Kelly Air Force Base

About a year ago, I was driving around trying to find a car lot that I found online. So, I put in the address into my Sprint Navigation and hit the road. Now if you have ever used Sprint Nav, you know how reliable it is. “GPS Signal is Weak, Please Find Better Sky View,” my phone announces. Not a cloud in the sky and it wants me to find better sky view, as if that’s possible. Ok, so now I’m driving around in circles trying to figure out how to get back on the highway, but there is no access roads. I finally come across a sign that says “Port San Antonio.” I figure why not, at least maybe I’ll find a place to stop and ask for directions. I was very wrong.

Overhead view of Kelly.

I came up on Kelly Air Force Base. I had never seen it, but I had heard a lot about it from when I was a child because my grandfather worked there for over 20 years, and had retired from there. He is the sweetest, most hard working person that I know. All of his 20 years of working there, he never missed a day or called in sick. He may not have been able to read or write very well, but he could take apart a Cargo Carrier turbine engine (C-5) and put it back together with his eyes closed. By now, I’m all sorts of excited to see what this place looks like!

My grandfather fixed C-5s.

I actually started to tear up when I saw it. It looked like a complete ghost town. The base and all surrounding businesses were dead, except on little corner section of a runway which now belonged to Lackland Airforce Base. I was the only person there. One big building was open in the distance, which turns out to be the Defense Logistics Headquarters. I really wanted to know what happened to this place.

Kelly Air Force Base is the oldest base that is still used. It was opened and functional on April 5, 1917, which was just one day before World War 1.From having the space shuttle “Columbia” stopping there, to being the headquarters of Air Force Nuclear Weapons Program, to creating technological advances including artificial intelligence, Kelly AFB did it all. Several people of importance also visited Kelly. Some examples are JFK, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain and Pope John Paul II. Now it is only used for touch and go’s and training purposes. Once the base was taken over by Defence Logistics Agency, Kelly started going downhill. Due to cuts in defence spending, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission decided to close Kelly in 1995. Not knowing the affect it would have, San Antonio, Tx economy took a hard hit. Kelly was the largest employer in San Antonio. 13,000 people lost their jobs, over $667 Million in payroll, as well as over a billion dollars in the local economy from tourism due to the closure. It was officially closed in 2001.

“Columbia” space shuttle stopping by!

Some people think the closure was for the better. People living in the surrounding areas of Kelly started getting sick. From sore throats to nervous system failure. When children were being born with birth defects in the area, was when people really started complaining. They were being born with out ribs or kidneys or not having the ability to grow hair. A survey was done in the “North Kelly Gardens,” by the health department and their finding were terrifying.

“91% of the adults and 79% of the children are suffering multiple illnesses.”-Southwest Public Workers’ Union, “North Kelly Gardens Community Health Survey near Kelly AFB, Texas,” Revised Edition, 10/23/97, p. 4.

Kelly AFB scientist finally released that they were dumping toxic waste into uncovered pits. The waste was carcinogens, which had then contaminated groundwater. From there it went into the small aquifer that fed water to over 20,000 nearby residents. The aquifer is no longer being used, but it still affects the neighbourhoods because of the toxic fumes coming from underground.

People are still trying to get it cleaned up!

So, Kelly was a major economic resource for San Antonio, Tx, but after spending cuts and toxic waste contamination, it has become a ghost town.

Kelly Air Force Base back in the day when it was still operational.

This is what is left of Kelly AFB.

Another view of the ghost town.

Southwest Public Workers’ Union, “North Kelly Gardens Community Health Survey near Kelly AFB, Texas,” Revised Edition, 10/23/97, p. 4.