{"id":20209,"date":"2018-05-28T13:11:12","date_gmt":"2018-05-28T17:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=20209"},"modified":"2018-05-28T13:11:12","modified_gmt":"2018-05-28T17:11:12","slug":"valdosta-airfield-1941-moody-field-moody-army-airfield-moody-air-force-base","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/valdosta-airfield-1941-moody-field-moody-army-airfield-moody-air-force-base.html","title":{"rendered":"Valdosta Airfield 1941, Moody Field, Moody Army Airfield, Moody Air Force Base"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\nI did not know that Moody AFB was a local project from the beginning.\r\nIt’s still about the only thing everybody near Valdosta\r\nand Lowndes County, Georgia, can all unite around.\r\nMany local people learned to fly at Moody Airfield,\r\nsome who went into the military, and others who did not.\r\nLet us remember them all on this Memorial Day.\r\nThey also serve who only stand and wait<\/a>.\r\n

\r\n\r\n\"Aerial-View-Moody-during-WWII,<\/a>\r\n
\r\n\r\nAerial View Moody During WWII<\/a>,\r\nin\r\n\r\nLowndes County Historical Society and Museum<\/a>, Valdosta, Georgia\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nMoody Air Force Base, retrieved 28 May 2018, Moody Air Force Base History<\/a>:\r\n

\r\n

\r\nMoody Field began as an Army Air Corps pilot training base during\r\nWorld War II. The concept of an Army Air Field in Valdosta\r\noriginated with Valdosta and Lowndes County citizens in 1940. Local\r\nleaders faced\r\n\r\n the probability of a coming war and looked for a way\r\nthey could join the national defense efforts. Valdosta Mayor J. D.\r\nAshley appointed six members to a city planning board in June 1940\r\nto develop a plan of action.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n\"Maj.<\/a>\r\n
\r\nWalter Reed Weaver, Army Air Forces Major General, World War II, 1941,\r\n
\r\nAuthor: Air University Office of History\r\n
\r\nSource:\tThe Encyclopedia of Alabama.\r\n
\r\nFound: Wikimedia Commons<\/a>.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nIn October 1940, Emory Bass, who was then serving as the president\r\nof the Chamber of Commerce, wrote Georgia Senators Walter George and\r\nRichard Russell to request their assistance in obtaining a defense\r\nproject. Senator George agreed to a meeting several days later in\r\nVienna, Georgia. The senator referred them to Brig. Gen. Walter R.\r\nWeaver, commander of the Southeast Air Corps Training Center,\r\nheadquartered at Maxwell AFB, Ala. Weaver was a personal friend of\r\nthe senator.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThe original plan was to obtain an Army Air Corps flying school at\r\nthe Valdosta Regional Airport, but this plan fell through when\r\nWeaver noticed a marsh in aerial photos of the airport. Their backup\r\nplan, the 9,300-acre site that had been the Lakeland Flatwoods\r\nProject, became the focus. This area was located approximately 10\r\nmiles northeast of Valdosta and had been the site of the T. J. Davis\r\nPlantation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had been leasing the\r\nacreage since 1938 to do experiments in forest grazing.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThe Department of War granted the final approval for construction on\r\nJune 2, 1941 and construction began July 28, 1941. Just a few months\r\nearlier, on May 5, U.S. Army Maj. George Putnam Moody, a 1929\r\ngraduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, was killed in\r\nWichita, Kansas. Maj. Moody had been involved in the aircraft trials\r\nfor the Beech AT-10 “Wichita” that was to become the new\r\ntrainer at the base being constructed in Valdosta. In June Maj. Gen.\r\nWeaver recommended that Maj. Moody’s name be added to the list of\r\npotential sources for the name of the Valdosta airfield. When word\r\nof his possible selection reached the citizens of Valdosta they\r\nimmediately began referring to their airfield, now fully under\r\nconstruction, as “Moody Field.” This was reflected in\r\nthe fact that shuttle busses carrying construction workers to the\r\nairfield from Valdosta and surrounding communities were labeled with\r\n“Moody Field” as their destination. As one observer put\r\nit, “the proposed ‘Moody Field’ was to be the name as far as\r\nthe local citizenry were concerned.” In September when Gen.\r\nWeaver asked Moody’s first commander Lt. Col. Fred Nelson for\r\nadditional names, Nelson had to decline his boss’ request by\r\npointing out the extent to which Valdosta had adopted Maj. Moody.\r\n“Things having gone thus far,” he explained, “the\r\ncity fathers are not desirous of changing the name of the field and\r\nwant no part in recommending the name of an alternate for Maj.\r\nGeorge P. Moody until definitely advised that the use of his name\r\nhas been finally disapproved.” In honor of Maj. Moody’s\r\nsacrifice, and because Valdostans had made their choice, the\r\nacquiesced and announced on December 6, 1941 that the Valdosta\r\nairfield would be named Moody Field.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\n\r\n\"Major<\/a>\r\n
\r\nPhoto: Moody Air Force Base<\/a>,\r\nLowndes County Historical Society and Museum, of\r\nMajor George Putnam Moody.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nSo Major Moody had no direct connection to Valdosta or Lowndes County.\r\nIt was the plane he flew that the local powers that were wanted.\r\n\r\n“Moody, George Putnam, Maj, Deceased,”<\/a> Togetherweserved.com, retrieved 28 May 2018,\r\nlists “Home Town: Manila, Philippines & others.”\r\n

\r\nBack to Moody AFB’s own history:\r\n

\r\n

\r\nBy September 1941, the number of personnel employed on the\r\nconstruction of Moody Field grew to approximately 4,500. The Army\r\nAir Corps constructed a total of 349 buildings, which consisted of:\r\n72 barracks, 21 operations rooms, 17 day rooms, 16 administrative\r\nbuildings, 16 supply rooms, eight officers’ quarters, seven mess\r\nhalls, six warehouses, six maintenance shops, three link trainer\r\nbuildings, two school buildings, three radio unit buildings, two\r\nofficers’ day rooms, two recreation buildings, two post exchanges,\r\ntwo gasoline storage units, a utility shop, a commissary, an\r\nincinerator, a bomb trainer building, a fire station, a motor repair\r\nshop, a telephone and telegraph unit, a theater, a bomb sight\r\nstorage building, a parachute packing building, a 170-bed hospital,\r\nan officers’ club, a chapel, a guard house and four runways.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThese facilities were home to nine school squadrons and three base\r\nsquadrons that supported a maximum capacity of about 4,100\r\npersonnel. The initial group of 140 military personnel arrived at\r\nMoody on November 25, 1941. Although the $11.5 million construction\r\nof Moody Field would not be officially completed until June 1942,\r\nthe first class of 50 U.S. Army Air Corps Aviation Cadets arrived\r\nFeb. 19, 1942. By the spring of 1942 the personnel at Moody numbered\r\n3,000 enlisted, 350 officers, 450 flying cadets, and 20 nurses.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nMoody Field had a detachment of Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC),\r\nwhich later evolved into the Women’s Air Corps (WAC). Originally\r\nplanned to have three officers and 155 enlisted women, the 804th\r\nWAAC was activated at Moody Field on 14 June 1943. Their official\r\ndesignation changed to 804th WAC in September 1943. By February\r\n1944, enlisted women were working in practically all organizations\r\non the post including Post Headquarters, Cadet Headquarters, Special\r\nServices, Public Relations, base photo, Post Operations, weather\r\nDetachment, production line Maintenance, training grounds, stations\r\nhospital, quartermaster activities, Pass Department, and post\r\nengineers. Some of the jobs women held at Moody were 1st Sergeant,\r\nairplane and engine mechanic, baker, link training instructor, truck\r\ndriver, mess sergeant, baker, clerk, typist, control tower operator,\r\nlibrarian, weather observer, technical instructor, supply sergeant,\r\nand photographer.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nFor the next three years, through April 1945, cadet training\r\ncontinued at Moody and would eventually graduate a total of 7,212\r\npilots. At Moody Field, Army Air Corps cadets received a total of\r\nseven months of training that consisted of Preliminary Flight\r\nTraining, Basic Training, and Advanced Flight Training. The final\r\nphase lasted nine to 10 weeks and earned the graduating cadets their\r\nwings as well as a commission as a second lieutenant. After\r\ngraduation, the pilots were qualified to fly multiengine aircraft\r\nlike the B-17 “Flying Fortress,” the B-24 “Liberator,” and the B-25\r\n“Mitchell.”\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThe number of aircraft assigned to Moody Field varied during these\r\nthree years from approximately 150 to as many as 325. In 1944, the\r\nAir Corps constructed four additional runways to accommodate the\r\nlarge numbers of aircraft at Moody. The new runways paralleled the\r\noriginal four, creating two runways for each of the four compass\r\nheadings.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nOn April 15, 1945, the last class of aviation cadets received their\r\nwings, and Moody’s mission changed to training combat crews in the\r\nDouglas A-26 “Invader.” With this mission change, and more\r\nsignificantly the surrender of Germany May 7, 1945, the Air Force’s\r\nrequirements changed. This changed Moody’s mission in terms of the\r\nnumber of personnel required to accomplish it. Military personnel\r\nfigures dropped to approximately 1,600 by June 1945. After Japan’s\r\nsurrender on Aug. 14, 1945, officials further reduced training and\r\npersonnel. In February 1946 all training ceased at Moody Field.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nMoody Field remained on inactive status for four and a half years.\r\nOnly a small caretaker unit of civil engineers and firefighting\r\npersonnel (one officer and 12 civilians) remained on base. On Sept.\r\n18, 1947, the Air Force became an independent service, and Moody\r\nField became Moody Air Force Base. When the Korean War broke out in\r\nJune 1950, the Air Force’s pilot training goal began escalating from\r\n3,000 per year in 1950 to 7,200 per year by mid-1953. This caused\r\nMoody Air Force base to be reopened in May 1951.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nRehabilitation of the base took the California Air National Guard’s\r\n146th Air Base Group four months to complete. On Sept. 1, 1951, the\r\nAir Training Command accepted the base and activated the 3550th\r\nFlying Training Wing (Interceptor Aircrew) as the host wing. The\r\n3550th would oversee three schools initially: the Instrument Pilot\r\nInstructor School, The Advanced Flying School Phase One, and the Jet\r\nTransition School. Training began in December 1951 with a reported\r\nmilitary strength of 3,500 personnel.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nIn 1952, the personnel strength at Moody reached 4,000, which had\r\nbeen the level previously maintained during World War II. By 1953\r\nthat number had risen to 4,500 personnel. The Jet Transition School\r\nwas phased out in the spring of 1953 and the Advanced Flying School\r\nPhase Two was added several months later in July. With this new\r\ncourse came the F-94C “Starfire,” a two-seat, single-engine, jet\r\nfighter manufactured by Lockheed. In October 1953 the F-89D\r\n“Scorpion,” a two-seat, twin-engine, interceptor joined it.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nIn January 1955 Moody acquired an important secondary mission with\r\nthe arrival of the 4756th Air Defense Group. They were assigned as a\r\ntenant unit to train and evaluate Air Defense Command’s tactical\r\nunits and train air controllers. This additional mission raised the\r\nnumber of military personnel assigned at Moody AFB to approximately\r\n5,000. The 4756th operated successfully until it transferred to\r\nTyndall Air Force Base, Fla., early in 1957.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThe F-86 “Sabre,” a single-seat, swept-wing, jet fighter arrived at\r\nMoody in the summer of 1957. It replaced older aircraft and updated\r\nthe Advanced Flying School’s training of interceptor pilots. After\r\nsix years of operation at Moody, the Instrument Pilot Instructor\r\nSchool relocated to James Connally AFB, Texas on April 1, 1958. With\r\nthe loss of both the 4756th and the Instrument Pilot Instructor\r\nSchool the number of military population at Moody AFB dropped to\r\naround 3,500. In 1961 the Air Force adopted a Consolidated Pilot\r\nTraining Program which combined pre-flight, primary, and basic\r\nflying training at each of Air Training Command’s seven pilot\r\ntraining bases. This change resulted in a 55-week training course\r\nrather than the old program’s six-month course. With this conversion\r\ncame three new aircraft. The T-28A “Trojan,” a two-seat,\r\npropeller-driven trainer replaced the AT-6 “Texan.” The T-33A\r\n“Shooting Star,” a two-seat, single-engine, jet trainer, and the\r\nT-37B “Tweet,” a two-seat, two-engine, turbojet, replaced the other\r\nMoody aircraft.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nIn November 1960, under the Military Assistance Program, allied\r\nstudents began arriving at Moody to enroll in the pilot training\r\nprograms. The Military Assistance Program remained under the 3550th\r\nfor nearly two years before it transferred to Randolph AFB, Texas,\r\nin August 1963. During its stint at Moody, more than 200 officers\r\nand cadets representing 12 Allied nations were trained here.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nIn September of 1963, the Northrop T-38 “Talon,” a\r\ntwo-seat, twin-engine, turbojet trainer arrived at Moody to replace\r\nthe T-33 “Shooting Star.” In 1965, the T-41A\r\n“Mescalero,” the military version of the Cessna 172\r\nwhich was a four-seat, propeller-driven training aircraft, arrived\r\nat Moody to replace the T-28. Students received about 30 hours of\r\nflight training in the T-41 before advancing to the T-37 primary jet\r\ntrainer. The T-41 also operated at Valdosta Municipal Airport until\r\nJune 1973 when all T-41 training was consolidated at Hondo Municipal\r\nAirport, Hondo, Texas.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nOn December 1, 1973, after 22 years as the host wing at Moody, the\r\n3550th Pilot Training Wing was inactivated and the 38th Flying\r\nTraining Wing was activated in its place. This caused no changes in\r\npersonnel, mission, or aircraft.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nAlmost two years later, on the Sept. 30, 1975, the 347th Tactical\r\nFighter Wing was activated at Moody after being relocated from Korat\r\nRoyal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. For the next three months the\r\n38th and the 347th coexisted at Moody. When Air Training Command\r\nhanded the base to Tactical Air Command in December it was the 38th\r\nFlying Training Wing that was inactivated. On Dec. 1, 1975 the 347th\r\nTactical Fighter Wing assumed oversight of all base functions as the\r\nhost wing.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nBetween Dec. 1975 and Apr. 1977, the 347th trained its personnel and\r\nupgraded facilities to achieve full mission ready status on Apr. 1,\r\n1977. During this time they converted from the F-4 “Phantom II” to\r\nthe F-16 “Fighting Falcon” a single-seat, multirole fighter. In\r\n1992, after the 307th and 308th Fighter squadrons were reassigned to\r\nthe 347th in the wake of Hurricane Andrew, the 347th would hold the\r\ndistinction of being the largest F-16 wing in the U.S. Air Force.\r\nThis ended several years later when the 307th and the 308th were\r\ninactivated.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nOn April 1, 1997, the 41st Rescue Squadron and the 71st Rescue\r\nSquadron joined the 347th and brought with them the HC-130, “Combat\r\nKing” and the HH-60G “Pave Hawk.” On the same day, the 23d Wing\r\nlocated at Pope AFB, N.C., was redesignated as the 23d Fighter Group\r\nand realigned under the 347th as a Geographically Separated Unit.\r\nThe 23d Operations Group was inactivated. This was a significant day\r\nin Moody history because it brought together the 347th and the 23d\r\nfor the first time. Despite a change in host wings at Moody and\r\nnumerous comings and goings among Moody squadrons, the aircraft of\r\nthese three organizations remain a part of the Moody arsenal through\r\ntoday.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nIn August 1999, Detachment 1, of the 820th Security Forces Group\r\narrived at Moody AFB to prepare for the eventual arrival of a\r\nSecurity Forces Group and three Security Forces Squadrons to Moody.\r\nBy Mar. 14, 2001, the 820th Security Forces Group was in place at\r\nMoody AFB with three subordinate squadrons: the 822nd Security\r\nForces Squadron, 823rd Security Forces Squadron, and the 824th\r\nSecurity Forces Squadron.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nOn July 31, 2000 another tenant unit joined Moody when the 479th\r\nFlying Training Group, an Air Education and Training Command unit,\r\nwas activated at Moody to conduct the Introduction to Fighter\r\nFundamentals course and the Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot\r\nTraining course flying the AT-38B “Talon” aircraft and the T-6,\r\n“Texan.” By October 2001, the 479th Flying Training Group consisted\r\nof the 49th Flying Training Squadron, the 3rd Flying Training\r\nSquadron, the 39th Flying Training Squadron, and the 435th Flying\r\nTraining Squadron.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThe last two remaining fighter squadrons of the 347th Fighter Wing,\r\nthe 69th Fighter Squadron and the 68th Fighter Squadron were both\r\ninactivated by Apr. 2001. The 347th retained both the 41st and 71st\r\nRescue Squadrons and on May 1, 2001 the Air Combat Command (ACC)\r\nactivated the 38th Rescue Squadron to bring pararescue Guardian\r\nAngel personnel to the Moody arsenal. They were assigned to the\r\n347th and with this assignment came a redesignation for the 347th.\r\nIt went from 347th Wing to the 347th Rescue Wing which made the\r\n347th the only combat search and rescue wing in the active duty Air\r\nForce. On Oct. 1, 2003, the Air Force realigned the search and\r\nrescue under the Air Force Special Operations Command and with it,\r\nthe 347th was also reassigned to Air Force Special Operations\r\nCommand at Hurlburt Field, Fla. On the same day the wing took\r\ncommand of the 563rd Rescue Group which was a Geographically\r\nSeparated Unit located at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. which had three\r\nsquadrons operating at Nellis AFB, Nev. as Geographically Separated\r\nUnits.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nIn February 2006, the Air Force determined that combat search and\r\nrescue assets should once again be assigned to Air Combat Command so\r\nthe 347th was once again reassigned to Air Combat Command.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nOn Oct. 1, 2006, the 23d Wing was reactivated at Moody AFB and the\r\nnewly redesignated 23d Fighter Group was assigned as a subordinate\r\nunit. At the same time, the 347th Rescue Wing was inactivated and\r\nthe 347th Operations Group was redesignated as the 347th Rescue\r\nGroup and assigned to the 23d Wing. With the inactivation of the\r\n347th Rescue Wing, the 23d Wing became the host wing at Moody.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nIn addition, the wing absorbed the 820th Security Forces Group that\r\nhad previously been a tenant unit. This arrangement would only last\r\nuntil Jan. 2008 when the 93d Air Ground Operations Wing was\r\nactivated at Moody and assumed control of the 820th.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nIn 2012, the 79th Rescue Squadron at Davis-Monthan AFB began\r\nreceiving the new HC-130J “Combat King II.” This\r\naircraft replaced the aging HC-130P models and provided enhanced\r\ncargo management capability and extended range. In 2013, the 71st\r\nRescue Squadron at Moody AFB received their first HC-130Js and by\r\n2016 the last of nine aircraft had been delivered.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nIn September 2015 the 598th Range Squadron was reactivated at Avon\r\nPark Air Force Range, Fla. The 598th RANS was activated the first\r\ntime in 1943 at MacDill Field, Fla. as the 598th Bombardment\r\nSquadron, but they were moved to the Avon Park Bombing Range several\r\nmonths later. After the end of World War II the 598th was\r\ninactivated. They are currently responsible for overseeing and\r\nmanaging 106,074 acres, approximately 78,000 of which are open to\r\nthe public.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nMoody AFB planes use my solar panels as a landmark on their training missions.\r\n

\r\n -jsq\r\n<\/p>\r\n

Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today<\/a>!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I did not know that Moody AFB was a local project from the beginning. It’s still about the only thing everybody near Valdosta and Lowndes County, Georgia, can all unite around. Many local people learned to fly at Moody Airfield, some who went into the military, and others who did not. Let us remember them […]","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[570,571],"tags":[10317,8701,1117,8702,10318,12,7,10315,10319,8783,8784,1329,10314,10320,6,10313,10316],"class_list":["post-20209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-military","category-moody-afb","tag-at-10","tag-georgia","tag-kansas","tag-lake","tag-lakeland-flatwoods-project","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-lowndes-county","tag-major-george-putnam-moody","tag-manila","tag-military","tag-moody-afb","tag-moody-air-force-base","tag-moody-airfield","tag-philippines","tag-valdosta","tag-valdosta-airfield-1941","tag-wichita"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-5fX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20209"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20212,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20209\/revisions\/20212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}