San Antonio Air Logistics Center

The San Antonio Air Logistics Center is a former air depot of the United States Air Force located alongside Kelly Air Force Base. It was closed as part of the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission.

Kelly's World War II mission turned the base into a huge industrial complex. A new organization, the San Antonio Air Service Command, managed the increased supply and maintenance workload. Kelly workers overhauled, repaired, and modified aircraft, engines, and related equipment.

Kelly's maintenance shops worked on thousands of Army aircraft, including B-17s, B-25s, B-29s, P-51s, and the C-47 cargo plane. Rapid production lines established a rate of overhaul on accessories, bombsights, guns, and electrical equipment that set records for both military and commercial repair agencies.

By 1944, Kelly's workforce had grown tremendously. In 1939, old Duncan Field had 1,100 civilian employees and only 10 military personnel. By 1945, over 15,000 civilians and 16,000 military worked at Kelly. During World War II, nearly 40 percent of the workers at the field were women. "Kelly Katies" were the Kelly counterparts to "Rosie the Riveters", women everywhere who did non-traditional work, contributing greatly to the successful war effort. They worked in nearly every shop at Kelly, including engine overhaul.

Because of the need for more storage space, Kelly annexed Normoyle Ordnance Depot, known today as East Kelly, in 1945. An out-processing center for the thousands of soldiers who had received their discharges was also located at Normoyle.

After the end of the war, more and more AT-6, P-51, and B-29 aircraft were delivered to Kelly Field for maintenance and storage. Disposal and aircraft storage programs took up more and more of Kelly's time and space. Kelly's maintenance workers stopped repairing very heavy bombers and began supporting the occupational forces in Europe and Japan with air transportation, communications, and weather systems. In 1946, the San Antonio Air Technical Services Command became the San Antonio Air Materiel Area (SAAMA).

As the Air Force moved through its first decade of independence, its aircraft, engines, accessories, and support equipment became increasingly sophisticated and complex, requiring use of new technologies and innovative programs to meet the challenges of the future.

...
Wikipedia