Robins Air Force Base, Georgia
It was the day after Easter
When the War Department gave official
approval for the construction of an Army Air Depot in
Known as the Georgia Air Depot during the early days, it was re-designated
as: the Southeast Air Depot, Wellston Air Depot (WAD), Wellston Army Air Depot,
Warner Robins Army Air Depot (WRAAD), Warner Robins Air Depot Control Area
Command, Warner Robins Air Service Command (WRASC), and Warner Robins Air
Technical Services Command (WRATSC) during World War II. At the end of War, as
its function changed and satellite bases were closed, the name changed again and
it became the Warner Robins Air Materiel Area (WRAMA). Its designation finally
changed to its present form in April 1974 when its new world-wide
responsibilities led it to be renamed the
Spurred on by the Japanese bombing of
On 26 April, participants and spectators began gathering at Robins Field about 0900 hours. At 1000 hours troops marched onto the field in mass formation. They were reviewed by Maj. Gen. Walter H. Frank, Commander of the Air Service Command, Maj. Gen. Walter Reed Weaver, Commander of the Technical Training Command, and Col. Thomas. As Master of Ceremonies, Thomas declared, "We have assembled here today to pay honor to a distinguished American soldier, Brigadier General Augustine Warner Robins." He also noted that such ceremonies were "a little unusual when the country is at war." But he added that "the keen interest and pride...displayed by our local citizens...is ample justification...for this dedication."
Chaplain Charles E. Lunn's invocation was followed by the principal speaker, Maj. Gen. Weaver. In his speech, entitled "General Robins As I Knew Him," he proclaimed that Gen. Robins was "an outstanding Air Corps officer who, along with others, laid the foundations for all that you see today." He described him as "human" and "all that you would like to know as a man." He concluded by charging those present to "take General Robins as your example," for if they did, "there would be no fears of the success of this installation..."
Macon Mayor Charles L. Bowden followed by officially presenting the deeds for the Depot property to General Frank and the U.S. Army Air Force. In receiving the site in the name of the Commanding General of the AAF, Frank declared that:
[This field and station are dedicated today] in memory of my very dear friend, General Warner Robins,... He was unrestrictedly a gentleman. This city and this state should feel proud in the legacy of his name for this station. Not only was he an efficient, outstanding man, a devoted husband and father, but with it all he was a leader of men. I hope this depot, as a monument to him, will be as outstanding as was his stature.
Colonel Thomas concluded by recounting the general's career, and noting:
It was my special privilege and pleasure to be closely associated with General Robins for a period of about six years. I came to...admire him profoundly.... I cut my teeth and experienced my growing pains under his fatherly and inspiring influence. It is common knowledge among all of his friends that one of his outstanding qualities was his ability to inspire his men with unquestioned [loyalty and devotion].
Thomas also asserted that, "I doubt that any single individual has had any more to do with the development of what we now know as the Air Service Command than Brigadier General Augustine Warner Robins." He concluded, "It is most gratifying that such an important project bears the name of one who held supply and maintenance functions so close to his heart, and who inspired so many improvements in the performance of these functions."
At 1400 hours that same afternoon, ceremonies moved to
The previous morning they attended memorial services to honor Gen. Robins.
Betty, representing the family, presented to Chaplain Lunn a family altar cloth
sewn by Mrs. Robins' mother, Louise Gretchen Hyde. Known as a Fair Linen
cloth, it was presented to the chapel as a Robins family gift to honor the
General. Among Mrs. Robins' most vivid memories was the "sweet and
cordial" way she was treated by Generals Frank and Weaver as well as the
spectacle of low flying B-26s, B-24s, and P-40s. She recalled that
"Steve's (Col. Thomas') speech was splendid...he is the ideal choice as
First Commanding Officer of Robins Field." After concluding the afternoon
and evening activities in
The next day as Gen. Robins' family departed, Mrs. Robins recalled that, "I couldn't describe adequately how completely delightful everything was. It couldn't have been better. This model, modern field is a wonderful glorious memorial to our Warner and to his many years of conscientious attention to his duties as an Air Corps officer."
ROBINS
AFB SINCE WORLD WAR II
Today the Warner Robins ALC and Robins AFB, led by our Center Commander Major General Dennis G. Haines, is the state's largest industrial facility employing 5,253 military and over 12,749 civilians employees. Robins is home to over 50 organizations including the Warner Robins ALC, Headquarters Air Force Reserve (HQ AFRC), the 78th Air Base Wing (78ABW), the 19th Air Refueling Group (19ARG) or "Black Knights", 5th Combat Communications Group (5CCG), 93rd Air Control Wing (93ACW) (E-8C Joint STARS), and the 116th Bomb Wing (116BW) of the Air National Guard (B-1B).
Throughout its existence the Center's mission and responsibility have always been the supply of parts for maintenance, repair, and storage of aircraft vital to the nation's defense. The major change in this mission has been in the enormity of its growth and its technical complexity. In World War II, the personnel at Robins AFB maintained various and numerous warplanes as well as trained and dispatched over a quarter of a million maintenance, supply, and logistics field team members to every theater of war.
But things were not always so good. After World War II, the number of
military and civilian employees dropped dramatically until in March 1946, it
reached a total of only 3,900. However, the critical role that Robins AFB and
its repair and supply personnel played in the Berlin Airlift (Operation Vittles)
1948-1949 caused the work force to grow to 11,000. This trend continued with the
advent of the Korean War. Once again the nation took notice of the essential
role of the Depot-then known as the Warner Robins Air Materiel Area (WRAMA).
In one of their finest efforts, workers at the Center literally unwrapped and
refurbished hundreds of "Cocooned" Boeing B-29 Superfortresses.
Understaffed and working around the clock, they made sure that United Nations
forces in the
The lesson of
In the 1970s, WRAMA and Robins AFB personnel once again found themselves
on the world's center stage as they surged to resupply
In 1990-1991, Desert Shield and Desert Storm once again challenged the
WR-ALC and Robins AFB work force to provide supplies, parts, repairs, and
personnel to Coalition forces in the
Of course, most of us still recall the tense days of March-June 1999. We
learned new names like
In addition to its combat role, the WR-ALC today supports several of the
most vital Air Force weapons systems, the C-5 Galaxy, the F-15 Eagle, the
C-141B/C Starlifter, the C-130 Hercules, Special Forces (SOF) gunships, the
93ACW's E-8C Joint STARS, the U-2 Aircraft, Air Force vehicles, numerous
helicopters and many other key missile, avionics and aircraft systems. It is one
of the most important avionics centers in the Air Force, the integral manager of
several important Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programs, the
Robins AFB, Georgia, has been visited by numerous dignitaries, and people of international fame including: numerous U.S. cabinet and sub-cabinet level officials such as recent former Secretary of Defense William Perry and recent former Air Force Secretary Dr. James G. Roche, former Air Force Secretaries F. Whitten Peters, and Dr. Sheila Widnall and, several senior military officers from every branch of service such as former Air Force Chief of Staff (CSAF) General Ronald Fogleman, current CSAF General Michael Ryan, as well as numerous Georgia Governors, current Senator Saxby Chambiss, former Senator Max Clelland, former Senator Sam Nunn, the late Senator Paul Coverdell, the late former first lady of China Madame Chiang Kai-shek, the late Egyptian President Anwar El-Sadat and his wife, the late Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin, former Vice Presidents Dan Quayle and Al Gore, the late powerful Georgia Congressman Carl Vinson, and many many more. Five former presidents have also visited Robins, specifically-Lyndon Baines Johnson, President and Mrs. Richard M. Nixon, President and Mrs. James E. "Jimmy" Carter Jr., who housed Air Force One at Robins AFB during trips to their home in Plains, Georgia, and Ronald Reagan and William Jefferson Clinton, both of whom flew into Robins AFB on campaign trips to Macon and other parts of Central Georgia. Nearly each day, it seems, CEOs, Mayors, State officials, and senior officers from every service and from dozens of foreign nations visit Robins AFB.
One of the most important recent missions to originate from Robins AFB
came about in 1994, when Senator Nunn, former President Carter, and former JCS
Chair, Collin Powell, at the bidding of President Clinton, traveled to
As for Robins AFB itself, it has gone through many changes. It has been buffeted by a major tornado in 1953 and squeezed by growing pains throughout. Originally, Robins Field consisted of just over 3,000 acres valued at one million dollars. The original construction cost just over $20,000,000. Today Robins AFB is situated on 8,722 acres of an upper coastal plain, of which 2,300 acres are natural wetlands and 1,150 acres are timberlands. Wildlife and vegetation are plentiful and lavish. Birds, alligators, the Florida Panther, and various insects make up the animal population, while magnolias, oaks, and loblolly pines (many planted during the New Deal programs of the 1930s) are among the wide ranging species of vegetation. Center environmental personnel and professional archaeologists have uncovered 36 sites and recovered numerous artifacts for display in the Robins AFB Museum of Aviation exhibit "Windows To A Distant Past," thus proving that Robins was once a major Native American settlement.
Today, Robins AFB has 14,297,809 square feet of facilities. There are 3.9
million square feet of maintenance shops, 1.7 million square feet of
administrative space, and 3.4 million square feet of storage space at Robins
AFB. The flightline runway is 12,000 feet long and 300 feet wide with two
1,000-foot overruns. Up until the early 1990s, it also has 13 miles of railroad
tracks a link to its origins in World War II. It landing area is not only the
largest runway in
Of particular note is the
Not only has Robins AFB and the WR-ALC been important to the Air Force,
but its impact on the state and region has been dramatic. Roughly only 500 of
the over 19,000 members the Robins AFB work force come from outside the 25
counties of Middle Georgia. Between $200 million and $400 million in annual
contract awards have been presented to
The sleepy little whistle-stop known as Wellston changed its name to
In 1993 and again in 1995, Robins and the WR-ALC were closely scrutinized
by members of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission. On both
occasions the BRAC commissioners agreed that this installation was so vital to
the nation's defense that it should remain open and functioning as one of
Robins AFB, Georgia, like all U.S. military installations, was deeply affected by the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. Security measures so restricted access to the Base that for the first few days long lines of traffic stretched for miles and many members of the workforce were not able to even get to their job sites. However, as they have done since the Base opened in 1941 the military and civilian leadership and personnel adapted and overcame. Like the rest of the nation they soon took up their role in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) surging repair materials and spares and pushing forward sustainment and support operations for U.S. forces going in harm's way.
Between 7 October 2001 and 18 March 2002, they performed remarkable service for Allied forces during Operation Enduring Freedom, the liberation of Afghanistan. They exceeded expectations even through a change of command when on 11 January 2002 Major General (later Lieutenant General) Donald Wetekam took over for Major General Dennis Haines. This performance continued during Operation Iraqi Freedom from 19 March to 1 May 2003 as Allied forces destroyed the evil regime of the dictator Saddam Hussein and freed the people of Iraq.
Since that time Afghan and Iraqi rebuilding efforts have also been supported by the men and women of Robins AFB. Even after the capture of Hussein on 14 December 2003, underground resistance has continued in both nations. However, the U.S. has remained determined to complete its nation-building effort. To this end, Robins has continued to play a vital role in this noble cause.
To better achieve this wartime sustainment
process, AFMC leadership decided to reorganize the entire Command along more
military lines. In an effort to "Blue" the Command, the Air Logistic Centers
were divided into new unit organizations that changed directorates into wings,
divisions into groups and branches into squadrons. Led by the current WR-ALC
Commander Major General Michael Collings, the Center made these changes
beginning in the second half of 2004 and culminating in early 2005. Indeed,
this Center led the way in the reorganization converting its units first and
obtaining its new lineage/honors, heraldry and unit histories first. Reaching
back into the illustrious history of the Air Force the Center reactivated World
War II and Cold War wings to designate the new units.
Today, the WR-ALC has four Wings-the 78th Air Base Wing (78ABW), 330th Aircraft
Sustainment Wing (330ASW), 402 Maintenance Wing (402MXW) and 542nd Combat
Sustainment Wing (542CSW). Even as the reorganization went into effect, the
Base survived another round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). In May
2005, Robins AFB did not appear on the closure list. Even though there will be
changes with personnel at Robins AFB sustaining some new weapons systems and
equipment and the make up of the units may be different, the men and women at
Robins AFB will always fulfill their mission-"to keep them flying."
These positive trends continue to develop while the mission of
Robins AFB and the WR-ALC continues to be, "Keep 'Em Flying." To
this end, the present day members of Team Robins Plus carry on the tradition of
confronting and overcoming hard jobs just as their predecessors have done over
the past 61 years. This history is a recollection of some, hopefully most, of
the significant events, names, and achievements of not only the leaders, but all
the people who have labored at Robins AFB. From its origins as a dairy farm
pastureland 64 years ago to its status as a major defense industrial plant,
Robins AFB, Georgia, remains one of the nation's greatest defense assets.