Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina
Longitude: -80.4706
Origin of current name: Named in honor of 2d Lt Erwin David Shaw (1894-1918). One of the first Americans to fly combat missions in World War I, Lieutenant Shaw was attacked by three enemy aircraft while returning on 9 Jul 1918 from a reconnaissance flight in his Bristol. Lieutenant Shaw downed one of his attackers before he was killed.
Date current name was assigned to base: 13 Jan 1948
Previous Names: Shaw Field, 10 Sep 1941
Changes in Capability: Initially a primary flying school; three 4,500-foot runways completed, flying activities began 22 Oct 1941; first class completed training Feb 1942; runway and apron system completed May 1942; field accommodated night fighter operations (P-61s) following World War II; runway lengthened mid-1951; RF-84 operations began in 1955; 905 family housing units completed mid-1958; World War II warehouses, dormitories, and headquarters buildings replaced by new structures 1965; RF-4Cs (USAF's first) received 1965; medical center completed spring 1968; new runway completed Jul 1974; 300-unit family housing project accepted 15 Aug 1974; 500-unit housing project completed mid-1975; airfield lighting project completed FY 1979; converted from a reconnaissance to a tactical fighter base 1979-1980; new apron completed 1 Jun 1980; buildings and facilities constructed for F-16 operations Mar 1980-Jul 1982.
Major Changes in Status: None
Official Base Website: shaw.af.mil
Established in 1941 on the outskirts of Sumter to train pilots for World War II, Shaw Air Force Base later evolved into a home for U.S. Air Force tactical units. The facility was named after Sumter native Ervin Shaw, a pilot shot down over France in July 1918. Shaw Airfield originally consisted of less than three thousand acres and three 4,500-foot runways. Work began on the army flying school in May 1941 at an estimated cost of $2.5 million. Its first class of pilot cadets began training in December 1941 with BT-13s for basic flight training, the second of three training phases in earning a pilot's commission. During the latter stages of World War II, Shaw was also the site of a German prisoner-of-war camp of about four hundred prisoners. Before the Axis surrendered in 1945, more than 8,600 American, British, Canadian, and French cadets received training at Shaw. After the war the airfield became a separation center for thousands of soldiers being discharged from the military. At about the same time it was also designated as the headquarters for training Nationalist Chinese crews to fly B-25 aircraft.
By 1948 the U.S. Air Force considered deactivating the facility but chose instead to rename it Shaw Air Force Base. It became part of its Tactical Air Command and home to the Ninth Air Force two years later. Its planes played an active role in the cold war, including reconnaissance patrols over Cuba during the 1962 Missile Crisis. Its units were involved in combat and reconnaissance tours in the Vietnam conflict and played pivotal roles in the Gulf War (1990-1991) and the Balkans crises. In 1993 Shaw became the permanent home of the Twentieth Fighter Wing, comprised of four fighter squadrons. Following the September 2001 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, Shaw AFB had personnel and planes assigned to action against Taliban and Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan. As of 2024 Shaw AFB had 8,200 active-duty personnel, employed 1,200 civilians, and housed 12,000 dependents.
