DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the voice carryin' it to you. Picture it: World War I is raging across Europe, and the United States is scrambling to build up its military aviation forces. Somebody's got to find the land.
That somebody was Major Benjamin Foulois, and what he found was seven hundred acres of flat farmland — flat as a skillet, which is exactly what you want when you're landing airplanes — with a water supply, sitting near the Missouri-Pacific rail line, seven miles south of San Antonio. With U.S. Senator Morris Sheppard of Texas working to make it happen, the site was acquired and cleared.
Now here's the detail that'll stick with you. Aviation operations began at that field on April 5, 1917. The very next day — the very next day — the United States declared war on Germany.
One day between opening and war. That's not easing into anything. The field was named Kelly Field, in honor of George Edward Maurice Kelly — the first military pilot killed in a plane crash, at nearby Fort Sam Houston, back in 1911.
The name carried weight from the start. Kelly Field trained aviators, mechanics, and support personnel for war duty. After more land was acquired, the field divided into two: Kelly Number 1, which would later be renamed Duncan Field, and Kelly Number 2.
It was Kelly Number 2 that headquartered the Air Service Advanced Flying School. And if you want a sense of what kind of pilots came through those gates — Charles Lindbergh trained there. Curtis LeMay trained there.
Numerous future Air Force chiefs of staff trained there. That's not a flight school. That's a legend factory.
World War II brought a tremendous increase in both civilian and military workforce. Among them, the women who kept the place running and earned themselves a name in the process — the Kelly Katies. In 1947, the Air Force became an independent military service, and Kelly Field became Kelly Air Force Base.
Its people were significantly involved in air transport and maintenance through the Korean conflict, through the Cold War, through Desert Shield and Desert Storm. At its peak, Kelly Air Force Base was the largest employer in all of San Antonio. Let that land.
The largest. And then, in 2001, in response to peacetime defense spending cuts, Kelly Air Force Base realigned. From a single April morning in 1917 to that final chapter — the field that trained Lindbergh, the base that outlasted wars, the biggest employer in the city — it all ran its course right there, seven miles south of San Antonio.
What the marker says
As World War I raged in Europe, the United States began to build up and expand its military aviation forces. In his search for a new army aviation training site, Maj. Benjamin Foulois found 700 acres of flat farmland with a water supply near the Missouri-Pacific rail line, then seven miles south of San Antonio. With the help of U.S. Senator Morris Sheppard of Texas, the site was acquired and cleared. Aviation operations began here on April 5, 1917, the day before the United States declared war on Germany. Kelly Field, named for George Edward Maurice Kelly, the first military pilot killed in a plane crash at nearby Fort Sam Houston in 1911, trained aviators, mechanics and support personnel for war duty. After additional land was acquired, the field was divided into Kelly Number 1 (later renamed Duncan Field) and Kelly Number 2. The Air Service Advanced Flying School, which headquartered at Kelly Number 2, trained pilots including Charles Lindbergh, Curtis LeMay and numerous future Air Force chiefs of staff. During World War II, Kelly saw a tremendous increase in its civilian and military workforce, including women, who were known as "Kelly Katies." After the Air Force became an independent military service in 1947, the field became known as Kelly Air Force Base. Personnel at Kelly were significantly involved with air transport and maintenance during the Korean conflict, the Cold War, Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Once the largest employer in San Antonio, Kelly Air Force Base realigned in 2001 in response to peacetime defense spending cuts. (2001)