1980s: Still busy in lull between Vietnam, Gulf War

The 1980s at Travis were like a lull between two storms.

The base spent the previous five years winding down its operations tempo from the years of the Vietnam War. The leap in air mobility operations to support American forces in the Gulf War was yet to be.

Travis was already becoming involved in Southwest Asia after the Islamic Revolution in Iran in January 1979 a nd the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan that December, which prompted the United States to increase its interest in that region. One result was regular missions flown by the 60th Military Airlift Wing to the British possession of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean that started in 1980 to support the U.S. Navy port there.

Travis C-141s also supported the Marines in Beirut, Lebanon, after they landed there in October 1983, with three C-141 m issions, one of which landed at the Beir ut airport.

One of the larger unit changes at Travis occurred when the last Strategic Air Command unit at Travis packed its bags and left in 1983. The 916th Air Refueling Squadron was inactivated in October and the last of the KC-135s was flown out Oct. 6.

By 1982, Travis had become the largest base in Military Airlift Command, with property worth $136 m illion along with aircraft, equipment and other assets valued at more than $2.5 billion. The combined civilian and military payroll topped more than $200 m illion, while the total economic impact on both Solano and Napa counties was estimated at nearly a half-billion dollars.

Travis got a new $7.1 m illion commissary in November 1985 a nd the old commissary was turned into the Travis Air Museum.

The biggest project of the 1980s, the construction of a new $206.2 m illion David Grant Medical Center, was kicked off in August 1984 a nd was opened for business on Dec. 19, 1988, with Joseph Mox the first child born there.

The old David Grant was slated to be converted into the Consolidated Mission Support Center, but funds were not appropriated for that until the 1990 f iscal year.

Travis opened its noncommissioned officers leadership school in December 1983 to teach subjects that included leadership, communications, military history and bearing, and management. The first class graduated in Sep - tember 1984.

In 1987, C-5 pilots acquired another way to sharpen their skills and save the Air Force money when two C-5B flight simulators were set up.

The thaw in American-Soviet relations made itself felt at Travis after the Intermediate Range Nuclear Treaty was signed in December 1987 t hat called for the elimination of intermediate-range nuclea r missiles.

A month later, Travis was designated an entry point for Soviet inspection teams and soon Travis airmen saw a Russian Aeroflot AN-124, the world’s largest aircraft, arrive on the runway. Travis aircraft also flew American inspection teams to the Soviet Union.

The old Strategic Air Command alert facility got a new tenant in April 1988 when the U.S. Navy Take Charge and Move Out detachment from Strategic Communications Wing 1 based at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., with 100 sailors and three ED-130 a ircraft, arrived to provide communications with the Navy’s nuclear submarine fleet and the Pentagon. The EC-130s were later replaced by modified Boeing 707s.

Particularly proud of their new home, the detachment painted the main hallway of the facility to look like the deck of an aircra ft carrier.

Travis continued its support of Operation Deep Freeze with its C-141s, but it made aviation history in October 1989 when an aircrew from the 22nd Military Airlift Squadron landed a