TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- On this day in 1941, 2,000 U.S. Army Air Forces Soldiers set foot on Tyndall Field, ready to train as aerial gunners at what was then known as Flexible Gunnery School No. 9.
News of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that day had not yet reached these young men as they reported for training. But when it did, the magnitude of the attack echoed through their ranks, as it did around the world, and within three days, the United States was at war.
It is hard to imagine what these fledgling Airmen were thinking when they heard the news and history unfolded before their eyes. Many were destined to fight in some of the most dangerous and historic air campaigns of World War II. Some would never return home.
Seventy-five years later, we continue to build on that legacy of selfless duty and preservation of American freedoms. Today, we train F-22 Raptor pilots, preparing them for the complexities of 21st Century battlefields. We also project combat air power. Our men and women have taken the Raptor to Europe and the Middle East, excelling at every opportunity to dominate the skies.
From those first days at Flexible Gunnery School No. 9, to today’s cutting edge air dominance mission with the F-22 Raptor, Airmen at Tyndall have been committed to Fly, Fight, and Win! Happy 75th Birthday Tyndall!