A visit to Lackland Air Force Base,

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

A visit to Lackland Air Force Base,

Sunday started cloudy, humid day but that never stopped anyone. We decided to visit Lackland Air Force Base... Tom was looking for new Ray Ban sun glasses and the Shopping is excellent on base.

Just a note on the base.

Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA), which includes Lackland Air Force Base, was established in accordance with congressional legislation implementing the recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission. The legislation ordered the consolidation of the three facilities which were adjoining, but separate military installations, into a single joint base – one of 12 joint bases formed in the United States as a result of the law.

Lackland AFB is named after Brigadier General Frank Lackland. It is the only entry processing station for Air Force enlisted Basic Military Training (BMT). It shared this status temporarily with Amarillo Air Force Base during the Vietnam War until Amarillo AFB's closure in 1968.

Lackland AFB hosts a collection of vintage military aircraft on static display on its parade grounds, including a B-52 Stratofortress, F-4 Phantom II, SR-71 Blackbird, C-121 Constellation, B-17 Flying Fortress and a B-25 Mitchell.

After a long walk around the Static display, we went to the mall, Barnes and Noble and finally the Alamo Dinner Theater to see Despicable Me 2.

A note on the Static display. Most of the air craft have an Enlisted Story attached to the plans. I have related some of these, but not all. We spent over an hour making the complete circuit and it was well worth it.

C-47 Sky Train

You will notice metal pins sticking up off the props and
high edges of the planes to keep birds off. This Dove
was determined to have her nest here and found a spot.
B-25 Mitchell