History
Shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, San Marcos was selected as a training site for pilots and became the San Marcos Army Air Field. On 25 August 1943, the 80th Flying Training Wing (Navigation & Glider) was activated at San Marcos as part of Army Air Force Technical Training Command. Over a 2 year period, approximately 10,000 highly trained air navigators were trained there. Shortly after the end of hostilities with Japan, the Army Air Forces decided to consolidate all navigator training at Ellington Field near Houston. This consolidation occurred during September 1945, although the school at San Marcos remained open until November when the airfield was closed.
However, with the aid of Congressman Lyndon Johnson and Senator Tom Connally, the facility was reactivated in May 1946 to operate the Army Air Force helicopter and liaison school, which was transferred from Sheppard Field, Texas. With the change in status, San Marcos was reassigned to the Army Air Force Flying Training Command. With the establishment of the United States Air Force in 1947, the facility was renamed San Marcos Air Force Base. The 3585th Pilot Training Wing (Liaison-Helicopter) was activated as the Operational Training Unit on 25 August 1948. The wing remained active until 1 March 1949 when it was inactivated and helicopter training was moved from San Marcos to Waco (later James Connally) AFB. On 31 March, San Marcos AFB was inactivated.
On 15 January 1951, Air Training Command (ATC) reactivated San Marcos AFB and moved helicopter and liaison training back from Connally AFB. The availability of several small secondary airfields, as well as the hilly, rough terrain around San Marcos (similar to that of Korea) precipitated the change. In addition to the flying training, ATC moved ground helicopter mechanics training to San Marcos from Sheppard AFB to make room for its F-80 and F-89 training. On 1 February 1951, ATC reactivated and assigned the 3585th Pilot Training Wing (Liaison-Helicopter) to San Marcos. With nearly 5000 men on duty, the base was home to the largest helicopter training facility in the nation. It trained mechanics as well as pilots.
On Armed Forces Day, May 16, 1953, the base once again received a new name, the Edward Gary Air Force Base in honor of Lieutenant Arthur Edward Gary, the first Hays County soldier killed in World War II.
In 1956, the Department of Defense gave the Army approval to train helicopter pilots and operate liaison aircraft. To accommodate the transfer of training, the Air Force transferred Gary AFB to the Department of the Army in December 1956. Under Army control, the facility underwent yet another name change, one which is still referred to by some locals today, Camp Gary. A civilian contractor trained pilots for fixed wing aircraft until the summer of 1959. In 1963, the base was essentially closed and marked for disposal.
Organized San Marcans fought to save the base, and on November 20, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced in a speech at his alma mater, Southwest Texas State University, that the abandoned Camp Gary would be the site of a new federal vocational training facility called Job Corps. Today it's known as the Gary Job Corps Center, the largest in the nation.
Read more about this topic: Gary Air Force Base
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