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Air Training Command: Difference between revisions
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=====Consolidation of Divisions===== | =====Consolidation of Divisions===== | ||
When the [[Berlin Blockade]] ended in 1949, the Air Force was again hit with reductions that resulted in forced reorganizations and reduced training. Austere postwar military budgets led to additional consolidations and all of the technical programs suffered from shortages of instructors...problems that existed with the schools throughout the early postwar era. The last half of 1949 was an exercise in austerity. President | When the [[Berlin Blockade]] ended in 1949, the Air Force was again hit with reductions that resulted in forced reorganizations and reduced training. Austere postwar military budgets led to additional consolidations and all of the technical programs suffered from shortages of instructors...problems that existed with the schools throughout the early postwar era. The last half of 1949 was an exercise in austerity. President Harry S. Truman decided that the country could only afford a 48-group Air Force and with only a minimum of operating funds available, the Secretary of Defense directed major spending cuts throughout the Department of Defense (DOD). In a reorganization, 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.<ref name="H1949">Manning, 1949 overview, p. 57.</ref> | ||
====Korean War==== | ====Korean War==== | ||
[[File:F-51 training Nellis Korean War.jpg|thumb|Students prepare to take off on a cross-country flight in [[F-51 Mustang]] fighters at [[Nellis AFB]], Nevada, 1950.]] | [[File:F-51 training Nellis Korean War.jpg|thumb|Students prepare to take off on a cross-country flight in [[F-51 Mustang]] fighters at [[Nellis AFB]], Nevada, 1950.]] | ||
The outbreak of the | The outbreak of the Korean War on 25 June 1950 indicated that ATC would soon see an increase in training requirements. By 1 July, the Air Force had directed ATC to accelerate training to fill the needs of a new 95-wing Air Force. A few days later, ATC found itself with a new mission: combat crew training.<ref name="H1950">Manning, 1950 overview, p. 57.</ref> | ||
ATC's primary mission in the Korean War was to train pilots, navigators and enlisted aircrew for combat and to fill the need of the expanded 95-wing USAF. The first school opened at [[Nellis AFB]], [[Nevada]]. In August, the Air Staff raised the rate of pilot production from 3,000 to 4,000 per year, and by the end of the year, it had climbed to 7,200. At the same time, the need for training technicians also rose. As it had in [[World War II]], ATC met the increased training requirements by contracting with civilian schools.<ref name="H1950"/> | ATC's primary mission in the Korean War was to train pilots, navigators and enlisted aircrew for combat and to fill the need of the expanded 95-wing USAF. The first school opened at [[Nellis AFB]], [[Nevada]]. In August, the Air Staff raised the rate of pilot production from 3,000 to 4,000 per year, and by the end of the year, it had climbed to 7,200. At the same time, the need for training technicians also rose. As it had in [[World War II]], ATC met the increased training requirements by contracting with civilian schools.<ref name="H1950"/> | ||
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====Cold War==== | ====Cold War==== | ||
Even as combat continued in Korea, during 1952 the Air Force expanded to meet the threat of the [[Cold War]] with the | Even as combat continued in Korea, during 1952 the Air Force expanded to meet the threat of the [[Cold War]] with the Soviet Union in Europe, and potentially a direct conflict with [[People's Republic of China|Communist China]] in Asia. As the Air Force expanded to meet those threats, ATC continued to expand as it activated five more flying training bases, bringing the number of primary installations to 42.<ref name="H1952">Manning, 1952 overview, p. 79.</ref> | ||
During the last half of 1952, however, the volume of training conducted steadily decreased as the supply of trained pilots and technicians met the Air Force demand in almost all areas. Air Training Command reached its Korean War peak of 176,446 personnel in June.<ref name="H1952"/> | During the last half of 1952, however, the volume of training conducted steadily decreased as the supply of trained pilots and technicians met the Air Force demand in almost all areas. Air Training Command reached its Korean War peak of 176,446 personnel in June.<ref name="H1952"/> | ||
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The first T-37/T-38 undergraduate pilot training course was held at [[Webb AFB]], Texas, in February 1962. During the next few years, increasing numbers of US service members went to Southeast Asia as military advisers to the South Vietnamese armed forces, but the effect on ATC was negligible.<ref name="FPT">Manning, Foreign Pilot Training, p. 44.</ref> | The first T-37/T-38 undergraduate pilot training course was held at [[Webb AFB]], Texas, in February 1962. During the next few years, increasing numbers of US service members went to Southeast Asia as military advisers to the South Vietnamese armed forces, but the effect on ATC was negligible.<ref name="FPT">Manning, Foreign Pilot Training, p. 44.</ref> | ||
When president | When president Lyndon B. Johnson increased America's military involvement in [[South Vietnam]] in 1965, there was a resultant increase in Air Force military and technical training. However, unlike previous wars, the Vietnam War did not result in a drastic increase in the command's bases or personnel. This was because ATC reverted to a split-phase program of basic military training, and because the command's training philosophy was geared toward generalized rather than specialized technical training.<ref name="STB">Manning, Split-Phase BMT Reborn, p. 160.</ref> | ||
[[File:3332 BMTS Flt 495 Dec 1966 Amarillo.jpg|thumb|left|USAF Basic Training graduation photo, 3332d BMTS Flight 495, December 1966, Amarillo AFB, Texas/]] | [[File:3332 BMTS Flt 495 Dec 1966 Amarillo.jpg|thumb|left|USAF Basic Training graduation photo, 3332d BMTS Flight 495, December 1966, Amarillo AFB, Texas/]] | ||
Pilot training gradually increased as the war dragged on. But officials reassigned many of ATC's best instructor pilots to the operational commands, creating severe flying training difficulties. Then in 1969, ATC's involvement in a program of training and equipping the [[Republic of Vietnam Air Force]] to become a self-sufficient, 40-squadron air force caused technical training production to surge by approximately 50 percent, to over 310,000. This increase, however, was not to last long.<ref name="FPT"/> | Pilot training gradually increased as the war dragged on. But officials reassigned many of ATC's best instructor pilots to the operational commands, creating severe flying training difficulties. Then in 1969, ATC's involvement in a program of training and equipping the [[Republic of Vietnam Air Force]] to become a self-sufficient, 40-squadron air force caused technical training production to surge by approximately 50 percent, to over 310,000. This increase, however, was not to last long.<ref name="FPT"/> | ||