James Connally Air Force Base
James Connally Air Force Base
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| Part of Tactical Air Command | |
| Waco, Texas | |
Aerial photo of Connally Air Force Base, 2006
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 James Connally AFB
Location of James Connally Air Force Base, Texas
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| Coordinates | 31°38′16″N 97°04′45″W / 31.63778°N 97.07917°WCoordinates: 31°38′16″N 97°04′45″W / 31.63778°N 97.07917°W |
| Type | Air Base |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | United States Air Force |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1941 |
| In use | 1941-1966 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | Tactical Air Command |
James Connally Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located north of Waco, Texas. After its closure in 1968, the airport reopened as TSTC Waco Airport.
The airport opened May 5, 1942 as Waco Army Air Field and was the headquarters of the Army Air Force Central Instructors' School during World War II. It was deactivated after the war in 1945 but was reactivated in 1948 as a pilot training base under the Air Training Command.
Waco Field was renamed for Colonel James T. Connally who had been killed in Japan in 1945. The airport was initially called Connally Air Force Base but the name evolved to also include his first name.
In 1951, pilot training was discontinued and replaced with academic and flight training for navigators, radar operators, and bombardiers, with particular emphasis for those officers slated for eventual assignment to Strategic Air Command's B-36 Peacemaker and its ever-increasing fleet of B-47 Stratojets.
Pilot training returned in 1953 and an advanced jet pilot training organization with T-33 Shooting Stars was established in addition to navigator training in TB-25 Mitchells.
In January 1958, the base became a support facility when the USAF located headquarters of Twelfth Air Force (12 AF) in nearby Waco TX. The Headquarters complex was located near 25th Street and Windsor Ave. No remains of the buildings are present today.
In 1965, the Air Force began sharing the base with the State of Texas, the latter having established the James Connally Technical Institute (JCTI) of Texas A&M University. which would eventually become the main campus and headquarters of Texas State Technical Institute (TSTI).
In 1966, Convair / General Dynamics also established a modification center at the base to modify B-58 Hustler bombers.
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