How Civilians Saved Dayton and Its Future

The life blood of Dayton, Ohio is without a doubt Wright-Patterson Air Force Base we is hiring of over 30,000 employees supporting the local area with jobs and economy. The joining of two fields, Wright and Patterson Fields, almost never happened if it weren’t for the action of Daytonians who saw the potential of keeping the Army Air Corp’s Engineering Division. According to the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) History Office, “The Engineering Division gave Dayton a stable, expanding economic base and was a great source of pride for the city that considered itself the birthplace of aviation. Local industries also directly benefited from McCook’s technological developments and the skilled workforce the field attracted.”¹ The Engineering Division that include research, development and aircrew training of aircraft was started and located at McCook Field on 4 December 1917 in what is now downtown Dayton, Ohio. By the time of the mid-1920s, McCook Field was seen as to small for modern aircraft and a new airfield needed to be found.

There were talks of moving test flying and research to a new home in Virginia at Langley Field, which is now Langley Air Force Base. Luckily for Dayton, Colonel Thurman H. Bane, the then-commander of the Air Service Engineering School, told local business leaders what the United State Army was planning, they stepped into action. According to AFLCMC History Office, the effort to save the jobs was led by the Patterson family (founders of the National Cash Register Company), the city’s prominent citizens formed the Dayton Air Service Committee. The Committee reached an agreement with the War Department to build a permanent engineering facility in Dayton provided the land was donated to the federal government. A 48-hour fundraising campaign collected $425,000 to buy the land and fund a monument to the Wright Brothers.² The committee would go on to sell over 4,500 acres to the government for $2 dollars and construction began 16 April 1926 and many of those same buildings that were built then, Buildings 11, 16, 17, 18, 19, 31, 32, and 56 still exist and are in use to this day.

Works Cited:

1. “Wright Patterson Air Force Base: the First Century,” (Air Force Life Cycle Management Center History Office, 2015,) accessed March 28, 2019, https://www.wpafb.af.mil/Portals/60/documents/Index/History-of-WPAFB.pdf, page 6.

2. “Wright Patterson Air Force Base: the First Century,” (Air Force Life Cycle Management Center History Office, 2015,) accessed March 28, 2019, https://www.wpafb.af.mil/Portals/60/documents/Index/History-of-WPAFB.pdf, page 6.

Bibliography:

“Wright Patterson Air Force Base: the First Century.” Air Force Life Cycle Management Center History Office. 2015. Accessed March 28, 2019. https://www.wpafb.af.mil/Portals/60/documents/Index/History-of-WPAFB.pdf.