Mather Air Force Base was named after
Second Lieutenant Carl Spencer Mather, a 25-year-old army pilot killed in a mid-air collision while training at
Ellington Field, Texas, on 30 January 1918.
Flight training Only a few
U.S. Army Air Service aircraft arrived with the 283d Aero Squadron; most of the
Curtiss JN-4 Jennys to be used for flight training were shipped in wooden crates by rail. Mather Field served as a base for primary flight training with an eight-week course. The maximum student capacity was 300. In 1917, flight training occurred in two phases: primary and advanced. Primary training consisted of pilots learning basic flight skills under dual and solo instruction. After completion of their primary training at Mather, flight cadets were then transferred to another base for advanced training. • Post Headquarters, Mather Field April 1918 – November 1919 • 200th Aero Squadron, June 1918 – November 1918 (redesignated as Squadron A, Mather Field July 1918) • 201st Aero Squadron, June 1918 – November 1918 (redesignated as Squadron B, Mather Field July 1918) • 283d Aero Squadron (II), April 1918 – November 1918 (redesignated as Squadron C, Mather Field July 1918) • 294th Aero Squadron (II), June 1918 – November 1918 (redesignated as Squadron D, Mather Field July 1918) • Squadron E, Mather Field July 1918 – November 1918 • Flying School Detachment (Consolidation of Squadrons A-E), November 1918 – October 1919 With the sudden end of World War I in November 1918, the future operational status of Mather Field was unknown. Many local officials speculated that the U.S. government would keep the field open because of the outstanding combat record established by Mather-trained pilots in Europe. Locals also pointed to the optimal weather conditions in the Sacramento area for flight training. Cadets in flight training on 11 November 1918 were allowed to complete their training, however no new cadets were assigned to the base. The separate training squadrons were consolidated into a single Flying School detachment, because many of the personnel at Mather were being demobilized. Flight training activities finally ceased on 8 November 1919. Mather was used by the aerial forestry patrol. It also was used intermittently to support small military units. However, with the return to a peacetime economy, Mather Field were deemed unnecessary as a military training facility, and it was closed on 12 May 1923. The War Department ordered the small caretaker force at Mather Field to dismantle all remaining structures and to sell them as surplus. Throughout the remainder of the 1920s, the War Department leased the vacant land to local farmers and ranchers. The Mather AFB general surveillance radar station was established after a second stage of "additional
Lashup stations and heavy radar equipment [was] authorized" in the fall of 1949. Site L-37 began operation with an
AN/CPS-6 in June 1950, and the
668th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was assigned on 1 January 1951 . The station later converted to
AN/FPS-20A and
AN/FPS-6 and AN/FPS-6B radars. By 1960 the station became a joint-use facility with the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and in 1961, the two height-finder radars were removed. The station became part of the
San Francisco Air Defense Sector with the radars providing radar data to the
Beale AFB DC-18 SAGE Direction Center via the
Burroughs AN/FST-2 Coordinate Data Transmitting Set at
Mill Valley Air Force Station (Z-28). The 668th was inactivated on 1 September 1961, and Detachment 2 of the
666th Radar Squadron performed subsequent operations until inactivated on 1 September 1966. The FAA operates the Mather radar site with an AN/FPS-91A of the
Joint Surveillance System.
Strategic Air Command On 1 April 1958,
Strategic Air Command (SAC)'s
4134th Strategic Wing composed of the
72d Bombardment Squadron and
904th Air Refueling Squadron was assigned to Mather AFB, the latter flying the
KC-135A Stratotanker. The
Strategic Wings were formed in the late 1950s as part of SAC's plan to disperse its heavy bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the
Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike. The wing had one squadron of
B-52 Stratofortresses with 15 aircraft. Four of the planes were maintained on 15-minute alert, fully fueled, armed, and ready for combat. The remaining planes were used for training in bombardment missions and air refueling operations. The wing also had a squadron of KC-135 tankers. The 4134th Strategic Wing was discontinued on 1 February 1963. Det. 1 320 BW operated at the old bomber alert area at
Mountain Home AFB, from 1969 until the spring of 1975 when it disbanded and the two bombers and two tankers returned to Mather. Concurrent with the inactivation of the 4134th, the
320th Bombardment Wing was activated and absorbed its assets. It operated as a tenant unit from 1963 to 1989, initially with the B-52F Stratofortress before converting in 1968 to the B-52G. The
441st Bombardment Squadron replaced the 72d and the 904th Air Refueling Squadron was transferred from the 4134th to the 320th.. In addition to SAC nuclear alert, the 320th also conducted conventional operations, including maritime missions in support of the U.S. Navy with aerial mines and
AGM-84 Harpoon missiles. The 320th was inactivated on 30 September 1989. The
940th Air Refueling Group, an
Air Force Reserve unit, moved to Mather AFB from
McClellan AFB in 1977, shortly after it transitioned to the KC-135A. Operationally-gained by SAC, the unit upgraded to the KC-135E in 1986. With SAC's inactivation in 1992, the unit was then gained by the
Air Mobility Command and redesignated the 940th Air Refueling Wing in 1993. Following the closure of Mather AFB, the 940th relocated back to McClellan AFB in 1993. When McClellan closed in 1998 the wing then moved to its current station at
Beale AFB.
Closure Parts of the airfield were listed on the
National Priorities List as a
Superfund site on 22 July 1987. The entire site was listed on 21 November 1989. On 30 September 1993, the , including of easements, of Mather AFB was decommissioned under the
1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission. Most of the base was transferred to
Sacramento County. Current sites of the former air force base include: •
Sacramento Mather Airport (1995) •
Mather Regional Park •
Veterans Administration Medical Center •
FAA Northern California Terminal Radar Approach Control
TRACON •
Mather Community Campus, a transitional living facility (1995).
Major commands to which assigned •
Army Air Service, March 1918–22 June 1922 •
Army Air Corps, 2 July 1926 – November 1932 • General Headquarters (GHQ) Air Force, 1 March 1935 : Redesignated: Air Force Combat Command, 20 June 1941 • Air Corps Flying Training Command, 23 January 1942 : Redesignated: AAF Flying Training Command, 15 March 1942 : Redesignated: AAF Training Command, 31 July 1943 •
Air Transport Command, 1 October 1944 • Army Air Force Training Command, 20 December 1945 : Redesignated:
Air Training Command, 1 July 1946 : Redesignated: Air Education and Training Command, 1 July-1 October 1993
Major units assigned • 283d Aero Squadron (later Squadron "C", Mather Field), 30 April 1918 – 8 January 1919 •
91st Aero Squadron, 3 November 1919 – 24 January 1920; 3 November 1920 – 1 May 1921 •
9th Aero Squadron, 27 April 1920 – 29 June 1922 • 28th Squadron, 20 September 1921 – 28 June 1922 •
20th Pursuit Group, 15 November 1930 – 14 October 1932 • 77th Air Base Group, 26 July 1941 – 19 January 1943 • 86th Air Base Group, 1 August 1941 – 24 November 1941 • 87th Air Base Group, 1 August 1941 – 24 November 1941 • Air Corps Advanced Flying School (later Army Air Corps Advanced Flying School, Army Air Force Pilot School, Specialized Two Engine), 15 May 1941 – 2 October 1944. • 67th Sub Depot, 12 August 1941 – 30 April 1944 • Army Air Force Navigation School, 27 May −5 November 1943 • 1505th AAF Base Unit, 15 September 1944 – 29 December 1945 • 1564th AAF Base Unit, 15 September 1944 – 29 December 1945 • Port of Aerial Embarkation, 4 September 1944 – 29 December 1945 • 2622d AAF Base Unit (later 2622d Air Force Base Unit), 20 December 1945 – 28 August 1948 • 417th AAF Base Unit, 1 October 1946 – 1 March 1947 • Army Air Force Bombardier School, Mather Field (later USAF Bombardier School, USAF Aircraft Observer's School, USAF Navigator School), 12 February 1946 – 1 October 1993 • 3535th Bombardier Training Wing (later 3535th Observer Training Wing, 3535th Aircraft Observer Training Wing, 3535th Navigator Training Wing), 26 August 1948 – 1 May 1963 : 3535th Air Base Group, 26 August 1948 – 1 April 1973 • 8604th Bombardment Training Group, 27 June 1949 – 28 May 1951 • USAF Advanced Flying School (Multi-Engine), 1 September 1953 – 1 August 1958 • 4134th Strategic Wing, 1 May 1958 – 1 February 1963 : 320th Bombardment Wing, 1 February 1963 – 30 September 1989 • 904th Air Refueling Squadron, 1 March 1959 – 1 October 1986 • 3d Aeromedical Evacuation Group, 2 July 1960 – 1 January 1967 • 323d Flying Training Wing, 1 April 1973 – 30 September 1993 • 940th Air Refueling Group, 1 January 1977 – 30 September 1993 ==Natural history==