Mission
The primary mission of Scott Air Force Base is global mobility. The base commands and controls all logistics of United States military in air, over land and across the sea. Team Scott sets policies and executes all air mobility operations. The installation is responsible for providing United States aeromedical evacuation capabilities, fly operational support airlift in the C-21, and air refueling missions in the KC-135. Scott Air Force Base supplies forces to theater combatant commanders.
375th Airlift Wing
The 375th Airlift Wing has managed the domestic aeromedical evacuation system since 1975 by providing timely airlift of seriously ill or injured military personnel, military family members and other Department of Defense patients to medical treatment centers.
The wing's Operational Support Airlift fleet consists of 50 C-21A Learjets stationed here and at Geographically Separated Units at Andrews, Wright Patterson, Peterson, Offutt and Langley Air Force bases. The 458th Airlift Squadron flies these missions that provide transportation for government officials, cargo requiring time-sensitive airlift, and single patient aeromedical evacuation.
The 375th Airlift Wing hosts some of the nation's most important organizations - including U.S. Transportation Command, Air Mobility Command and Air Force Communications Agency, a Reserve airlift wing, and an Air National Guard refueling wing. In total, there are approximately 24 tenant units on Scott.
Flying Mission at Scott
Scott Air Force Base maintains an airport with an 8,000-foot runway, an Air Traffic Control Tower (built in 1997), and 22 home-based aircraft.
Tenant Headquarters:
- U.S. Transportation Command
- Air Mobility Command
- 18th Air Force
- Air Force Communications Agency
- Defense Information Systems Agency
~ abbreviated from Scott AFB website
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SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE HISTORY:
During World War I, Secretary of War, Newton D. Baker advocated an expanded role for aviation. Business and political leaders on both sides of the Mississippi River wanted the Midwest to be the site chosen for one of the new "flying fields." Aerial expert Albert Bond Lambert joined the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce, and directors of the Greater Belleville Board of Trade, to negotiate a lease agreement for nearly 624 acres of land. After inspecting several sites, the U.S. War Department agreed to the lease on June 14, 1917. In a prophetic statement, Albert Bond Lambert remarked, "The establishment of this field adds greatly to the prestige of the St. Louis district and will undoubtedly play an important part in the development of aeronautics from a commercial standpoint after the war."
It was going to take a tremendous amount of time, money, and manpower to build an aviation field from scratch. Congress appropriated $10 million for its construction and 2,000 laborers and carpenters were immediately put to work. The government gave the Unit Construction Company 60 days to erect approximately 59 buildings, lay a mile-long railroad spur to connect the field with the main line of the Southern Railroad, and level off an airfield with a 1,600-foot landing circle. Construction was well underway when the government announced it would name the new field after Corporal Frank S. Scott, the first enlisted person killed in an aviation crash.
~ abbreviated from Scott AFB website (
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