History of USAF Air Ground Operations School in NC

By Matthew M. Peek, Military Collection Archivist, State Archives of North Carolina

On March 21, 1946, the U.S. Army Air Force reorganized its Continental United States operations into three major command divisions: Air Defense Command (ADC), Strategic Air Command (SAC), and Tactical Air Command (TAC). This reorganization preceded the formation of the U.S. Air Force as a stand-alone United States military branch on September 18, 1947, with the National Security Act of 1947 as passed by the U.S. Congress. Now under the U.S. Air Force, Tactical Air Command — which was formed to command, organize, equip, train and administer assigned or attached forces — operated to plan for and participate in tactics for fighter, light bombardment and other aircraft in the U.S. Air Force. TAC also planned for and developed the capability to deploy tactical strike forces anywhere in the world.

In 1950, the U.S. Air Force operated with the U.S. Army a joint air-ground operations school at Pope Air Force Base at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with Colonel Samuel T. Moore as the commander of the school’s early operations there (he later would go on to work under Brig. Gen. Gross at the Southern Pines’ school). The purpose of the school was to teach to command personnel of the Armed Services the tactics, doctrines, and practical applications of air-ground operations, and facilitate improved operational understanding of the different branches to their opposites. The faculty was composed of Air Force and Army personnel.

Background article on the Tactical Air Command training history, including when the USAF Air-Ground Operations School moved to Southern Pines, N.C., published in the Air Force Magazine, August 1957, Page 263, viewed online through Google Books.

By June 1951, the U.S. Air Force decided to move the Air Ground Operations School (also written as the Air-Ground Operations School), leasing the Highland Pines Inn in the town of Southern Pines in Moore County, North Carolina, as the school’s new headquarters., and was appointed as the Deputy of Air at the school at Southern Pines. In July 1951, Brigadier General William Milton Gross was appointed the first regular commandant of the Air Ground Operations School. He had previously served as project officer for establishing the school. In July 1954, Brig. Gen. Daniel W. Jenkins was appointed commandant of the school, in which position he served through 1957.

Group photograph of the members of the Forward Air Controller Course No. 53–14, November 9–18, 1953, at the USAF Air-Ground Operations School in Southern Pines, N.C. Picture includes USAF jet pilot Robert R. Holland [taken from the family photographs wall of the Robert Holland Obituary and Memorial webpage, viewed at https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/catonsville-md/robert-holland-7631427].

The Air Ground Operations School at Southern Pines ran one and two-week intensive training and indoctrination courses, graduating by 1956 about 100 students per week. The school ended up being staff by 1956 with a 100 military officers and male staff. The course participants were integrated racially during course instruction by the mid-1950s.

Group photograph of participants in the Indoctrination Course No. 56–2, January 16–20, 1956, held at the USAF Air-Ground Operations School in Southern Pines, N.C. [taken from the Col. James E. White obituary and memorial webpage, contributed by a family friend, viewed on https://www.thewoodmortuary.com/obituaries/Col-James-White/#!/PhotosVideos/Album-487686/Photo-15286561].

By February 1956, the U.S. Air Force had announced plans to move the Air Ground Operations School to Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. Businessmen and local politicians in Southern Pines saw the school as a vital part of the economy in the region, and North Carolina U.S. Representative for the 8th District Charles B. Deane obtained a stay on the relocation of the school until 1957. It was decided eventually that the Air Ground Operations School would move in stages to Keesler AFB, with the move to be completed around April 1, 1957.

Article on the U.S. Air Force decision to move the air-groun operation school from Southern Pines, N.C., to Keesler AFB in Mississippi, published in The Robesonian newspaper (Lumberton, N.C.), Tuesday, February 21, 1956 [taken from Newspapers.com, through the State Library of North Carolina].

Unfortunately, any hopes that the townspeople of Southern Pines had in keeping the school there were ended on January 20, 1957, when a fire at the Highland Pines Inn destroyed the inn and the headquarters for the Air Ground Operations School. Southern Pines officials offered alternative space in the community for the continued operations of the school, which were rejected by Defense Department officials. The timetable for the move of the school to Keesler AFB was moved up several months following the fire.

Article announcing the move of the USAF Air-Ground Operations School from Southern Pines, N.C., to Keesler AFB. Article published in The Daily Times News (Burlington, N.C.), Monday, January 28, 1957 [taken from Newspapers.com, through the State Library of North Carolina].

Unable to convince the U.S. Department of Defense to maintain the school’s operations in Southern Pines, Brig. Gen. Daniel W. Jenkins, commandant of the school at the time, was ordered on Monday, January 21, 1957, to begin preparations for moving the school to Kessler AFB. Mississippi U.S. Senator John C. Stennis was involved in the push to have the school moved to Keesler AFB, and appears to be one of the major driving forces behind the effort. It was his office that issued news releases about the school’s move to Keesler.

By the time the school relocated its $100,000 monthly payroll to Mississippi, the Air Ground Operations School was employing 30 military officers, 27 civilians, and 88 airmen. It is estimated that more than 20,000 military officers went through training at the Air Ground Operations School in Southern Pines between 1951 and 1957.

Article announcing the move of the USAF Air-Ground Operations School from Southern Pines, N.C., to Keesler AFB. Article published in Statesville Record and Landmark (Statesville, N.C.), Wednesday, January 30, 1957 [taken from Newspapers.com, through the State Library of North Carolina].

You can learn about the exact operation of the school programs and what courses were operated at the Air Ground Operations School in the 1950s, by checking out the Air Force Air Ground Operations School Materials collection (CLDW 1) — which documents a February 1954 ground school course there — in the Cold War Papers of the Military Collection at the State Archives of North Carolina.

Resources

Information on the school was taken from several compiled biographies of individuals who were stationed there, as well as from original local North Carolina newspaper articles on the school’s operations. The following sources were used:

1. Air Force Air Ground Operations School Materials, CLDW 1, Cold War Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.
2. “Southern Pines Inn Leased By Air Force,” The High Point Enterprise, High Point, N.C., Saturday, June 2, 1951, Page 5
3. “Col. S.T. Moore Given Southern Pines Position,” The Daily Times-News, Burlington, N.C., Saturday, July 21, 1951, Page 7
4. “Major Holt In Training,” The Daily Times-News, Burlington, N.C., Friday, August 3, 1951, Page 13
5. “Southern Pines AF School Move Decision Friday,” The Robesonian, Lumberton, N.C., Tuesday, February 21, 1956, Page 15
6. “Ground School Will Be Moved,” Statesville Record & Landmark, Statesville, N.C., Wednesday, January 23, 1957, Page 7
7. “Southern Pines Loses Military Training School,” The Daily Times-News, Burlington, N.C., Monday, January 28, 1957, Page 1
8. “Ground School Move Ordered,” Statesville Record & Landmark, Statesville, N.C., Wednesday, January 30, 1957, Page 8
9. “Brigadier General William Milton Gross,” Senior Leadership Biographies, U.S. Air Force website, viewed at http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/ Biographies/Display/tabid/225/Article/106939/brigadier-general-william-milton-gross.aspx
10. “Major General Daniel Webster Jenkins,” biography, The Military Memorial Museum, Nelson Museum of the West, Cheyenne, Wyoming, viewed at http://www.militarymemorialmuseum.com/museum/Generals/Air_Force_Generals/Major_General_Daniel_W_Jenkins_5688