Construction of the Pacific Air Depot began in 1935, and the main structures, including administrative buildings, barracks, warehouses and a hospital were completed on 18 April 1938. It was one of only four such air depots in the country. In 1938 the base was renamed Sacramento Air Depot and underwent a major expansion as a repair and overhaul facility for P-38 and P-39 fighter planes. The planes were serviced on an assembly line basis. In 1940, an assembly line was added to overhaul P-40 fighters.
In December 1941, soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, P-40s as well as B-26 and B-17 bombers began arriving at the field to be armed and prepared for immediate shipment overseas. Some B-17s came direct to McClellan from the factories. During this time most of the Army Air Forces planes that went to the Pacific Theater were prepared at McClellan. In March 1942, Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle's B-25s arrived at McClellan for arming in preparation for their famous Tokyo raid. The Doolittle Raiders practiced their aircraft carrier takeoff techniques at the Willows Airport in Glenn County, about 90 miles north on Highway 99: The airport runway was painted to represent the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet.
During World War II, numerous planes arrived at McClellan from all over the U.S. to be armed and otherwise prepared for shipment overseas to combat areas. After the war McClellan became a storage center of several types of aircraft including B-29 bombers.
The base was renamed McClellan Air Force Base in 1948 and its repair and overhaul mission continued throughout the Cold War as an installation of the Air Force Logistics Command (AFLC) and later the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), with the overhaul facility being known as the Sacramento Air Logistics Center.
The SALC had the 2874th Test Squadron assigned to it from 15 January 1988 – 30 September 1992. It conducted flight tests on aircraft returning to active service after depot maintenance, modification, or repair. In 1992, the squadron was consolidated with the 337th Tactical Fighter Squadron as the 337th Test Squadron.[1] It was inactivated with the closure of McClellan AFB.
Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, McClellan functioned as the main depot for overhauling the Air Force's General Dynamics F-111, FB-111 and EF-111 aircraft, as well as the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft. It also hosted a tenant WC-135 unit and supported the sophisticated electronic Operation Red Flag at Nellis AFB Nevada. A small contingent of F-111D and F-111F aircraft of the 431st Test and Evaluation Squadron, 57 Fighter Weapons Wing, Nellis AFB Nevada was also detached to McClellan.
Previous namesedit
Pacific Air Depot, 1935 - 1 February 1937
Sacramento Air Depot 1 February 1937 – 1 December 1939
Major command assignmentsedit
Materiel Division, United States Army Air Corps, 24 August 1938 – 11 December 1941
sacramento, logistics, center, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jst. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Sacramento Air Logistics Center news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2024 Learn how and when to remove this message Sacramento Air Logistics Center is a former United States Air Force unit based at McClellan Air Force Base from 1935 until its closure as part of the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission Contents 1 History 1 1 Previous names 1 2 Major command assignments 2 Further reading 3 External linksHistory editConstruction of the Pacific Air Depot began in 1935 and the main structures including administrative buildings barracks warehouses and a hospital were completed on 18 April 1938 It was one of only four such air depots in the country In 1938 the base was renamed Sacramento Air Depot and underwent a major expansion as a repair and overhaul facility for P 38 and P 39 fighter planes The planes were serviced on an assembly line basis In 1940 an assembly line was added to overhaul P 40 fighters In December 1941 soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor P 40s as well as B 26 and B 17 bombers began arriving at the field to be armed and prepared for immediate shipment overseas Some B 17s came direct to McClellan from the factories During this time most of the Army Air Forces planes that went to the Pacific Theater were prepared at McClellan In March 1942 Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle s B 25s arrived at McClellan for arming in preparation for their famous Tokyo raid The Doolittle Raiders practiced their aircraft carrier takeoff techniques at the Willows Airport in Glenn County about 90 miles north on Highway 99 The airport runway was painted to represent the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet During World War II numerous planes arrived at McClellan from all over the U S to be armed and otherwise prepared for shipment overseas to combat areas After the war McClellan became a storage center of several types of aircraft including B 29 bombers The base was renamed McClellan Air Force Base in 1948 and its repair and overhaul mission continued throughout the Cold War as an installation of the Air Force Logistics Command AFLC and later the Air Force Materiel Command AFMC with the overhaul facility being known as the Sacramento Air Logistics Center The SALC had the 2874th Test Squadron assigned to it from 15 January 1988 30 September 1992 It conducted flight tests on aircraft returning to active service after depot maintenance modification or repair In 1992 the squadron was consolidated with the 337th Tactical Fighter Squadron as the 337th Test Squadron 1 It was inactivated with the closure of McClellan AFB Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s McClellan functioned as the main depot for overhauling the Air Force s General Dynamics F 111 FB 111 and EF 111 aircraft as well as the Fairchild Republic A 10 Thunderbolt II aircraft It also hosted a tenant WC 135 unit and supported the sophisticated electronic Operation Red Flag at Nellis AFB Nevada A small contingent of F 111D and F 111F aircraft of the 431st Test and Evaluation Squadron 57 Fighter Weapons Wing Nellis AFB Nevada was also detached to McClellan Previous names edit Pacific Air Depot 1935 1 February 1937 Sacramento Air Depot 1 February 1937 1 December 1939 Major command assignments edit Materiel Division United States Army Air Corps 24 August 1938 11 December 1941 Air Service Command 11 December 1941 17 July 1944 Army Air Forces Materiel and Services Command 17 July 1944 31 August 1944 Army Air Forces Technical Service Command 31 August 1944 1 July 1945 Air Technical Service Command 1 July 1945 9 March 1946 Air Materiel Command 9 March 1946 1 April 1961 Air Force Logistics Command 1 April 1961 1 July 1992 Air Force Materiel Command 1 July 1992 13 July 2001Further reading editPorter History of Sacramento Air Service Command External links edit Factsheet 337 Flight Test Squadron Air Force Historical Research Agency 7 April 2008 Retrieved 20 October 2017 Information on the center 38 39 32 N 121 23 31 W 38 6590 N 121 3919 W 38 6590 121 3919 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sacramento Air Logistics Center amp oldid 1208365798, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
