A Brief History of Lowry Air Force Base
By 1934, the Army Air Corps had outgrown its facilities at Chanute
Field, Illinois, and was actively searching for a site for all of its Air Service
Technical training schools.
After looking at more than eighty sites across the nation, a military committee
submitted a list to Congress with the names of six cities that would meet their
needs. Denver ranked first.
Congress approved the Air Corps project in 1937, but Chanute remained the headquarters
of the Air Corps Technical School and home to the aircraft mechanics school.
The Army formed a new branch for armament and photography training in Denver.
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) began work October 4, 1937 to convert
the grounds of the former Agnes Memorial Sanatorium into a modern airfield.
The new field was to be named in honor of Francis B. Lowry.
Francis Brown Lowry
Francis Brown Lowry was born in Denver on December 1, 1894. Second Lieutenant
Brown died September 26, 1918 when, while serving as an aerial observer, his
plane was shot down by German antiaircraft fire. He was originally buried
in Argonne Cemetery in Romagne, France. In 1921 his remains were transferred
to Denver’s Fairmount Cemetery, adjacent to the land that was to become
Lowry Field.
Lowry’s name was first used for an airfield in 1924, when the Colorado
Air National Guard dedicated an installation in the vicinity of 38th Avenue
and Dahlia Street, east of the present-day Park Hill Golf Club. This installation
served the Guard until 1938 when it was inactivated.
The Early Years
Once construction started, the Denver branch of the Army Air Corps became
an Army post of 880 acres. A bombing range of 64,000 acres was acquired in
1938. In 1941, the Army acquired an additional 960 acres a few miles to the
east as an auxiliary landing field, and named it Buckley Field.
Classes at Lowry began on February 28, 1938. Ten students graduated from the
Armament Department on March 19, 1938. Several months later, ten photography
students received diplomas in advanced aerial photography.
Flying Activity at Lowry
While construction was underway, the Army kept aircraft assigned to the Denver
branch at the Municipal Airport, where they shared a hangar with the Colorado
National Guard. When Lowry’s first unpaved runway became operational
on April 4, 1938, the first of four portable National Guard hangars was erected.
On June 30, nine aircraft flew from Municipal Airport to Lowry Field. Construction
continued and Hangar No. 1 was completed in August 1939, the 8,000-foot north/south
runway was completed in December. The first aircraft to land on the new, paved
runway was a B-18A, similar to one displayed in the Museum.
Gearing Up for War
In January 1940, Lowry Field had a complement of 44 officers, 1,350 enlisted
men including 600 students, and 27 aircraft. As the international situation
worsened, the Army acquired additional land. Following December 7, 1941, the
inflow of trainees increased.
The Army Air Corps became the Army Air Force on June 20, 1941. The Air Force
initially set a goal of training more than 15,000 men in the period July 1,
1941 to June 30, 1942. In January 1942, the War Department tasked Lowry with
annually training 57,000 men. To accommodate the larger student population,
construction of Lowry Field No. 2 was begun.
Lowry No. 2 was built on the northeast side of the post beyond Sixth Avenue.
It opened in July 1942. In addition, Armament School No. 2 was established
at Buckley Field. Lowry trained only bombardment armorers while Buckley prepared
armorers for fighter aircraft.
In October 1943, Lowry Flight Engineers School was moved to Lowry. In 1944,
Lowry introduced courses in radar photography, autopilot maintenance, and
B-29 crew training. In April 1945, the Crash Fire Fighting and Rescue School
moved to Lowry from Buckley Field. Also in 1945, production of B-29 Superfortresses
reached a level that necessitated another school for pilot and crew training.
Forty-two B-29s arrived at Lowry in May and the six-week course began in July.
At war’s end, two classes remained at Lowry along with thirty-nine Superfortresses.
The classes never completed training. The end of the war in Europe in May
and V-J Day on August 15 ended Lowry’s short history as a pilot transition
training school.
Lowry quickly returned to a peacetime schedule. Staffing decreased and student
enrollment plummeted. It became a separation center for returning veterans.
By the end of the 1945, Lowry was processing an average of 300 discharges
a day.
Lowry in the 50's
In 1948, with the postwar reorganization of the military, Lowry Field became
Lowry Air Force Base. The 1950s saw the beginning of the Cold War, a new Selective
Service Act, and the entry of the Air Force into the aerospace age. Jet-powered
aircraft, guided missiles, nuclear ordnance, and electronic and computerized
equipment were introduced into the inventory. And North Korea attacked across
the 38th Parallel.
The Korean War
Lowry Air Force Base immediately responded to the North Korean incursion with
an expanded training program. Courses taught, in addition to photography and
armament, included rocket propulsion, missile guidance, electronics, radar-operated
fire-control systems, computer specialties, gun and rocket sights, and electronically
operated turret systems. Lowry lost one of its traditional courses, aerial
photography, in February 1956. Changing technology in the form of remote-control
cameras on reconnaissance aircraft made aerial photography specialists redundant.
Programs in camera repair and ground photography, however, continued to be
taught.
In 1954, President Eisenhower signed a bill authorizing an Air Force Academy.
Lowry was selected as the Academy’s interim home until construction was
completed in Colorado Springs. The first class of cadets arrived in July 1955.
The Air Force Academy occupied facilities at Lowry No. 2 until 1958.
The 1960's
The 1960s marked the end of an era at Lowry. The 3415th Technical Training
Wing became Lowry Technical Training Center. Headquarters shifted from the
Sanatorium buildings. Flight activity began to be phased out. The base was
closed to all transient air traffic in June 1960. Four years later, Lowry’s
remaining flight operations were shifted to Buckley. All flying activities
ceased completely in June 1966 when the last T-29 was flown out of Lowry to
Buckley.
New programs were added. Titan I missiles were installed on the old bombing
range. Intelligence training returned, and airmen were trained for the Southeast
Asia conflict.
The Century Series fighters became the main-line fighters for the Aerospace
Defense Command and the Tactical Air Command. Wings Over the Rockies has examples
of the F-100, F-101, F-102, F-104, and the F-105 as well as their predecessors,
the RF-84K and the F-86. Although not a Century Series fighter aircraft, the
F-111 tactical bomber is also in the Museum, as is the F-4E Phantom, used
in Vietnam by both the Air Force and for Navy carrier operations.
In 1962, the Department of Weapons Training offered sixty courses in conventional
munitions, disaster control, armament, nuclear weapons, and weapons loading.
The Nuclear Weapons branch became the only Air Force organization that instructed
in storing, maintaining, assembling, testing, and handling nuclear components.
By 1964, the 3415th Technical School was graduating more than 10,000 people
annually.
The 1970's
The
look of Lowry began to change in the 1970s. Almost 200 WWII-era wooden buildings
were replaced with brick structures. The new facilities included five dormitories
housing 1,000 people each, a youth center, a child-care center, a chapel,
an Airmen’s Open Mess, and five buildings for the 3320th Correction and
Rehabilitation Group. In 1976, the Air Force Accounting and Finance Center
and the Air Reserve Personnel Center opened in the Gilchrist Building (Building
444).
To put more emphasis on technical training and the aerospace mission, the
Air Training Command reorganized its schools in 1972. The 3415th Technical
School became the USAF School of Applied Sciences—Lowry, comprised of
Avionics, Aerospace Photography, Aerospace Munitions, Special Instruments,
and Logistics departments.
In 1977, the Air Training Command was realigned along more traditional military
lines. Lowry’s school became the 3400th Technical Training Wing. The
training departments became technical training groups. They were the 3420th
Intelligence, 3430th Audiovisual, 3440th Logistics, 3450th Avionics, and 3460th
Munitions groups. The basic wing-group structure continued into the 1980s.
Lowry first faced the base closure issue in 1978. Ultimately, the Air Force
recommended keeping Lowry open.
The 1980's
With
the base closure issue settled, Lowry Technical Training Center introduced
new and improved courses for the 1980s. Lowry became the primary training
center for space operations courses and began Undergraduate Space Training
for officers.
Lowry also handled ground and armament training for the F-15, F-16, A-10,
and B-1 bomber, as well as the Short Range Attack Missile (SRAM). Lowry was
also instrumental in training munitions handling for modified B-52 bombers.
On October 1, 1987, Lowry observed its 50th anniversary.
The 1990's
Characterized
by more reorganization, the 1990s saw the beginning of the end at Lowry. Budget
cuts and downsizing made base closure a reality. In 1993, Lowry prepared to
end fifty-six years of technical training. While training continued, Lowry’s
command structure planned to implement the closure in an efficient manner.
The Air Force deactivated the 3400th Technical Training Group on April 27,
1994. A parade and pass-in-review was planned, but the death of former President
Richard M. Nixon caused the ceremonies to be postponed to the 28th. The official
deactivation date, however, remained the 27th.
On September 30, 1994, the American flag came down for the last time at Lowry
Air Force Base, almost fifty-seven years to the day that it was first raised
at a new base.
Today houses, office buildings, businesses, and paved streets cover the land
once occupied by hundreds of acres of concrete runways. Wings Over the Rockies
Air and Space Museum preserves the memory of those active years.
Source (2008):
Wings Over the Rockies - Air & Space Museum Museum - 7711 East Academy Boulevard - Denver, CO 80230-6929 - 303.360.5360
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