Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center

Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center Gulfport Army Airfield Gulfport Air Force Base
Part of Mississippi Air National Guard (ANG)
Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, Mississippi
United States Army and Air Force National Guard units training at Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center - Mississippi
Gulfport CRTC
Coordinates	30°24′26″N 089°04′12″W / 30.40722°N 89.07000°W / 30.40722; -89.07000 (Gulfport CRTS)
Type	Combat Readiness Training Center
Site information
Controlled by	United States Air Force
Garrison information
Garrison	255th Air Control Squadron

Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center is a United States Air Force training center, located at Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, Mississippi. It is located 5 miles (8.0 km) north-northeast of Gulfport, Mississippi.

Overview

The Air National Guard Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC) at Gulfport, Mississippi hosts regular deployments of Air National Guard units, and offers convenient offshore airspace that is fully instrumented (ACMI) for recording air-to-air engagements. Nearby Camp Shelby, MS features an air-to-ground range and sufficient low-altitude MOA airspace to provide realistic ground attack scenarios.

All Airspace and ranges/drop zones are instrumented on the $26 million Air Combat Training System (ACTS). This system provides advanced, realistic training and debriefing capability and combines sophisticated electronic threat and scoring systems as well.

The CRTC has two tenant Mississippi Air National Guard units on base.

The 255th Air Control Squadron (ACS), activated in 1971 as a Combat Communications Squadron (CCS), was converted to a Control and Reporting Center (CRC) in 1987. They were the first Air National Guard unit to receive datalink capabilities for all joint forces. In 1998, the 255th was converted to their role of Air Control. ACTS provides state-of-the-art Ground Control Intercept (GCI) capability to the total force, as well as other very vital activities. The 255th ACS has 255 personnel and is combat ready in all areas. Their mission is to organize, train and equip personnel to provide an operational ready Control and Reporting Center in support of worldwide theater air operations and statewide emergency contingencies.
The 209th Civil Engineer Squadron (CES). The 209th CES was formed as the 173rd Civil Engineering Flight in 1969, and has grown over the years at its present manning of 90 personnel. The mission of the 209th CES is to provide a highly mobile emergency engineering force for base damage recovery after attack. This unit constantly trains and maintains a state of readiness to allow short notice deployment capability. This is accomplished through management of the Rapid Runway Repair (RRR) site and the fire training facility. Within the first year of opening, the new RRR site had trained 1,600 personnel, and over 1,400 personnel were scheduled for training in the year 2000. The 209th CES began augmenting the United States Air Force (USAF) "Silver Flag" Training Program at Tyndall AFB, FL in FY00. When activated for active-duty service, the 209th falls under the jurisdiction of the Air Force Special Operations Command.

While not considered a tenant of the CRTC, 1108 Theater Aviation Sustainment Maintenance Group (formerly known as the 1108th Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot, or AVCRAD), Mississippi Army National Guard, is co-located at the Gulfport-Biloxi Regional Airport. They are a full Army aviation maintenance depot facility.

History

World War II

The facility was originally constructed in 1942 by the United States Army Air Forces as a training base for Air Corps Flying Training Command. Gulfport Army Airfield opened on 7 July, and the Eastern Technical Training Command conducted technical training and basic training until transferred to Third Air Force on 31 March 1944 with joint use by Technical Training Command for marine training of Emergency Rescue School (3d Air Rescue Group) located at Keesler Army Airbase. The airfield had many several landing fields to support pilot training:

Under Third Air Force, the 328th Army Air Force Base Unit conducted replacement training for heavy bomber (B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator) units. In addition B-29 Superfortress aircrew transition training was performed. With the end of the war and the drawdown of the military, Gulfport AAF was placed into reserve status on 31 January 1946.

Gulfport Field was declared excess by the Air Force and conveyed by the War Assets Administration to the City of Gulfport in 1949 for use as a civil airport. The City negotiated airline service contracts with Southern Airways and later National Airlines to provide passenger and cargo service beginning in the early 1950s.

Gulfport Air Force Base

Due to the large expansion of the United States Air Force as a result of the Cold War, a new lease was obtained for military use of the airport and Gulfport Air Force Base was opened as a joint-use civil/military facility. Improvements were made by the Air Force to the field to bring the wartime facilities up to permanent Air Force standards, so that on 16 July 1951, when Gulfport AFB was activated and assigned to the Air Training Command (ATC), it was able to become the headquarters of the new Technical Training Air Force (TTAF), which controlled technical and basic training of Air Force personnel. The TTAF controlled 10 Air Force wings from Gulfport:

7 Technical Training wings:

1 USAF Recruiting Wing: 3500th, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio

1 USAF Military Basic Training Wing: 3700th, Lackland AFB, Texas

1 USAF Mobile Training Wing: 3499th, Chanute AFB, Illinois

In addition, contract basic flying training for prospective pilots was also conducted at Gulfport AFB.

In 1957, ATC decided to assign all flying and crew training responsibilities under a single headquarters. In addition, effective 1 July 1958, the command discontinued the Technical Training Air Force and moved all training headquarters to their controlling major commands or to ATC, depending on its mission. Recruiting and Basic Training were also reassigned to HQ ATC. Gulfport AFB was closed as an active Air Force installation and its military facilities were transferred to the Mississippi Air National Guard, with the airport remaining a joint-use airport and Air National Guard base.

Mississippi Air National Guard

Beginning in 1953, the Mississippi Air National Guard developed a training activity which has grown into a high-tech facility renamed Combat Readiness Training Center Gulfport, one of four such CRTCs in the nation. Military traffic has expanded each year, and now more than 20,000 Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command flight personnel are trained at the base annually. Within 10 minutes, supersonic fighters, in-flight refueling aircraft and airlift aircraft can simulate a combat environment over the Gulf of Mexico or at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, MS. Additionally, the Army National Guard established the Aviation Classification Repair Depot operation which repairs several types of combat and transport helicopters for military activities throughout the Southeast and Puerto Rico.

References

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

USAAF Third Air Force in World War II

Airfields

Group Training Stations
Replacement Training Stations
Tactical Airfields

Units

Commands

Divisions

III Tactical Air Division

Wings

Groups

Air Commando	2nd Air Commando 3rd Air Commando

Bombardment	3rd Bombardment 12th Bombardment 17th Bombardment 21st Bombardment 29th Bombardment 30th Bombardment Group 38th Bombardment 44th Bombardment 46th Bombardment 47th Bombardment 85th Bombardment 88th Bombardment 90th Bombardment 91st Bombardment 92nd Bombardment 93rd Bombardment 94th Bombardment 95th Bombardment 97th Bombardment 98th Bombardment 99th Bombardment 100th Bombardment 309th Bombardment 310th Bombardment 312th Bombardment 319th Bombardment 320th Bombardment 321st Bombardment 322d Bombardment 323d Bombardment 335th Bombardment 336th Bombardment 340th Bombardment 344th Bombardment 345th Bombardment 386th Bombardment 387th Bombardment 391st Bombardment 394th Bombardment 396th Bombardment 397th Bombardment 409th Bombardment 410th Bombardment 411th Bombardment 416th Bombardment 417th Bombardment 418th Bombardment 451st Bombardment 454th Bombardment 463rd Bombardment 483rd Bombardment 488th Bombardment

Fighter	20th Fighter 31st Fighter 49th Fighter 50th Fighter 53rd Fighter 54th Fighter 56th Fighter 59th Fighter 79th Fighter 80th Fighter 81st Fighter 84th Fighter 85th Fighter 311th Fighter 332nd Fighter 337th Fighter 338th Fighter 339th Fighter 361st Fighter 369th Fighter 372nd Fighter 404th Fighter 405th Fighter 408th Fighter 414th Fighter 506th Fighter

Fighter-Bomber	27th Fighter-Bomber 48th Fighter-Bomber 86th Fighter-Bomber 406th Fighter-Bomber 407th Fighter-Bomber

Reconnaissance	2d Reconnaissance 9th Reconnaissance 10th Reconnaissance 26th Reconnaissance 65th Reconnaissance 67th Reconnaissance 68th Reconnaissance 69th Reconnaissance 70th Reconnaissance 75th Reconnaissance 77th Reconnaissance 423d Reconnaissance 424th Reconnaissance 426th Reconnaissance

United States Army Air Forces

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