McCoy Air Force Base
McCoy Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base near Orlando, Florida. It was a training base during World War II, then after the war it became a Front-Line Strategic Air Command base during the Cold War.
Today it is Orlando International Airport.
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World War II
In 1940, the United States Army Air Force acquired 2,216 acres of scrubland southeast of Orlando to build a training base. When completed, it was named Orlando Army Air Field Number Two and was intended to support the training mission of Orlando Air Base six miles to the north.
In 1942, the facility was renamed Pinecastle Army Airfield and was used as a training base for B-17 bomber crews. Records indicate that planes from Pinecastle AAF performed test bombing of chemical munitions at the Pinecastle bombing and gunnery range.
It is uncertain whether the chemical warfare materials used in these tests were stored at Pinecastle Army Airfield or transported from the Orlando toxic gas and decontamination yard a few hours before a bombing run.
With the end of World War II, Pinecastle was used by Bell Aircraft Corp in the testing and development of the X-1 supersonic aircraft, originally designated the XS-1s.
Ship No. 1 flew the first unpowered glide tests at Pinecastle in early 1946. In March the X-1 program was relocated to Muroc AAF, California. The move was a logistics issue as much as anything, as Pinecastle was deemed not suitable for the project.
A move to the remote California desert ensured the X-1 project team could maintain secrecy, an important issue considering the project was classified at the time. In addition, Muroc had an expansive landing area, thanks to the surrounding dry lakebeds, and better visibility. The plane's high sink rate and the problems of keeping the plane in sight amid Florida's frequent clouds added two more votes in favor of the (Army Air Force's) decision to go to Muroc.
With the X-1 project transferred, Pinecastle was deactivated and the entire site was transferred to the City of Orlando in 1947.
USAF Use
In 1951 the United States Air Force reactivated the facility and renamed it Pinecastle Air Force Base. Over the next 18 years additional land was acquired to expand the base, eventually becoming over 4,400 acres in size.
Its initial USAF use was as a B-47 training facility by Air Training Command. B-47 training started when Class 53-6A entered combat crew training on 22 December 1952.
On 1 January 1954 the B-47 combat crew training mission transferred to Strategic Air Command (SAC).
On 15 December 1953, the 321st Bombardment Wing was activated and on 24 May 1954, Colonel Michael N. McCoy was appointed its commander. The wing became Operationally Ready by June.
In July 1954 the 19th Bombardment Wing joined the 321st at Pinecastle and the two units came under the control of the 813th Air Division, commanded by Brigadier General Keith K. Compton.
The 813th was subsequently deactivated in the summer of 1956 when the 19th Bomb Wing moved to Homestead Air Force Base near Miami, Florida.
In September 1956, The 2nd Strategic Support Squadron, commanded by Lt. Col. Vernon Q. Mullin arrived. This unit was equipped with C-124 "Globemasters".
In November 1957 the base was host to the medium bombers participating in the annual Stratigic Air Command Bombing Navigation and Reconnaissance Competition. An aircraft accident took the lives of Colonel McCoy, Group Captain John Woodroffe of the Royal Air Force, Lt. Col. Charles Joyce and Major Vernon Stuff during preparations for this event.
Despite this tragedy, the 321st Bomb Wing, under the direction of its new commander, Colonel Robert W. Strong, Jr. Won the top honors of the meet, including the coveted Fairchild and McCoy trophies, distinguishing the 321st as the top B-47 Wing in SAC.
Another unit with distinction was assigned to Pinecastle AFB in November 1957. This was the 76th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, the modern descendants of the famous World War II "Flying Tigers." The 76th FIS was commanded by Major Morris F. Wilson and flew the F-89 "Scorpion" all weather interceptors.
On 7 May 1958 Pinecastle AFB was renamed McCoy Air Force Base in memory of the late Colonel Michael N. W. McCoy. Formal dedication ceremonies were held on 21 May 1958 in conjunction with a mammoth open house, during which an estimated 30,000 Floridians attended.
On 1 February 1961 the 76th FIS was transferred to Westover AFB, Mass. On 15 June, the 2nd Strategic Support Squadron inactivated.
In the summer of 1961, a complete reogranization of the base began. A program got under way to convert the base from B-47’s to heavy B-52 "Stratofortress"s bombers. The 321st Bomb Wing began phasing out its operations in June 1961. On 1 July 1961 the 321st was replaced by 4047th Strategic Wing (Heavy) was designated and organized. Its first commander was Lt. Col. Francis S. Holmes, Jr.
In August 1961 the first B-52’s were assigned to the new wing, and on 1 September 1961 the 347th Bomb Squadron was re-assigned from Westover AFB to McCoy AFB to fly the heavy bombers. On 15 September the 321st Combat Support Group was organized. Also, on that same date, Colonel William G. Walker, Jr. assumed command of the 4047th Strategic Wing.
The 321st Bomb Wing was discontinued on 25 October 1961, ending almost eight years of active service as one of SAC’s deterrent forces, Lieutenant Colonel Harry F. Baker was commander of the 321st when it was inactivated.
On April 1,1963, the 306th Bombardment Wing moved to McCoy AFB from MacDill AFB, and converted to B-52 and KC-135 aircraft. The assets of the 4047th Strategic Wing were absorbed the 306 BW during this time.
From 1965 until 1973, the wing supported Southeast Asia and Pacific operations on a regular basis. The 306 BW provided men and B-52s to form part of the 4047 SW deployed in Guam, Andersen AFB, and Okinawa, Kadena Air Base to support the Vietnam conflict, in 1966, September, supporting projects "Young Tiger" and "Arc Light". Later on they would fly out of U-Tapao Royal Thai Airfield, Thailand, and would be part of the bombing raids Linebacker I and Linebacker II over North Vietnam.
When not in Vietnam the Wing flew again out of McCoy, and in January 1968 received another OUC for this "double-duty". The 306th BW returned to McCoy from its Southeast Asia deployment in early 1973.
From 1971 through 1973 other training activities at McCoy included KC-135Q instruction by the 306th Air Refueling Squadron and KC-135A instruction by the 32nd Air Refueling Squadron.
In 1971 the 42d Air Division, was headquartered at McCoy. In September 1973 It was transferred to Blytheville Air Force Base, Arkansas.
In 1973, it was announced that McCoy AFB would be closed. Inactivation of the 306th Bombardment Wing began in 1973 and was completed in July 1974. Although a portion of McCoy AFB was transferred to the United States Navy, becoming an annex of the Orlando Naval Training Center, a majority of the facility was returned to the City of Orlando to complete what would become Orlando International Airport. What was transferred to the Navy would be returned to Orlando in the mid-1990s after the NTC's closure.
Current Uses
A major portion of the former McCoy AFB is currently owned by the city of Orlando and used for the Orlando International Airport. Most of the former air field is now the Orlando International Airport.All Tickets and Baggage tags read "MCO" which stands for McCoy.
The portion of the site transferred to private individuals and companies is being used for aviation related activities in support of the airport. The US Navy controls a part of the site for an administrative and housing area.
The majority of the former McCoy AFB has been subjected to extensive modification due to the addition of new structures, taxiways, or runways. In addition, the remaining lands have been subjected to extensive evacuation, landfill and improvement activities.
See also
External links
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
Categories
Defunct United States Air Force bases | Orange County, Florida | History of Florida