the interim site for the new United States Air Force Academy. At the same time, Strategic Air Command also wanted to use Lowry to support missile units. According to the USAF, Lowry had to support the new academy, and if necessary, training could be relocated so that facilities were available for the academy. In fact Lowry did have to transfer training. Beginning in September, the 3415th TTW moved intelligence, comptroller, and transportation training programs to Sheppard AFB. Lowry was the interim home for the USAF Academy until construction was completed in Colorado Springs in 1959.
On June 7, 1951, Lowry's 3415th Technical Training Wing formed a Guided Missiles Department. It taught courses in guidance, control, and propulsion for such systems as Matador, Falcon, Rascal, Snark, and Navaho. In late 1955, President Eisenhower approved recommendations of the National Security Council to research and develop an intercontinental ballistic missile program. At the same time, all of the services were preparing plans for their individual missile programs. In the Air Force, training responsibility was assigned to Lowry, which developed the first general courses in 1956, and plans called for other courses to open at Chanute AFB in 1957, Amarillo AFB in 1958, and Sheppard AFB in 1959. In 1958, Nuclear Weapons Training began at Lowry. By 1962, the Department of Missile Training was providing the Air Force with over 1,000 trained missile specialists per year.
On March 13, 1958, the Air Force Ballistic Committee approved the selection of Lowry to be the first Titan I ICBM base. No doubt the close proximity of the Martin Company Titan missile production plant influenced the site selection. Construction of launchers and support facilities began on May 1, 1959. Deployment of the missiles entailed a 3 x 3 configuration, meaning that each of the three complexes had three silos grouped in close proximity to a manned launch control facility
A reorganization in ATC in 1959 led to the 3415th TTW at Lowry be re-designated as the Lowry Technical Training Center.
The activation of the 848th SMS on February 1, 1960, marked the first stand-up of a Titan I Squadron. Construction on all nine silos at the three launch complexes for the former 848th, redesignated the 724th, was completed by August 4, 1961. On April 18, 1962, Headquarters SAC declared the 724th SMS operational, and 2 days later the first Titan Is went on alert status. A month later, the sister 725th SMS (initially designated the 849th SMS) declared it had placed all nine of its Titan Is on alert status, which marked a SAC first. Both the 724th and 725th Strategic Missile Squadrons formed components of the Lowry-headquartered 451st Strategic Missile Wing.
On November 19, 1964, Defense Secretary McNamara announced the phase-out of remaining first-generation Atlas and Titan I missiles by the end of June 1965. This objective was met; on June 25, 1965, the 724th SMS and 725th SMS were inactivated. SAC removed the last missile from Lowry on April 14, 1965.[6]
In 1962, all DoD intelligence programs were consolidated at Lowry. Effective 1 July 1963, Air Training Command established the Armed Forces Air Intelligence Training Center as a named activity at Lowry, and its first students entered training on 17 July. By establishing the training center, the DoD consolidated all intelligence training at a single facility. In 1984 these courses were moved to Goodfellow AFB.
Flying activities had begun at Lowry in 1938, and through the years, many different aircraft had operated from the airfield, but by the mid-1960s airspace in the Denver area had become so crowded that in 1966 the Air Force directed Lowry to shift all of its flying activities to nearby Buckley Air National Guard Base.
The 1967 closure of Amarillo AFB led to the relocation of the 3320th Retraining Group from Amarillo to Lowry. The retraining group, with its mission to rehabilitate and return to duty airmen convicted of criminal offenses, started the move on 1 July and completed it on 1 September 1967. As the Vietnam War wound down, the number of airmen with psychiatric and behavioral reorientation for airmen with drug problems reduced, and the Special Treatment Center at Lackland AFB's workload declined. Therefore in 1947, ATC suggested and the Air Staff approved the transfer of those services to the 3415th Special Training Group at Lowry AFB.
A vast construction program began in 1970 for enlisted and officer billeting facilities, which replaced many of the World War II vintage barracks. Five large (1,000 man) dormitories were constructed and a 187-space mobile home park were completed by 1974. Other facilities included a youth center, a child-care center, a chapel, and a new Airmen’s Open Mess. In 1976, the Air Force Accounting & Finance Center & the Air Reserve Personnel Center opened in the Gilchrist Building (Building 444).
In 1972, the 3415th Technical Wing became the USAF School of Applied Aerospace Sciences with missile training continuing within the Department of Aerospace Munitions Training. In 1978, this department would be redesignated the 3460th Training Group.
Lowry first faced the base closure issue in 1978. Ultimately, the Air Force recommended keeping Lowry open at that time. With the base closure issue settled (for the time being), Lowry Technical Training Center introduced new & improved courses for the 1980s.
With the introduction of the LGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM in the mid 1980s, technical training was provided at Lowry, beginning in 1985. The base became the primary training center for USAF space operations courses and began Undergraduate Space Training for officers, as well as basic and advanced training in various intelligence disciplines for officers. In 1987, Air Training Command graduated its first undergraduate space training (UST) class in February at Lowry. Lowry also handled ground & armament training for the F-106, F-4, F-15, F-16, F-111, A-10,B-52 and B-1 bomber.
Lowry was also instrumental in training munitions handling for modified B-52 bomber. In 1980, Lowry Technical Training Center acquired a B-52D from Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, and stabilized another B-52 on base for use in training crews to load Air Launched Cruise Missiles (ALCMs) and Short Range Air Missiles (SRAMs).
Closure
The 1990s saw the beginning of the end at Lowry. The end of the Cold War, along with the resultant budget cuts & downsizing made base closure a reality.
In 1993, Lowry prepared to end 56 years of technical training. While training continued, Lowry’s command structure planned to implement the closure in an efficient manner. The Air Force deactivated the 3400th Technical Training Group on April 27, 1994. A parade & pass-in-review was planned, but the death of former President Richard Nixon caused the ceremonies to be postponed to the 28th. The official deactivation date, however, remained the 27th.
On 30 September 1994, the base officially closed.
The content of this article was re-used from a Wikipedia article, accessible at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowry_Air_Force_Base. Work is released under CC-BY-SA.