Robins Air Force Base

Robins Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force installation located in Houston County, Georgia, United States. The base is located just east of the city of Warner Robins, south-southeast of Macon and approximately south-southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. The base is named in honor of Brig Gen Augustine Warner Robins, the Air Force's "father of logistics".
Robins AFB is the home of the Air Force Materiel Command's Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (WR-ALC) (FLZ) which is the worldwide manager for a wide range of aircraft, engines, missiles, software and avionics and accessories components. The commander of WR-ALC is Brigadier General John C. Kubinec. It is one of three Air Force Air Logistic Centers, the others being Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center (OC-ALC) at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma and Ogden Air Logistics Center (OO-ALC) at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
The host unit at Robins AFB is the 78th Air Base Wing (78 ABW) which provides services and support for the Warner-Robins Air Logistics Complex and its tenant organizations. The Wing and Installation Commander of Robins Air Force Base is Colonel Brian R. Moore. The Wing Vice Commander is Colonel Katrina C. Stephens.
History.
The War Department, in search of a site for an Army Air Corps Depot, selected the sleepy whistle-stop town known as Wellston, Georgia, 18 miles south of Macon. Army Colonel Charles Thomas, originally from Atlanta, landed at the Herbert Smart Airport near Camp Wheeler near Macon in October 1941 to oversee the building of the location which would later become the home to Wellston Air Depot at Robins Field (later to become Robins AFB).
It was Col. Thomas who chose the name "Robins" for his mentor Brig. Gen. Augustine Warner Robins. Brig. Gen. Robins is considered the 'father of logistics' for his system of cataloging supplies and materials. He had a lengthy military career prior to becoming the chief of the Air Corps Materiel Division. Robins traveled in China disguised as a millionaire tourist, collecting intelligence for the Army. He also went to Mexico where he served under Gen. John J. Pershing in the Army's campaign against Pancho Villa. He trained during World War I to become a pilot earning his wings in June 1918. He didn't get to see combat because the war was ending. Robins suffered a near-fatal plane crash in 1921 in which his jaw and arm were severely broken. Brig. Gen. Robins died of a heart attack on Father's Day, 16 June 1940 at Randolph Field, Texas, while he was Commandant of the Air Corps Training Center.
After World War II, the number of military and civilian employees dropped until in March 1946 it reached a total of only 3,900. The workforce grew again as the base supported the Berlin Airlift, until by 1949 the workforce had grown again to 11,000. When the Air Force closed down its maintenance depots at the former Brookley AFB in Mobile, Alabama and the former Olmsted AFB in Middleton Township, Pennsylvania, Robins AFB assumed the workload of these depots.
On 28 October 1949, Robins AFB became the headquarters of the 14th Air Force, the numbered air force responsible for administering the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard.
Some Robins AFB SAC units went to Guam or Vietnam during the Vietnam War and took part in many of the bombing missions. Maintenance teams from Robins frequently traveled to Southeast Asia to repair severely damaged aircraft. Robins AFB eventually managed the Lockheed C-141, C-7, and the F-15 Eagle as well as modifying the C-130s to the gunship configuration.
Robins played a key role in the Vietnam War (1964–73), supplying troops and materiel through the Southeast Asian Pipeline and modifying AC-119G/K and AC-130 gunships. Also playing a role were the C-141, the C-130, the C-123, and the C-124 cargo aircraft—all maintained at Robins. In 1973 these same C-141s supported the resupply of Israel in the Yom Kippur War. In October 1983, C-130s from Robins supported U.S. forces in the invasion of Grenada.
Between 1977 and 1981, Robins was the air base used by former President Jimmy Carter during his tenure on visits to his hometown of Plains. SAC's B-52s left Robins in 1983 leaving the 19th Wing as the sole SAC unit on the base with its KC-135s.
Modern era.
In 1990–91, during the Persian Gulf War, Robins provided record numbers of parts, repairs, and personnel to coalition forces in the Persian Gulf. Robins-maintained F-15 Eagles and the E-8 Joint STARS played key roles in defeating the Iraqi military powers. In March–June 1999, during Operation Allied Force, the same employees and weapon systems played a decisive role in defeating the forces of the Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic.
In 1996, the Georgia Air National Guard's 116th Fighter Wing at Dobbins AFB relinquished their F-15 aircraft and moved to Robins, transitioning to B-1 Lancer bombers and being redesignated as the 116th Bomb Wing. That same year, the former 93rd Bomb Wing at Robins was reactivated as the 93rd Air Control Wing with the E-8 Joint STARS aircraft. In 2001, the B-1 bombers left Robins AFB and the Georgia Air National Guard entered into a merged Active-Guard "associate" wing arrangement in the Joint STARS mission with the active Air Force, with the Air National Guard holding lead responsibility as the 116th Air Control Wing.
The Warner Robins Air Logistic Complex and Robins AFB form the largest single industrial complex in the State of Georgia. The 23,000 civilian employees have an annual payroll over $1 billion. The Logistic Complex manages and overhauls the F-15, C-5 Galaxy, C-130 Hercules, and the AC-130 gunships—and all of the Air Force's helicopters. In addition, the Complex also supports the C-17 Globemaster III and U-2 aircraft.
Until June 2008, Robins was also the home of the KC-135s of the 19th Air Refueling Group, when the unit was inactivated, then reactivated a month later as the 19th Airlift Wing at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas. The E-8s of the 116th Air Control Wing continues to operate at Robins as a combined Regular Air Force and Georgia Air National Guard air control wing, and the headquarters of the Air Force Reserve Command is also located on the base. The metropolis of Warner Robins, Georgia has grown in proportion to become the sixth largest city in Georgia.
For a brief period, Robins AFB was the home of the C-27J Schoolhouse. The schoolhouse officially began classes at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia on 9 September 2009. L-3 Link (a subsidiary of the former L3 Technologies) operated the official C-27J schoolhouse at the Georgia Department of Defense's Fixed Wing Flight Facility at Robins AFB. This flight facility included training classrooms, computer learning center, a 100-person auditorium, flight planning, and fight operations areas. The facility also housesed the resident Government Flight Representative and Aviation Program Team assigned to the C-27J contract. Fixed Wing Flight Facility Robins AFB is also home of Hotel Company, 171st Aviation Regiment, Georgia Army National Guard, flying the cargo delivery Short C-23 Sherpa. The schoolhouse was deactivated when the Air Force divested its C-27J fleet as part of the 2014 National Defence Authorization Act.
On 1 April 2016, an EF-1 tornado ripped through the northeast corner of Centerville and continued over Robins Air Force Base, ripping off hangar roofs.
Role and operations.
[[File:Team Robins.jpg|thumb|200px|Team Robins Logo]]
[[Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex]].
Has worldwide management and engineering responsibility for the repair, modification and overhaul of the [[McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle|F-15 Eagle]], [[Lockheed C-130 Hercules|C-130 Hercules]], [[Boeing C-17 Globemaster III|C-17 Globemaster III]], and [[Lockheed C-5 Galaxy|C-5 Galaxy]], C-5M Super Galaxy, Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle, RQ-4A Global Hawk, Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk aircraft. In addition to these weapon systems, the ALC has worldwide management responsibility for the [[Lockheed U-2|U-2S Dragon Lady]], all Air Force helicopters, all special operations aircraft and their peculiar avionics systems. The center also provides logistic support for all the [[Boeing C-17 Globemaster III|C-17 Globemaster III]], Air Force missiles, vehicles, general purpose computers, and many avionics and electronic warfare systems used on most Air Force aircraft.
[[78th Air Base Wing]].
The wing provides support for Robins AFB and its 39 associate units. Responsible for logistics readiness, medical, civil engineer, security, comptroller activities, contracting, morale and welfare, mission support, public affairs, legal civilian personnel, environmental management, fire emergency services, and emergency management for the installation.
[[330th Aircraft Sustainment Wing]].
The wing provides weapon system logistics support, oversees unscheduled and programmed depot maintenance, and manages modification efforts for the Air Force's fleet of C-5, C-130, C-17, F-15, U-2, and E-8C Joint STARS aircraft, Global Hawk,Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS), MC-130, HC-130 and various special operations combat search and rescue aircraft and helicopters to include AC-130H/U,MC-130E/H/P/J, EC-130J, MH-53J/M, HH-60G, UH-1N,TH-1H, and HC-130P/N/J. In addition the wing is the engineering authority for all the aircraft above except for Boeing C-17A, RQ-4A/B Global Hawk, and E-8C.
[[402d Maintenance Wing]].
Provides depot maintenance, engineering support and software development to major weapon systems (F-15, C-5, C-130, C-17 and SOF aircraft) to support peacetime maintenance requirements, wartime emergency demands, aircraft battle damage repair and a ready source of maintenance of critical items.
[[542d Combat Sustainment Wing]].
The 542 CSW works by designing, acquiring, installing, and sustaining electronic warfare, avionics, support equipment, vehicles, missiles, and weapons. Responsible for life-cycle management of over 800 systems valued at $56.2B. Manages $4.21B in executable funds and $8B in contracts to foster improvement in the agile logistics environment. Directly responsible for management of seven ACAT II programs. Programs include: electronic warfare, airborne and ground communication, navigation, precision attack systems, weapons and missiles, support equipment (SE),Automatic Test Systems (ATS), industrial equipment, vehicles, Basic Expeditionary Airfield Resources (BEAR),Air Force life support systems, armament, specialized programs, and supply chain management activities for WR-ALC.
Based units.
Flying and notable non-flying units based at Robins Air Force Base.
Units marked GSU are [[Geographically Separate Unit]]s, which although based at Robins, are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location.
United States Air Force.
[[Air Force Materiel Command]] (AFMC)
[[Air Combat Command]] (ACC)
[[Air Force Reserve Command]] (AMRC)
[[Air National Guard]] (ANG)
United States Army.
[[Military Intelligence Corps (United States Army)|Military Intelligence Corps]]
[[Army National Guard]] (ARNG)
Museum of Aviation.
[[File:Museum of Aviation - Robins AFB.jpg|thumb|Airphoto of the museum]]
Near the base is the [[Museum of Aviation (Warner Robins)|Museum of Aviation]], begun in 1981, has four major structures on forty-three acres and ninety historic aircraft. The museum is also home to the [[Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame]] which honors outstanding Georgians prominent in aviation.
The 93 aircraft and missiles on display include a B-52, SR-71, a [[Marietta, Georgia]]-built B-29, and a specially modified [[C-130 Hercules]] that was used in [[Operation Eagle Claw]] the failed Iran-hostage rescue mission.
It has become a major regional educational and historical resource that hosts more than 500,000 visitors annually.
Geography.
The base is located in northeastern [[Houston County, Georgia|Houston County]], bordered to the west by the city of [[Warner Robins, Georgia|Warner Robins]]. The [[Ocmulgee River]] is to the east. It is south of [[Macon, Georgia|Macon]].
Demographics.
[[File:President George W. Bush hugs a trick-or-treater Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2006, during a Halloween visit.jpg|thumb|left|President [[George W. Bush]] hugs a [[trick-or-treat]]er Tuesday, 31 October 2006, during a Halloween visit to a [[housing development]] on base.]]
The base is the single largest industrial complex in Georgia, employing a workforce of over 25,584 civilian, contractor, and military members.
As of the 2010 census, the residential population on the base was 1,170, in 231 households, 203 of which were families. There were 245 housing units. The racial makeup of the base residents was 72.6% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 18.5% [[African American (U.S. Census)|Black]] or [[Race (United States Census)|African American]], 0.3% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 2.1% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.6% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 0.6% [[Race (United States Census)|some other race]], and 5.3% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 9.2% of the population.
72.3% of the households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 75.3% were headed by married couples living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 12.1% were non-families. 11.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.33, and the average family size was 3.62.
28.4% of the residential population were under the age of 18, 38.4% were from 18 to 24, 27.5% were from 25 to 44, 5.2% were from 45 to 64, and 0.5% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 21.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 157.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 196.1 males.
For the period 2011–15, the estimated median annual income for a household in the base was $62,125, and the median income for a family was $62,375. Male full-time workers had a median income of $28,529 versus $35,500 for females. The per capita income for the base was $20,122. About 7.8% of families and 8.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.4% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.
Tornadoes.
As with the adjacent city of Warner Robins, tornadoes have continually plagued the base since its inception with the 1950s seeing at least two catastrophic tornadoes strike the area. The first one occurred on [[April–May 1953 tornado outbreak sequence|30 April 1953]], when an F4 tornado with winds of over 200 mph hit the base, killing 18 people and injuring 300 more. Just ten months later on [[Tornadoes of 1954#March 13|March 13, 1954]], a long-tracked F1 tornado struck the base, killing one and injuring five. To date, at least seven tornadoes have hit the base and the surrounding area.
External links.
[[Category:Installations of the United States Air Force in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Census-designated places in Houston County, Georgia]]
[[Category:Strategic Air Command military installations]]
[[Category:Installations of the United States Air National Guard]]
[[Category:Military Superfund sites]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Houston County, Georgia]]
[[Category:Superfund sites in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Post-World War II aircraft storage facilities]]
[[Category:World War II airfields in the United States]]