News Letter 1941 Jul-Dec - Air Force Historical Studies Office

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Senior officers of the new Air Corps Maintenance
Command have begun developing a
component of approximately 1~000 officers,
10,000 enlisted men and 40,OOu civilian employees
to carry out the functions for whioh
the command was organized recently at Wright
Field.
Operating under the Chief of the Materiel
DivIsion, the Maintenance Command will have
complete responsibiHty for the storage,
issue, repair and maintenance of all supplies
and equipment required by the ArI!l1'
Air Forces ~der any conditions whatsoever
and In any location in which the Air
Forces may be called upon to operate."
The new unit will have three sections,the
command group, the staff group and the operating
group. The first will function under
Gen. Henry J. F. Miller, Chief of the Maintenance
Command. The second will be headed
by Col. E.E. Adler,Asst. Chief of Staff for
Plans, an.d the third by Lieut. Colonel F.S.
Borum. Colonel Borum also is Chief of the
Field Service Section.
The operating subdivision will include
one transport wing under the supervision of
the Chief of the Maintenance Command, with
headquarters at Wright Field. In this wing
will be placed the responsibility for the
organization, operating and training of all
transport groups.
wings of the Air Force Combat Command, further
subdivisions being located at the CODtrol
depots at Fairfield,Ohio. San Antonio,
Texas; Sacramento, Calif.; Middletown~ Pa.;
Scott Field, Ill.; Ogden, Utahi Mooile,
Ala.; Rome, N. Y.; Oklahoma City! ukla.; Ma.-
con Ga., and somewhere in Wash ngton. The
last four have not yet been established.
Mobile units also are to be established
in order that they m~ move into the fiefd
for temporary or semi-permanent basing in
cOfu.ection with any aircraft activities of
a "task" nature either in the continental
United States or anywhere outside the country
to which Air Force units might be sent.
Gen. Miller is expected to put into operation
in the Maintenance Command a number
of innovations for which he 1s well kno~
The idea of mobile repair uni t s, for instance,
was his while he was in command of
the San Antonio Air Depot. where he had
command for four yea~s before assuming hie
new post at Wright Field.
The value of the mobile unit was demo~
strated first by the repair of a B-17, complete
to the installation of new engines
and even to the extent of putUng in aluminum
rivets where needed, in the field in
which it was forced down. In another instance,
a B-23 not only was completely repaired
in the small field in which it made
a forced landing, but the field from which
There will be four maintenance wings, it flew out was built around it while the
with headquarters placed conveniently near repair job was going on.
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NEW A I R COR P S D E POT S
The Air Corps will have 11 large supply
and repair depots within the continental
United states when the present depot construction
program is completed. Four are
now in operation and two more are under construction.
The two new depots are at Ogden,
Utah, and Mobile, Ala.
Of the remaining five depots yet to be constructed,
the selection of sites for three
was announced in recent weeks. They are to
be located at Oklahoma City, Okla.; Rome,
~ew York, and Wellston, Ga.
The Oklahoma
City Depot
Thi;, d.epot will involve an outl~ of approximately
$14,036,215 to cover the construction
of the necessary housing accommodationa
for officers and men, and all the
necessary warehouses,hangars, repair shops,
gasoline storage tanxs! runways and aprons,
night lighting facilit es, etc.
The Rome Air Depot
The Air Depot near Rome,N.Y.twill embrace
an area 2f 2 000 acres ana.wil cost approximately
~13i~OO.000. About 2,800 civilians
will be emp oyea. initially at this depot
and the military personnel to be statione!
there will number about 350 officers and men.
A flying field will comprise part of the installation.
Plans and specifications call
for auto parks for employees,quarters, barracks,
hangars salvage yards airplane and
engine overha~ shops and ot~er facilities
to provide complete overhaul of airplanes,
engines! armament, radio, instruments ana.
other a rcraft accessories.
The Wellston, Ga., Air Depot
The site selected for this depot, 13 miles
south of Macon f
consists of approximately
2 200 acres. nitially to be employed at
t~is activity will be about 2,800 civilian ..
wi th a maximum of 5,400 if a three-shift work
program is requirea.. A flying field will
comprise part of the installation" as well
as three runw~s each measuring aoout 5,000
feet. Approximately 350 officers and men
will be stationed at the depot.
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BAPTISTS PROVIDE FUNDS
Recreational facilities for enlisted men
at Lowry Field and other military establishmenta
in the Denver area will be provided
with $8,000 appropriated for the purpose by
the Northern Baptist Convention. Chaplain Ray_
mond Collier. Lowry Field, has been advised.
The money is part of a total of $150,000
set aside by the Northern Baptist Convention
at its May meeting in Wichita. Kansas. for
recreation-
the use of communi ties prOViding
al facilities for soldIers.
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