Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado
Location: Located E of and adjacent to Denver, CO.
Longitude: -104.8772
Origin of current name: Named in honor of 1st Lt. Francis Brown Lowry (1895-1918). Lieutenant Lowry died in action near Crepion, France, 26 Sep 1918, when anti-aircraft fire destroyed the Salmson 2A2 aircraft in which he flew as observer. Despite bad weather, Lieutenant Lowry and his pilot had attempted a photo-reconnaissance mission important to the Meuse-Argonne offensive.
Date current name was assigned to base: 24 Jun 1948
Previous Names: Denver Branch, Air Corps Technical School, 27 Aug 1937; Air Corps Technical School, Denver Branch, 29 Sep 1937; Lowry Field, 11 Mar 1938.
Date Established: 27 Dec 1937 (activated); 1 Oct 1937 (dedicated when first base commander arrived}.
Date Occupied: 12 Feb 1938
Construction Began: 4 Oct 1937 (rehabilitation of existing structures began); 4 Aug 1938 (new construction began)
Changes in Capability: First runway operational 4 Apr 1938; largest single barracks, housing 3,200 men, completed mid-1940; technical inspectors' school temporarily added to photography, armament, and clerical schools Jul 1943-Jan 1944; Lowry changed from a technical school to a predominantly flying installation when flight engineering, B-29 pilot transition, and B-29 crew training increased 1945-1946; major construction and rehabilitation projects including expansion of technical training school, and a guided missile facility and housing project completed 1951-1952; major base facilities served intermittently as President Eisenhower's Summer White House 1952-1955; Lowry temporarily accommodated the USAF Academy 1954-1958 pending completion of USAFA facilities at Colorado Springs, CO; Lowry Technical Training Center established 1 Jan 1959; first of 18 Titan I missiles placed in silos at Lowry Missile Range #1, Apr 1961; all missiles removed by 14 Apr 1965; all flight operations terminated in Jul 1966; 3320th Retraining Group (later, 3320th Correction and Rehabilitation Sq) arrived from Amarillo AFB Jul 1967 and provided correctional training for eligible court-martialed airmen; vast construction program for enlisted men and officers billeting facilities completed 1970-1971; two large (1,000 men each) dormitories and 187-space mobile home park completed 6 Jun 1974; Aviation Aerospace Ground Equipment building and operator training facility completed mid-1981; a continuous dormitory upgrading program begun 1980; Armed Forces Air Intelligence Training Center, Technical Training Facility begun Apr 1983; solar-heated pavilion completed 1983; solar-heated dog kennels for the Security Police completed 1983.
Major Changes in Status: Selected under the 1991 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) in 1991, closed 1994.
On October 4, 1937 work was begun to convert the grounds of the former Agnes Memorial Sanatorium into a modern airfield. The new field was named in honor of Second Lieutenant Francis Lowry whose plane was shot down by German antiaircraft fire in World War I. Classes in aerial photography began at Lowry in 1938 and aircraft arrived in June of that year. The first aircraft to land on the new paved runway was a B-18 Bolo.
In January 1942, in the early course of World War II, the War Department tasked Lowry with annually training 57,000 men. Training continued at Lowry throughout the war, but the end of the war in Europe and V-J Day ended Lowry's short history as a pilot training school. In 1948, Lowry Field became Lowry Air Force Base.
With the beginning of the Korean War, Lowry Air Force Base expanded its training program. Courses taught, in addition to photography and armament, included rocket propulsion, missile guidance, electronics, radar-operated fire-control systems, computer specialties, gun and rocket sights, and electronically operated turret systems. In 1954 Lowry was the interim home for the United States Air Force Academy until construction was completed in Colorado Springs.
In the 1960s Lowry's flight operations were shifted to Buckley Field, now Buckley Air Force Base. All flying activities ceased completely in June 1966 when the last aircraft was flown out of Lowry. Lowry first faced the base closure issue in 1978. Ultimately, the Air Force recommended keeping Lowry open at that time. While Lowry added new training programs courses during the 1980s, the decision was still made to close the base. On 30 September, 1994, the base officially closed.
History of the Titan I at Lowry can be found here.
