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 Far East had the necessary tools to fight the North Korean invaders. This was particularly true with the key role B-29s played in bombing Communist supply lines and staving off the enemy’s assault on Allied forces pinned down inside the Pusan Perimeter.
The lesson of Korea was not lost on policymakers in Washington . Ever since, though numbers have fluctuated slightly, both the Air Force and Department of Defense have always ensured that Robins AFB has been adequately staffed. This, of course, has paid off since Robins AFB and the WR-ALC played enormous roles in the Viet Nam War through the resupply of troops and materiel known as the Southeast Asian Pipeline. Among the weapons systems managed by WRAMA personnel during the Vietnam War was the B-57 Canberra used for night raids along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The modification of AC-119G and K Gunships were managed entirely by Center personnel in the late 1960s. It proved to be the Allies’ primary "truck killer" during much of the Second Indochina War. Also playing a vital part in war were the AC-130 Gunship, various helicopters, the C-141, the C-130, the C-123, and the C-124 cargo aircraft—all serviced and maintained at
WRAMA.
In the 1970s, WRAMA and Robins AFB personnel once again found themselves on the world’s center stage as they surged to resupply America ’s important Middle Eastern ally, Israel , in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. During Operation Nicklegrass dozens of C-141s managed by WRAMA provided the Israeli military with critical supplies to prevent defeat in its war with its Arab neighbors. In October 1983, WR-ALC-managed C-130s and gunships supported U.S. ground forces during the invasion of the tiny Caribbean Island of Grenada.
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 Persian Gulf wresting Kuwait from the clutches of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Personnel at Robins and throughout the Air Force airlifted more supplies and aircraft to the Persian Gulf Theater of War in 14 weeks than the Allies had airlifted in 14 months to West Berlin during the Berlin Airlift. Of course, everyone is familiar with the vital roles that the F-15 Eagle and the E-8A (now E-8C) Joint STARS played in bringing the Iraqi Army to its knees.
Of course, most of us still recall the tense days of March-June 1999. We learned new names like Kosovo , Bosnia , and Serbia . We also heard the name of a new tyrant Slobodan
Milosevic. Unfortunately, the scenario was all too similar–genocide, brutality, and the strong oppressing the weak. Again the Air Force played the decisive role in putting an end to this dictator, while the WR-ALC and the other organizations at Robins AFB played a major role in supporting our warfighters with surge items, manpower, and even operational aircraft such as the E-8C Joint STARS. The success of Operation Allied Force was unprecedented in history and eventually led to a restoration of relative peace and democracy in the region. Robins AFB continued to support American Air Power as demonstrated in the recent successful campaigns Enduring Freedom, Noble Eagle and Iraqi Freedom.
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 Small Arms Center for the Air Force, and a major location for the military development of high technology and automated industry. Since 1958, Center personnel have managed programs for 30 to 77 countries worth between $200 million to $3 billion annually.
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 Haiti and averted a major crisis. Their mission, which began and ended at Robins, not only avoided war between the U.S. and the Haitian military junta, but helped bring peace and democracy to that beleaguered island nation.
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 Georgia , but it is capable of accommodating the largest aircraft in the world including the C-5B Galaxy and the NASA Space Shuttle piggybacked on a Boeing 747. Robins has dormitories for 1,415 single members as well as 1,465 family housing units. In addition, it has a major medical facility, a large base chapel which serves the religious needs of Catholics, Protestants, and Jews, a fully accredited elementary schools, 180 acres of diversified recreational facilities, first class Officers" and Enlisted Clubs, numerous restaurant facilities, a base theater, base exchange, base post office, airline ticket office and commissary. Replacement value for all Robins AFB land and facilities in 1999 was almost $5 billion.
Of particular note is the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB which began in 1981 with a directive from the AFLC Commander, and when Dr. Richard W.
Iobst, then Museum curator, obtained the photographic collections of Georgia World War I aviator Lt Guy O. Stone. The first buildings opened in 1984, and with the dynamic leadership of its former director Ms. Peggy Young it became the world class facility it is today. It has four major structures on a 43-acre site and 90 historic aircraft on display. These include the SR-71, U-2, P-47, B-52, and even a MiG fighter. The Museum has become, in 20 short years, a major southeast regional educational and historical resource with over 550,000 people visiting annually. Over the past several years this trend has continued with the addition of numerous educational programs and exhibits.
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 Georgia businesses each year over the past decade. Overall Robins AFB contractors have awarded between $2 billion and $4 billion in contracts each year during that same period. Robins AFB’s total economic impact on Middle Georgia was $3.1 billion in 1998.
The sleepy little whistle-stop known as Wellston changed its name to Warner Robins on 1 September 1942 . Since that time, it has grown to 52,400 citizens, while Houston County now has a population near 107,000. But Warner Robins has not been the only beneficiary of the Base’s employment of over 19,000 military and civilian workers. Perry, Cochran, Fort Valley , Byron, Macon , Forsyth, Hawkinsville, Eastman, and the other regional towns of Middle Georgia’s 25 counties have also grown in size and experienced economic stability as a result of the development of Robins AFB and its supporting collateral businesses and industries which have burgeoned since 1941.
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 America ’s primary Air Logistics Centers. Finally, on 12 May 1995 , all of the hard work put forth by the members of Team Robins Plus paid off. The Team reached the pinnacle of its profession when Center and Base personnel received the Commander-in-Chief’s Installation Excellence Award from Secretary of the Air Force Widnall during formal ceremonies in Washington .
Today 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 61 years ago to its status as a major defense industrial plant, Robins AFB, Georgia, remains one of the nation’s greatest defense assets.
Main
phone numbers: Commercial (478)926-1001 or
DSN 468-1001
Mailing
address: Robins AFB, GA 31098
Population:
6,330 active duty and reservists; 13,171 civilians
Housing: 242
officer family units; 995 enlisted family units; 247
unaccompanied personnel units (478)926-2775
Temporary
lodging: 40 temporary units (478)926-2100;
campground (478)926-4500
Family
Support Center: (478)926-1256
Schools: Two
elementary schools on base run by DoDDs
Child
Care: Center for 291, three-month wait; 29
approved homes (478)926-6349
Health
care: Clinic. Appointments (478)327-7850;
Tricare (800)444-5445
Robins AFB - Warner Robins, GA
has a
large size commissary - (478)926-2126,
a medium exchange, and one shoppette (478)923-5536. Recreation at Robins AFB - Warner Robins, GA
includes arts and crafts, bowling, library, auto hobby,
recreation center, theater, golf, gym, tennis, swimming,
outdoor activities, camping, fishing, and stables.
