Tyndall History Revisited Published Feb. 8, 2010 By Ted Roberts 325th Fighter Wing historian TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Before its first year of operation was finished, the Air Tactical School (ATS) had assumed a greater role in national defense. By 1947, America's military planners had decided to create a peacetime continental air defense system, which emphasized a new requirement for aircraft control and warning systems. The new systems required aircraft controllers, but Air Training Command, Tactical Air Command, and Air Defense Command did not have the facilities to operate a school for aircraft controllers. The recommendation to Air Force headquarters, from the three commands, was to use the ATS at Tyndall because it had the facilities to organize and conduct the aircraft controller school. In December 1947, Headquarters United States Air Force ordered the establishment of the aircraft controllers' course under ATS's Tactical Control Division at Tyndall. Classes started in April 1948. Arrangements were made between Air University and Continental Air Command to provide jet aircraft for the ATS, and in January 1949, the ATS began making use of jet intercepts for training. A major corollary of this training was that ATS instructors created new control tactics and techniques for future use, as well as developing operational procedures for aircraft scrambling and interception.