About

The Direct Military Involvement Years

In the early 1940s, the War Department selected Greenville, South Carolina as the site for a new Army airfield to support the buildup for World War II. The airfield was completed in May 1942, and in June, Greenville Army Air Base was officially activated as a B-25 Mitchell medium twin-engine bomber training base.

Greenville AAB was assigned to the III Bomber Command of the Third Air Force. The 342d Army Air Force Base Unit was assigned as the host unit for the airfield. The entity that became DCIT developed during this time and provided such as logistics, maintenance, facilities, security and general administration.

The operational training unit (OTU) at Greenville AAB was the 334th Bombardment Group, being assigned on 16 July 1942. Its flying squadrons were the 470th, 471st, 472nd, and 473rd Bombardment squadrons, flying B-25 Mitchell medium bombers. The 334th's mission was to provide flying training to personnel and bomber crews, of which DCIT played an integral role.

In the summer of 1945, with the war coming to an end, a number of training bases were slated for closure. This included Greenville Army Air Base, which was placed on standby status in November 1945. However, there were plans made by the Army Air Force for its continuing use. One of the lessons of World War II was that the airplane was invaluable in the support of ground forces, both in the close air support and transport role.

Thus, the Tactical Air Command (TAC) was established as one of the post-war Army Air Forces' three major commands. The USAAF Troop Carrier Command (TCC) was inactivated as part of this reorganization and the Third Air Force was reassigned from the disbanding Continental Air Forces. TAC assumed command of the Troop Carrier transport mission and assigned it to the Third Air Force on 21 March 1946, which was assigned to Greenville AAB.

At Greenville, the Third Air Force was assigned a mixture of C-46 Commando and C-47 Skytrain aircraft and several Air Force Reserve troop carrier groups. Also, surplus C-54 Skymasters that had been originally purchased for Air Transport Command (ATC) were made available for troop carrier use.

The Third Air Force was inactivated on 1 November 1946, being replaced by the Ninth Air Force, which had just returned from Europe. With the establishment of the United States Air Force as an independent service branch in September 1947, the airfield was renamed Greenville Air Force Base. In the late 1940s many of TAC's Troop Carrier Groups/Wings were assigned directly to HQ TAC with the rest to the Air Force Reserve' Fourteenth Air Force and 302d Air Division. The DC Institute of Technology remained an administrative facility for several years, maintaining aircraft and providing training to these Air Force Reserve units.

During the Berlin Blockade in 1948, Air Force Reserve troop carrier groups at Greenville AFB deployed C-54s to Germany to replace the C-47s that began the Berlin Airlift to sustain the 'Großstadt'. At least one C-82 Packet, an early version of the C-119 Flying Boxcar, also participated in the airlift for several weeks.

The theater troop carrier mission was expanded rapidly during the Korean War when many of these reserve units were elevated to active service and assigned directly to HQ TAC.

After a period of intensive training, the C-82s of the 375th participated in troop carrier and airlift operations, paratroop drops, and other exercises until being returned to the reserves in July 1952. Its aircraft at Donaldson-Conestee were taken over by the newly activated 17th Troop Carrier squadron. The older C-82s were replaced by C-119s in 1953 and the 17th remained on active duty until 21 July 1954 when it returned to reserve status.

In March 1951 the base was renamed 'Donaldson Air Force Base' and on 26 June, the Eighteenth Air Force was activated in 1951 to discharge Tactical Air Command's troop carrier responsibilities. DCIT's mission became to organize, administer, equip, train, and prepare for combat troop carrier missions.

The Eighteenth Air Force inherited nine continental "medium" troop carrier wings (314th, 375th, 403d, 433d, 434th, 435th, 443d, 514th and 515th), seven of which were Air Force Reserve wings called to active duty during the Korean War. The command added a "heavy" (C-124) wing (62d) in the fall of 1951 and another in early 1953 (463d).

One of those reserve wings, the 443d Troop Carrier, was deployed for active duty at Donaldson on 9 August 1951 as a training wing. For almost two years, the 443d participated in tactical exercises in operations, training troop carrier aircrews using C-46 Commandoes for assignment to the Far East and worked closely with other troop carrier groups to test and evaluate new troop carrier doctrine and procedures. With the end of the Korean War, the 443d was inactivated on 8 June 1953.

On 15 October 1953 the 63d Troop Carrier Wing was transferred from Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, to Donaldson. The 63d flew the longer-range C-124 "Globemaster II" and became the host unit at Donaldson AFB until its closure in 1963.

Two helicopter squadrons, the 21st and 54th, flying the Piasecki H-21, were assigned to the Eighteenth Air Force in 1956 and 1957. Their mission was for the purpose of providing the US Army with air support in a fashion similar to the TAC Troop Carrier Squadrons. The Army, however, declined all support from the Air Force helicopters, and the 21st/54th Helicopter Squadron turned to flying airlift support, search and recovery missions, and also cooperated with a communications group in an experiment to lay communications lines by helicopter. Prior to inactivation, the unit flew photo, airlift, and radiological survey missions during atomic testing at the Nevada Test Site.

The DC Institute of Technology continued in its assistance in support military aircraft engineering, fabrication, maintenance, and training during a series of tense situations such as the 1958 Lebanon crisis, the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis, the 1962 Congo Crisis, and the Laotian Civil War.

The Military Deactivates the Donaldson AFB

Finally, in December 1962, the Air Force announced plans to close the base permanently due to budget reductions. Donaldson AFB was declared surplus in 1963 and steps were taken to deed the property back to the City and County of Greenville. In January 1963, the 63d Troop Carrier Wing was transferred to Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia and Donaldson AFB was deactivated for the last time. Under the terms of an earlier reversionary clause, the entire 2,600 acres (11 km2) were offered "as is". The City and County accepted the offer, and took title of the facilities on 25 January 1963.

The Beginnings of Becoming a Prime Contractor

The facilities and land of the former Donaldson AFB were returned to the City and County of Greenville and were renamed Donaldson Center Airport. Among the over 75 tenants of the industrial air park are the DC Institute of Technology; Lockheed Martin, Stevens Aviation, 3M, and Alan Pittman Race Cars.

The 1960s saw the first major shift in the Institute. Recognizing the potential, DCIT began a push in the medical industry. DCIT entered a joint partnership with the Orthopedic Frame Company (later the Stryker Corporation) in 1964 to research and develop high-end medical devices.

DCIT continued its expanse within the medical industry on into the 1970s, with many notable employees emerging into their own during this time.  The medical and healthcare manufacturing and services eventually found a home down the road from the Donaldson area in the Brookfield Corporate Plaza alongside fellow major contractor Jacobs Technology. With recent advances in devices such as pacemaker technology, DCIT became a forefront authority on research and development, as well as a sort of starting point for many prominent minds. Franz Schindler, for example, was once a junior executive at DCIT before traveling back to his home country of Germany to help in re-inventing Fresenius with Else Kroner (daughter of Eduard Fresenius). The Fresenius company brings in approximately billions of dollars per year now.

In 1976, the Donaldson-Conestee Institute of Technology gained its 300th patent for the adoption heating-cooling system.

With powerhouses like IBM, and later Apple and Microsoft, emerging more and more profoundly, DCIT took a digital leap and started engaging in information technology services in the 1980s. By 1986, DCIT had one of the most advanced computer laboratories of the time. DCIT worked extensively with the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and then Leidos when SAIC spun-off into that brand.

In 1994, DCIT opened two new facilities: one in Florida (focusing on naval manufacturing) and the other in Montana (focusing on weapons technology).  With larger areas to operate, major manufacturing facilities and hangars were built, and DCIT saw its largest growth ever -- going from only around 400 employees in three locations to over 1000 employees at five locations -- all within a couple of years.

Today, the DC Institute of Technology has ten major locations across nine states and employs over 8000 employees and another 550 contract workers.