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Library > Fact Sheets > Brooks City-Base History 1960 - present
BROOKS CITY-BASE HISTORY 1960 - PRESENT
1960s
Events at Brooks Air Force Base during the 1960s were dominated by the emerging Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union. After the launch of Sputnik I in 1957 by the Soviets, the United States began an intensive effort known as the Man-In-Space Program. Crucial to such an endeavor was the work of the School of Aerospace Medicine (SAM), which, while at Randolph AFB in the 1950s, developed innovative research involving man's ability to survive in space. With its new home at Brooks AFB, SAM developed an early relationship with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), providing it with vital aeromedical research which aided NASA's plan (Project Mercury) to send man into space.
Using specialized equipment such as F-100F aircraft, centrifuges, and space cabin simulators, SAM scientists tested and developed numerous aerospace medical innovations, including oxygen environments for space cabins, spacesuits, and onboard life-support systems for NASA's space program. In addition to supporting NASA programs, SAM contributed much of its research to the Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program, in which scientists studied the long-term effects of space on astronauts. MOL research included space food development, further spacesuit testing, and testing of cabin environments. Contributions by SAM during this decade proved essential to the success of NASA's Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs as well as the later Skylab and space shuttle programs.
During the mid-1960s, SAM introduced wartime medical research because of the growing war in Vietnam. SAM scientists provided the U.S. Air Force with military applications related to the safety and enhancement of its mission in Southeast Asia. In addition to research, SAM flight surgeons traveled overseas to study medical problems on the front lines, and transferred this knowledge to the SAM curriculum.
Brooks AFB also hosted aeromedical evacuation training courses for flight nurses. Operating since World War II, aeromedical evacuation utilized flight nurses and specially-equipped transport aircraft to remove wounded soldiers from battlefields to hospitals. While in flight, flight nurses provided medical care for the wounded. The air evacuation program at Brooks AFB proved vital to the care of wounded personnel in the Vietnam War.
1970s
Entering the 1970s, the School of Aerospace Medicine faced dramatic budget reductions, as did much of the military after the nation's gradual pullout from Vietnam. Because of military downsizing, the focus of its research shifted from theoretical to applied, providing direct benefits to U.S. Air Force flyers and personnel. To achieve this goal, Brooks Air Force Base (AFB) focused on its primary missions of research, teaching, and medical support.
Despite budget cuts, the mission of Brooks AFB expanded with the addition of the U.S. Air Force Occupational and Environmental Health Laboratory in 1976. The laboratory gave Brooks AFB the ability to analyze chemicals in any substance, and isolate chemicals that might prove harmful to Air Force personnel.
Brooks AFB also was home to the Epidemiology Laboratory which was created to study diseases and how they might impact Air Force personnel. In 1979, the laboratory was selected to conduct a study of the potential harmful effects of Agent Orange used by personnel during the Vietnam War.
Thus, the 1970s saw the base's mission narrowing to one centered on specific research related to U.S. Air Force fliers and personnel.
1980s
The 1980s ushered in a new era of responsibility for Brooks Air Force Base. In 1983, the Air Force Human Resources Laboratory was assigned to the base, greatly enhancing its research capabilities. No longer focused just on basic research, the laboratories and research centers of the Aerospace Medical Division (AMD - headquartered at Brooks AFB), incorporated engineering and development programs which allowed it to develop its own theoretical research into actual products, a shift known as technology transition.
Examples of projects that utilized this shift involved chemical defense, on-board oxygen generating systems, crew systems technology, aeromedical system development, and epidemiological studies. The shift in its responsibilities from theoretical to human and weapons systems development resulted in AMD changing its name to Human Systems Division (HSD) in 1987. With the expansion of its research capabilities in the 1980s, the AMD at Brooks AFB hosted the world's largest assembly of human, life, and behavioral science personnel.
1990s
Despite the reduction of the U.S. military after the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, Brooks Air Force Base managed to increase its importance as a U.S. Air Force research institution. To meet the demands of the post-Cold War environment in 1991, the Air Force created four super-laboratories, each of which consolidated individual laboratories across the country. Fortunately for Brooks AFB, it was selected to house the Armstrong Laboratory, which included the Air Force Human Resources Laboratory, the Air Force Drug Testing Laboratory, the Harry G. Armstrong Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory, the Air Force Occupational and Environmental Health Laboratory, and the laboratory functions of the School of Aerospace Medicine .
The research capabilities at Brooks AFB proved vital to the success of the U.S. Air Force's contributions during Operation Desert Storm in 1990-1991. In addition, the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence (AFCEE) was created and located at Brooks. The center is responsible for managing base closures and ensuring environmental safety at Air Force installations.
In 1992, the Air Force merged the Air Force Systems Command and the Air Force Logistics Command into the new Air Force Materiel Command. As a result, the Human Systems Division at Brooks became the Human Systems Center. In 1995, military planners, as a part of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), approved the gradual transition in ownership of Brooks AFB from the Air Force to the City of San Antonio.
2000s
On July 22, 2002, the City of San Antonio assumed control of the newly named Brooks City-Base (former Brooks Air Force Base). The creation of the city-base was the first of its kind in which the Air Force remained as a tenant but forfeited the responsibility of managing the overall base infrastructure. Scientists at the School of Aerospace Medicine (SAM) continue to perform cutting edge research incorporating the human element into military applications. In addition to research, SAM trains 6,000 students annually in several specialties including aerospace medicine and nursing. Tenants at Brooks City-Base include AFRL and AFCEE. Despite the change in ownership, SAM will continue to provide the Air Force with vital research and education pertaining to its mission.
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