In a change of command ceremony in Hanger 2 at Columbus Air Force Base, presided over by Brig. Gen. Travolis Simmons, commander of the 19th Air Force, Col. James Blech – having completed his 2-year assignment at the base – relinquished command of the 14th Flying Training Wing to Col. Joshua Jenson.
The ceremony included the passing of the wing’s guidon (unit flag) by Gen. Simmons to Col. Jenson, its new commander. It was a ceremony steeped in history and tradition going back to the Revolutionary War and our country’s founding 250 years ago. It honored a job well done by Col. Blech while looking forward to a bright future under Col. Jenson, who comes to Columbus Air Force Base after serving as deputy commander, 58th Special Operations Wing, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico.
The tone of the morning was set with the singing of “The Star Spangled Banner,” an invocation and the sound of T-38s and T-6s on a nearby runway roaring off into the sky. It was a background sound that added an exclamation point to the National Anthem and the words that had been spoken.
Altogether it could not help but send chills over you, giving a sense of both pride and thanks for the base and its airmen. The ceremony continued with the traditional passing of the 14th FTW’s guidon by Gen. Simmons to Col. Jenson. The transfer of the wing’s guidon represents a formal transfer of leadership that maintains a continuity of leadership and wing identity.
Columbus and the Golden Triangle area share with Columbus Air Force Base a long history of military aviation heritage. It is a history that began with Payne Field in 1918.
Just 10 years after the Wright brothers had delivered the first airplane to the newly formed U.S. Army Air Service, World War I brought aviation to the forefront. With the need to rapidly increase the number of pilots, the Air Service, then a part of the Army Signal Corps, began establishing pilot training bases around the country. In 1918, Payne Field was established at West Point as a pilot training base, where under field commander Maj. Jack Heard 1,500 pilots received their wings after learning to fly in Curtiss JN-4, “Jennys.” The base closed in March 1920.
Payne Field played a role in one of the milestones of aviation. The first North American transcontinental round trip flight occurred in 1919. The flight by Maj. Theodore Macauley began in January 1919. He departed Taliaferro Field, Florida, in a De Havilland DH-4 airplane. Flying with Macauley was not a co-pilot, but Pvt. Stalry, a mechanic.
In west Alabama, Macauley was flying through a rainstorm when his propeller was damaged. He detoured to Payne Field, as it had a propeller shop that could provide a replacement for the De Havilland’s damaged propeller. There, a new propeller was made for the airplane so that it could complete its historic flight.
Base commander Maj. Jack Heard left Payne Field in the spring of 1919 to help organize “The Victory Bond Flying Circus” for the Army Air Service. The flying circus toured the U.S., putting on exciting air shows to promote the sale of Liberty Bonds. That flying circus was the first military aviation demonstration unit and the forerunner of the Air Force Thunderbirds and Navy Blue Angels.
Construction of what is now Columbus Air Force Base began in 1941, and the base opened as Kaye Field in spring 1942. It was named in honor of Capt. Sam Kaye, but the name was soon changed to Columbus Army Flying School because of confusion with Key Field in Meridian.
One of the most interesting people to have served at Columbus was “Joe Duck.” Col. Joseph Duckworth, then a major, was assigned to the Air Corps Advanced Flying School, Kaye Field, in early 1942 to serve as “director of training.” While at Columbus, Duckworth was assigned by Col. L.C. Mallory, base commander, to investigate an Air Corps wide problem of excessive instrument training accidents. Duckworth not only discovered the cause, but he also fixed it. The story of what Duckworth did resulted in he and Mallory being featured in the Nov. 30, 1942, issue of Time Magazine and Duckworth becoming known as the “father of Air Force instrument flying.”
In 1943, while commanding at Bryan Field in Texas, Duckworth was the first pilot to admit to intentionally flying through the eye of a hurricane. He twice in one day flew through a hurricane’s eye in an AT-6. He was accompanied on the second flight by the base weather officer. The observation proved to be of such value that the flight inspired the creation of the Air Force “Hurricane Hunters.”
During World War II, nearly 8,000 aviation cadets received pilot training at Columbus Army Air Field. During the Korean War, the base was a contract flying school, and in 1955 it became a Strategic Air Command base with a B-52 and a KC-135 squadron placed there in 1958. The base again became a pilot training base in 1969.
Today, Columbus AFB is the home of the 14th Flying Training Wing and 212 aircraft. In keeping with its heritage, it is continuing to train the world’s best pilots.
The region’s aviation heritage extends beyond Payne Field and Columbus Air Force base and into the people who lived here. I cannot help but think of many who have lived here and left their mark on military aviation including Capt. Sam Kaye, who flew with Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker in the legendary “Hat in the Ring” squadron of World War I. Col. Wilfred Beaver was a World War I Royal Air Force ace, who was presented the British Military Cross by King George V at Buckingham Palace. Lt. Col. Alva Temple was a Tuskegee “Red Tail” Pilot during World War II. In 1949, the four-man Tuskegee team he led won the Air Force’s first Weapon’s Meet (the Top Gun competition).
The roots of military aviation run deep in the Columbus area.
Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].
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