Mather Air Force Base Mather Air Force Base ( Mather AFB ) is a closed United States Air Force Base located east of Sacramento , in the present - day city of Rancho Cordova on the south side of U . S . Route 50 in Sacramento County , California . ( The base had already been closed before the city was incorporated in 2003 . ) Mather Field was one of thirty - two Air Service training camps established after the United States entry into World War I in April 1917 . The Mather AFB land has various post - military uses including the 1995 Sacramento Mather Airport . History . Mather Air Force Base was named after Second Lieutenant Carl Spencer Mather , a 25 - year - old army pilot killed in a mid - air collision while training at Ellington Field , Texas on 30 January 1918 . Mather learned to fly in 1914 at the Curtiss Flying School in Hammondsport , New York , and became an instructor there at the age of 20 . He enlisted as an aviation cadet in August 1917 and as a licensed pilot was commissioned with part of his class as a second lieutenant on 20 January 1918 . He continued training to earn a Reserve Military Aviator rating and promotion to first lieutenant but was killed ten days later . The remainder of his class was requested that Mills Field be renamed in Mather ' s honor . World War I . In January 1918 , the Department of War sent a cadre of officers to the Sacramento , California area to survey sites for an aviation school . The group decided on a location about 12 miles southwest of Sacramento called Mills Station . An agreement to lease the land for the Army was concluded , and the construction of some 50 buildings began 15 March 1918 . Mills Field , named after the local community was opened on 30 April 1918 . It covered ovrer 700 acres and could accommodate up to 1 , 000 personnel . Dozens of wooden buildings served as headquarters , maintenance , and officers ’ quarters . Enlisted men had to bivouac in tents . Mather Field ' s first commander was 1st Lieutenant Sam P . Burman , March 15 , 1918 . The first unit stationed there was the 283d Aero Squadron , which was transferred from Rockwell Field , North Island , California . Flight training . Only a few U . S . Army Air Service aircraft arrived with the 283d Aero Squadron , Most of the Curtiss JN - 4 Jennys to be used for flight training were shipped in wooden crates by railcar . Mather Field served as a base for flight training for the United States Army Air Service . In 1917 , flight training occurred in two phases : primary and advanced . Primary training took eight weeks and consisted of pilots learning basic flight skills under dual and solo instruction . After completion of their primary training at Mather , flight cadets were then transferred to another base for advanced training . Training units assigned to Mather Field : With the sudden end of World War I in November 1918 , the future operational status of Mather Field was unknown . Many local officials speculated that the U . S . government would keep the field open because of the outstanding combat record established by Mather - trained pilots in Europe . Locals also pointed to the optimal weather conditions in the Sacramento area for flight training . Cadets in flight training on 11 November 1918 were allowed to complete their training , however no new cadets were assigned to the base . Also the separate training squadrons were consolidated into a single Flying School detachment , as many of the personnel assigned were being demobilized . Finally , flight training activities ceased on November 8 , 1919 . Inter - war years . With the end of World War I , in December 1919 Mather Field was deactivated as an active duty airfield , however , and a small caretaker unit was assigned to the facility for administrative reasons . It was used by the aerial forestry patrol . It also was used intermittently to support small military units . However , with the return to a peacetime economy , military training facilities such as Mather Field were deemed unnecessary , and it was closed on 12 May 1923 . The War Department had ordered the small caretaker force at Mather Field to dismantle all remaining structures and to sell them as surplus . Throughout the remainder of the 1920s , the War Department leased out the vacant land to local farmers and ranchers . Mather Field was reactivated on 1 April 1930 but as a sub post of the Presidio U . S . Army Post , San Francisco ; Hamilton Field and Stockton Field in that order during the 1930s . Mather Field , however , had to be refitted with new electrical , water , and telephone lines . Soon Mather was again alive with activity , though the renovation process could not compare to the original base construction . World War II . The Field was reestablished as a separate post and activated on 13 May 1941 . The Field area was increased from 872 to in June 1941 . Known sub - bases and auxiliaries of Mather AAF were : In 1941 Mather Army Airfield became the site for advanced navigator training . Navigation school began 2 August 1941 . Major new construction was completed 16 March 1942 . The USAAF Navigator School consisted of a rigorous 18 - week course consisting of instruction in celestial navigation and dead reckoning . To complete the course , cadets were required to have 100 hours in navigating both local and long - range flights . However in 1943 , Army Air Forces Training Command transferred the Navigator School from Mather Field to Ellington Field , near Houston , Texas . In turn , Mather became a twin - engine advanced flying school , training pilots and crews on B - 25 Mitchell medium bombers . In 1944 – 45 it became an aerial port of embarkation to the Pacific in preparation for the expected transfer of large numbers of men and aircraft from Europe to the Pacific . During the summer of 1945 , the 509th Composite Group was transferring from its Second Air Force training base at Wendover Army Air Field , Utah , the group landed at Mather prior to embarking on its trans - Pacific movement to Tinian ( in the Marianas Island chain ) . Due to the extraordinary security of the unit because of its atomic mission , the commanding general of Mather Field was told at gunpoint that he was not allowed on board the B - 29 " The Great Artiste " , which had landed there . Cold War . Air Training Command . During the Cold War , Mather AFB became the sole aerial navigation school for the U . S . Air Force after its companion navigation schools at Harlingen Air Force Base , Texas and James Connally Air Force Base , Texas were closed and Ellington Air Force Base was converted into a joint Air National Guard Base , Coast Guard Air Station and NASA flight facility in the 1960s . The 3535th Navigator Training Wing of the Air Training Command ( ATC ) , was responsible for Bombardment Training beginning in 1946 and later transitioned to Undergraduate Navigator Training ( UNT ) , Advanced Navigator Bombardier Training ( NBT ) , Electronic Warfare Officer ( EWO ) training and Weapon Systems Officer ( WSO ) training after the closure of the other Navigator training bases . Renamed the 3535th Flying Training Wing ( 3535 FTW ) , the wing initially flew the Convair T - 29 for Air Force Navigator training until the early 1970s when it was replaced by the Boeing T - 43 A ( Boeing 737 - 200 ) aircraft . The 3535 FTW was redesignated as the 323d Flying Training Wing ( 323 FTW ) on 1 April 1973 . In 1976 , following the decommissioning of Training Squadron TWENTY - NINE ( VT - 29 ) at NAS Corpus Christi , Texas , the 323 FTW also commenced training of student Naval Flight Officer s in the Advanced Maritime Navigation training pipeline . Navy students in this pipeline were destined to fly land - based naval aircraft such as the P - 3 Orion , EP - 3 Aries and the EC - 130 and LC - 130 Hercules aircraft . This resulted in UNT being redesignated as Interservice Undergraduate Navigator Training ( IUNT ) . The Navy also activated Naval Air Training Unit ( NAVAIRTU ) Mather as a parent activity for U . S . Navy instructors , USN students and NATO / Allied naval aviation students assigned to the 323 FTW at Mather . The Marine Aerial Navigation School ( MANS ) also relocated to Mather in order to train enlisted USMC and USCG navigators for Marine Corps KC - 130 and Coast Guard HC - 130 aircraft . Cessna T - 37 aircraft were also added to the IUNT curriculum in the late 1970s for those USAF students destined for high performance aircraft such as the F - 4 / RF - 4 , F - 111 / FB - 111 and B - 1 . The 323 FTW continued training USAF Navigators , Naval Flight Officers , NATO / Allied students , as well as conducting advanced training for newly - winged USAF Navigators as Radar Navigator / Bombardiers , EWOs and WSOs until it was inactivated on 30 September 1993 . Concurrent with the wing ' s inactivation , all USAF Navigator and Naval Flight Officer Maritime Navigation pipeline training was moved to Randolph AFB , Texas and consolidated under the 12th Flying Training Wing , which up until that time had primary responsibility for training and certifying instructor pilots . Radar stations . Mather AFB had a late 1940s / early 1950s Radar Bomb Scoring detachment of the 3903rd Radar Bomb Scoring Squadron ( cf . 3903rd Det B at Treasure Island CA & 11th RBS Sq Det 3 at McClellan AFB ) , and the additional Mather AFB general surveillance radar station was established after a 2nd stage of " additional Lashup stations and heavy radar equipment [ was ] authorized " in the fall of 1949 . L - 37 began operations with an AN / CPS - 6 in June 1950 , and the 668th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was assigned on January 1 , 1951 to L - 37 , which later converted to AN / FPS - 20 A and AN / FPS - 6 and AN / FPS - 6B radars . By 1960 the station became a joint - use facility with the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) and in 1961 , the two height - finder radars were removed . The station became part of the San Francisco Air Defense Sector with the radars providing radar data to the Beale DC - 18 SAGE Direction Center via the CDTS at Mill Valley radar station ( Z - 38 ) . The 668th was inactivated on September 1 , 1961 , and Det . 2 of the 666th Radar Squadron performed subsequent operations until inactivated on September 1 , 1966 . The FAA operates the Mather radar site with an AN / FPS - 91A of the Joint Surveillance System ( JSS ) . Strategic Air Command . On 1 April 1958 , the Strategic Air Command ' s ( SAC ) 4134th Strategic Wing composed of the 72d Bombardment Squadron and 904th Aerial Refueling Squadron was assigned to Mather AFB . The Strategic Wings were formed in the late 1950s as part of SAC ' s plan to disperse its heavy bombers over a larger number of bases , thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike . All of the " Strat " Wings had one squadron of B - 52s containing 15 aircraft . Half of the planes were maintained on fifteen - minute alert , fully fueled , armed , and ready for combat . The remaining planes were used for training in bombardment missions and air refueling operations . Most of the " Strat Wings " also had a squadron of KC - 135 tankers . The Strategic Wing designation was phased out in early 1963 . In most cases , the aircraft and crews remained at the same base , but the wing ( and its bomb squadron ) were given new designations . The 4134th Strategic Wing was inactivated on 1 February 1963 . Concurrent with the inactivation of the 4134th SW , the 320th Bombardment Wing ( 320 BW ) redeployed on paper from March AFB to Mather and absorbed its assets . It operated as a tenant unit from 1963 to 1989 , initially with the B - 52F Stratofortress before converting in 1968 to the B - 52G . Operational squadrons in the 320 BW were the 441st Bombardment Squadron ( 441 BS ) and the 904th Air Refueling Squadron ( 904 ARS ) , the latter flying the KC - 135A Stratotanker . In addition to SAC nuclear alert , the 320 BW also conducted conventional operations , to include maritime missions in support of the U . S . Navy with aerial mines or AGM - 84 Harpoon missiles . The 320 BW was inactivated on 30 September 1989 . The 940th Air Refueling Group ( 940 ARG ) , an Air Force Reserve unit , moved to Mather AFB in 1977 , shortly after it transitioned to the KC - 135A . Operationally - gained by SAC , the unit upgraded to the KC - 135E in 1986 . With SAC ' s inactivation in 1992 , the unit was then operationally - gained by the Air Mobility Command ( AMC ) and redesignated the 940th Air Refueling Wing ( 940 ARW ) of the Air Force Reserve Command ( AFRC ) in 1993 . Following the closure of Mather AFB , the 940 ARW temporarily relocated to McClellan AFB from 1993 until that installation ' s closure in 1998 . The wing then relocated to its current station of Beale AFB . Closure . On 30 September 1993 , Mather AFB of was decommissioned under the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission , including 129 acres ( 522 , 000 m² ) of easements . The base was primarily transferred to the Sacramento County , California , and was partially listed on the National Priorities List as a Superfund site on 22 July 1987 , then fully listed on 21 November 1989 . Current sites of the former AFB include : Natural history . There are rare wetland vernal pool s , which are " . . . unique to California " , and numerous plant and animal species that have existed on the site that became Mather Air Force Base . The chiefly grassland community continues to hold a considerable number of plants , mammals , birds and arthropods . Within the plant community are large numbers of native grass and forb species . An example native wildflower found here is the Yellow Mariposa Lily , " Calochortus luteus " . Another example is the Vernal Pool Buttercup , " Ranunculus bonariensis var . trisepalus " . Specifically the vernal pools at Mather are habitat to Ahart ' s Dwarf Rush " Juncus leiospermus var . ahartii " , Boggs Lake hedgehyssop " Gratiola heterosepala " , and the rare " Legenere limosa " .