Tyndall's history Published May 26, 2009 By Ted Roberts 325th Fighter Wing TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- (Editor's note: The Gulf Defender will begin running bi-weekly segments on the Tyndall's history. The history is provided by Ted Roberts, 325th Fighter Wing historian, who revised material originally published by Dr. Jeffrey Underwood, former Air Defense Weapons Center historian in 1991.) Tyndall Air Force Base will celebrate its 70th anniversary come Dec. 7, 2011. The first contingent of troops arrived at the small gunnery school named Tyndall Field Dec. 7, 1941. It was the same day President Franklin D. Roosevelt called "a day that will live in infamy." The day Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor. Although this is recognized as its first day, Tyndall's history began much earlier. Concerned with the increasing possibility of war in Europe, President Roosevelt warned Congress in January of 1939 that the Army Air Corps was "utterly inadequate" to defend the United States and he asked Congress to expand the nation's air defenses. The Army's expansion program emphasized the construction of bombers, but building such a vast air fleet was only part of the massive job assigned to the Army Air Corps commanders. New airfields were required as well as facilities to train the pilots and maintenance personnel. Since the emphasis was on bombers, the Air Corps needed large numbers of aerial gunners. Every member of the bomber crew had a vital responsibility, but when the bomber was under attack by enemy aircraft, aerial gunners defended their airplane. The lives of the aircrew depended on these gunners, therefore schools were created to train them. A site board met with U.S. Senator Claude Pepper and both city and county officials Dec. 21, 1940 in Panama City. They determined that Flexible Gunnery School No. 9 would be located 12 miles southeast of Panama City on the East Peninsula.