With the demobilization of the Air Service after
World War I, the Army's air arm remained quite small during most of the interwar period. On 4 June 1920, the
National Defense Act of 1920 took effect and the
United States Army Air Service was statutorily recognized as the combatant air arm of the United States Army. At the time, the Air Service had 1,155 Regular officers; by year’s end, there were 975. Of that number, only 642 were pilots. With the opening of Randolph Field primary flight training was transferred from March to the new facility there. The Air Corps Training Center at Randolph Field was in charge of the entire Army pilot training program in the United States from 1931 to 1939. The Center developed an efficient, well-coordinated flying training program that focused on the quality of its pilots. It was not only critical to the development of military flight training, but also to the training of American pilots, who after graduation spread out over the world, some to commercial airline jobs in Latin America and the Philippines, others to the government or industry occupations that took them to Europe and Asia. However, the program only produced about 200 pilots a year. The creation of the GHQ Air Force made 1935 a banner year, as the air arm moved a step closer to that longed-for reality. GHQAF gave the Chief of the Air Corps responsibility for overseeing individual training at the flying schools. The Training Section reviewed the programs of instruction at the Primary and Advanced Flying Schools, the Air Corps Tactical School, and the Air Corps Technical School; reviewed training programs submitted by the War Department; supervised preparation and revision of pertinent training materials including manuals, regulations, circulars, and films; maintained various types of training records and statistics; and reviewed and recommended matters concerning the training of the National Guard and Air Reserve. In late 1937 Chief of the Air Corps Maj. Gen. Oscar Westover submitted to the General Staff a statement of Air Corps objectives that ratified pilot specialization and pinpointed desired stops in the now-established professional educational system along an upward path toward promotion and leadership. Following graduation from the Training Center, all officers would join a tactical unit for at least two years. Thereafter individuals might compete for additional education and training. In 1939 only two Air Corps flying schools were operating,
Randolph Field and, for advanced training, Kelly Field with Brooks as a subpost.
World War II On 24 May 1940, General
Henry H. Arnold submitted a plan to the
War Department for 3 training centers. When the new centers for the
West Coast (HQ at
Moffett Field CA) and
Southeast (
Maxwell Field AL) were established on 22 August 1940; the existing "Air Corps Training Center" was redesignated the
Gulf Coast Air Corps Training Center. Funding of a 30,000-pilot training program was approved on 5 April 1941, and included new GCACTC bases at "Enid, Okla.; Perrin Field, Sherman, Tex.; Waco, Tex.; Moore Field, Mission, Tex.;
Lubbock, Tex.; Midland, Tex.; and
Lake Charles, La." plus 16
civilian flight schools by October (a bombing range was also part of the center). ,
Pecos Army Airfield, &
Wink Field in
West Texas were part of the
West Coast ACTC. The
Central Instructors School began at Randolph in January 1942, and the first "flying sergeants" graduated as combat pilots in May 1942 "at a
civil contract flying school in the Gulf Coast Air Corps Training Center" (the school had moved to
Albuquerque Army Air Base by 28 February 1945). In conjunction with the USAAF Flying Training Command merging with the Technical Training Command; on 31 July 1943, the Gulf Coast Air Corps Training Center was redesignated as the Central Flying Training Command when the GCACTC schools were consolidated with the separate navigator training (4 schools including 1 at
Ellington Field that had been a bombardier school) and The consolidation supported January 1943
Casablanca Conference decision regarding airpower in the European Theatre and the resulting "
Combined Bomber Offensive from the United Kingdom" plan, which required aircrews for 4 development phases (944, 1192, 1746, & 2702 bombers) through 31 March 1944. By 1944,
Central Flying Training Command (CFTC) controlled a large number of training schools in the Southwestern United States and established several
Wings to provide organizational command and control over them, based on both training types and geography. The schools operated by CFTC part of the
Aviation Cadet Training Program. These were: •
Classification: This was the stage where it would be decided whether the cadet would train as a navigator, bombardier, or pilot •
Preflight: Ground training for all air cadets. Successful completion meant being assigned to a flying school for training. "Washouts" were returned to the regular Air Corps ranks for reassignment. •
Primary (Phase I): Taught basic flying using two-seater training aircraft. Usually taught by contract flying schools operated by the WFTC •
Basic (Phase II): Formation flying, air navigation, cross-country flying skills were taught. •
Advanced (Phase II): Single or multi-engine aircraft schools for cadets becoming fighter, bomber or transport pilots. After graduation, the successful Air Cadet received his "wings" and were commissioned
Second Lieutenants. In addition, experienced pilots in the field were sent to Training Command "transition schools" to acquire additional single or multi-engine flying ratings. In addition to the American Air Cadets, Cadets from the British
Royal Air Force and
Free French Air Force were trained in flying skills. CFTC also operated aircrew schools for
Navigators,
Bombardiers and
flexible aerial gunners.
Radio operators were centrally trained at
Scott Field, Illinois. Other aircrew positions, such as B-29 flight engineers and RADAR operators were also trained later in the war as training requirements presented themselves. This included the first jet pilots in 1945.
Postwar era Shortly after the end of World War II on 15 December 1945, Central Flying Training Command consolidated with Western Flying Training Command on 1 November 1945 and was re-designated Western Flying Training Command. This reflected the massive demobilization after the end of the war and the closure of the majority of the wartime training bases. On 15 December 1945 Western Flying Training Command consolidated with the Eastern Flying Training Command. The single entity became Army Air Forces Flying Training Command on 1 January 1946, with its headquarters at Randolph Field, Texas. On 1 November 1946, the Flying Training Command was re-designated as the Flying Training Division of the new
Air Training Command, established as part of the postwar reorganization of the Army Air Forces. By 1946, all the wartime Flying Training Wings were disbanded, and command and control were consolidated into the Flying Training Division. The flight 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 in 1948, the Base Units were discontinued, and ATC established new Pilot Training Wings at each base. This new plan made the training organizations uniform with the other major commands throughout the Air Force. In addition, the pilot training program was consolidated into two classes, Basic and Advanced. Also, the wide variety of training aircraft was reduced to streamline the training program. Jet training aircraft and courses were also added, along with helicopter training as the new wartime technologies were added into the postwar Air Force inventory as fully operational weapons systems. Austere postwar military budgets led to additional consolidations and all of the flying programs suffered from shortages of aircraft replacement parts, qualified maintenance personnel, and 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 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, Flying 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==