Foster Air Force Base Foster Air Force Base ( 1941 – 1945 , 1952 – 1959 ) is a former United States Air Force base , located approximately east - northeast of Victoria , Texas . A flying training airfield during World War II , it was part of Tactical Air Command during the Cold War as a tactical fighter and command base . History . Named in memory of Lt . Arthur L . Foster ( 25 November 1888 - 10 February 1925 ) , a native of Georgetown , Texas , and a United States Army Air Corps instructor killed in a crash at Brooks Field , Texas in 1925 . Foster ' s son received his training and commission at the base in the spring of 1942 . Operational history . World War II . Foster Air Force Base was established as an advanced single - engine flying school for fighter pilots six miles ( 10 km ) northeast of Victoria , Texas , in the spring of 1941 . A local funding campaign led by E . J . Dysart the previous spring had raised some $ 17 , 000 to locate the base at Victoria on a site as an economic asset . Subsequent government construction cost more than $ 4 million . Leases were formally approved by the War Department on 4 March 1941 , with construction beginning on 14 April 1941 by American - Friedman - Bitulithic Associates . The airfield was activated on 15 May 1941 by the Gulf Coast Air Corps Training Center . The mission of the new airfield was the training of aviation cadets in the advanced phase of flying training . Foster was assigned to the Air Corps Advanced Flying School ( Single Engine ) . In the advanced phase , the cadets flew advanced trainers , fighters and fighter - bombers . Pilot wings were awarded upon graduation and were sent on to group combat training . Graduates were usually graded as Flight Officer s ( Warrant Officers ) ; cadets who graduated at the top of their class were graded as Second Lieutenants . The initial class of cadets arrived in September 1941 and served under Lt . Col . Warren R . Carter , the first commander . WACs began to arrive the following May . Cadets used North American AT - 6 Texan trainers and Curtis P - 40 Warhawk fighters to drill in aerial gunnery , though actual practice took place on ranges located on Matagorda Island and Matagorda Peninsula . In addition to these bombing ranges on Matagorda , at least ten auxiliary landing fields and a sub - base ( Aloe AAF , built in 1943 5 miles southwest of Victoria ) was controlled by Foster for emergency landings and aircraft overflow . The field was formally dedicated to 1st Lt . Arthur L . Foster on Sunday , 22 February 1942 , who was killed along with Maj . Lee O . Wright in the 1030 hrs . crash of a Curtiss JN - 6H , " AS - 44806 " , ~ E of Brooks Field , Texas on 10 February 1925 . Foster ' s widow , Mrs . Ruth Young Foster , of San Antonio , Texas , unveiled a plaque that read " Dedicated to the memory of Lieut . Arthur Lee Foster , a pioneer in aviation who gave his life teaching others to fly . " In 1943 , the War Department constituted and activated the 77th Flying Training Wing ( Advanced Single - Engine ) at Foster and assigned it to the AAF Central Flying Training Command . The 77th was a headquarters for advanced training at several bases of AAF Central Flying Training Command . Many pilots returning from overseas service were taught to become aerial gunnery instructors at Foster Field . In addition to the pilot training mission , Foster also served as a medical evacuation facility for injured veterans . There were several housing facilities located on the base . On 1 January 1945 the 2539th Army Air Forces Base Unit took control of the ground station administrative functions . As World War II wound down Foster Field took control of several smaller facilities as they were being closed . On 1 September 1945 the mission at the airfield changed from pilot training to becoming a separation station . Foster Field itself was inactivated on 31 October 1945 , being placed in standby status . On 15 November the facility was completely closed and eventually the Foster Field site returned to its prewar owners , the Buhler and Braman estates . Cold War . Air Training Command . The Air Force retained a recapture right , which it exercised at Foster and at many other former bases to accommodate the Korean War training surge . In the fall of 1951 the government purchased at the site , and Foster Field was reactivated for single - engine jet training . Foster Field was designated Foster Air Force Base on an inactive status on 1 September 1952 , by Department of the Air Force General Order No . 38 , dated 29 August 1952 . The facility was assigned to the United States Air Force ' s Air Training Command . The 3580th Pilot Training Wing ( Basic , Single - Engine ) was assigned to the base on 1 May 1952 as the primary training organization as well as the base host unit . The first cadets graduated in March 1953 after three months of duty using North American T - 28 Trojan propeller and Lockheed T - 33 Shooting Star jet trainers . After the end of combat in Korea , Air Training Command returned various combat crew training responsibilities to Strategic Air Command and Tactical Air Command in 1954 . The command was able to do this because bases like Greenville AFB and Laredo AFB had acquired sufficient facilities to assume their full share of the pilot training load . Various bases were transferred to the combat commands , among these was the transfer of Foster AFB to TAC on 1 July 1954 Tactical Air Command . Foster Air Force Base was designated a permanent military installation on 1 July 1954 . Col . Frank L . Dunn became the new commander , replacing Col . C . C . Sonnkalb . Under Tactical Air Command , the 450th Fighter - Bomber Wing , was activated at Foster , on 1 July 1954 , replacing and absorbing the assets of the 3580th PTW . Four operational squadrons ( 720th , 721st , 722d and 723d ) were assigned to the 450th Fighter - Bomber Group , initially being equipped with the North American F - 86F Sabre . Its aircraft wore an approximation of the stars and stripes , with seven red and six white stripes on the trailing edge , and three stars in white on the blue forward portion of the fin . They also were designated with a colored , scalloped nose chevron . Along with the 450th , a second group , the 322d Fighter - Day Group was assigned to Foster , and attached to the 450th FDW . The 322d consisted of the 450th , 451st and 452d Fighter - Bomber Squadrons , also flying the F - 86F . Its aircraft wore a broad band on the fin with its playing card insignia superimposed . The 450th FBG was an operational unit , while the 322d took over the training mission formerly performed by ATC prior to the transfer of the base to TAC . With these two fighter groups assigned to the base , assigned personnel increased to about 6 , 000 . The primary mission of the 450th FBW was to maintain tactical proficiency for combat operations and to prepare for overseas deployments as part of Ninth Air Force . In early - 1955 , the 450th FBW began receiving new North American F - 100C / D Super Sabre aircraft , replacing the obsolescent F - 86s . The 450th FBW was the first operational Tactical Air Command wing to be equipped with the F - 100 . With the change of equipment , the wing was redesignated as the 450th Fighter - Day Wing on 8 March 1955 , with all its subordinate groups and squadrons also being redesignated . On 8 July 1955 , Foster AFB became the location of Headquarters , Nineteenth Air Force . Nineteenth AF had no units or aircraft permanently assigned . Its mission was planning and carrying out force protection and rapid response using temporarily attached units deployed to overseas crisis locations . From Foster , Nineteenth AF responded to the 1958 Lebanon crisis , when the United States sent in forces to sustain a pro - Western government after a conflict in Iraq threatened to spill across the border . Also , attached to Nineteenth AF , the 450th FDW carried out the first overseas deployment of a complete tactical force as a unit in a training flight to Europe in 1956 . The next year three Foster - based F - 100s flew the first TAC single - engine , nonstop , round - trip mission over a great distance when they " attacked " Panama in a training maneuver . On 1 July 1958 , the 450th was redesignated as the 450th Tactical Fighter Wing as part of a worldwide USAF renaming of its Fighter - Bomber and Fighter - Day units with a single mission designator . Closure . On 28 August 1957 , despite the fact that President Dwight D . Eisenhower appropriated funds for new construction at the base , the base was ordered closed by the spring of 1959 , with the resident 450th TFW and both groups inactivating . This closure was due to budgetary constraints in the Air Force , however the closing came as a surprise to both Victorians and base commanders . Nineteenth Air Force was moved to Seymour Johnson AFB , North Carolina , effective 1 September 1958 . The 450th TFW F - 100 aircraft were reassigned to the 4th and 36th Tactical Fighter Wings , and all units assigned to Foster were inactivated by mid - December 1958 . Despite a rigorous " Save Foster " campaign led in Washington by Senators Lyndon B . Johnson and Ralph Yarborough and Congressman Clark W . Thompson , the base closed on 31 December 1958 . It was formally inactivated effective 1 January 1959 by Department of the Air Force General Order No . 7 , dated February 9 , 1959 . The 450th was reactivated by SAC as a B - 52 Stratofortress strategic bombardment wing in 1962 to replace the 4136th Strategic Wing . Post military use . The local economy suffered greatly from the closure of Foster AFB . In the summer of 1960 , the General Services Administration approved the exchange of Aloe Field for Foster Field , and Victoria County Airport was moved to the latter site . The growth of the county airport slowly replaced the loss of Foster AFB as numerous businesses located there . Two of the largest businesses to locate at Victoria County Airport were the Devereux Foundation , a therapeutic - education center , and Gary Aircraft , which repaired surplus C - 54 Skymaster ( Douglas DC - 4 ) aircraft in 1968 . In 1976 Foster became the site of Victoria Regional Airport , which provides passenger service and connections with major carriers . The Victoria Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol ' s Texas Wing continues to meet at the location .