Pictorial History of Fort Wolters, Volume 11: 864 Engineer Battalion, Special Category Army and Air Force Page: 3 of 273
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HISTORY OF WOLTERS AIR FORCE BASE
SCARWAF
SPECIAL CATEGORY ARMY WITH AIR FORCE
Camp Wolters was initially activated as an Army installation on 19 March 1941.
Inactivated and closed on 15 August 1946. Camp Wolters was declared surplus in April 1946 and
in April 1947, a group of Mineral Wells businessmen formed Camp Wolters Enterprises and
purchased the assets from General Service Administration for the sum of$ 412,500. During the
ensuing four years the corporation disposed of many of the buildings and utilities.
The decision to reactivate Camp Wolters as an Air Force Base to train Aviation Engineer
Forces was made by Headquarters, US Air Force. It was officially reactivated by Headquarters,
14th Air Force, on 8 February 1951 and by the same order the 227th Air Force Base Squadron
was activated to operate and maintain the base.
The first contingent of the Aviation Engineer Force arrived 22 May 1951. Their
mission was to command and train Special Category Army with Air Force (SCARWAF) troops in
airfield construction and maintenance as required. The control of Wolters Air Force Base was
transferred from the 14th Air Force to the Aviation Engineer Force on 1 January 1952.
Due to deactivation and sales and lack of maintenance or policing of the grounds
during the period 1947-1951, existing facilities required extensive maintenance and repair. A
contract was let by the District Engineers, Fort Worth, for rehabilitation which was performed
under contract for $ 275,247. In August 1951 Congress approved an appropriation of
$ 14,807,000 for further rehabilitation and new construction. By December 1954, the new
construction had been completed and the total net worth of Wolters Air Force Base was $ 32,929,
000. Additional congressional appropriations were made and by 30 June 1956 the Post Exchange,
Service Club, Dental Clinic, and a 100/200 bed hospital were complete or under construction.
The SCARWAF was utilized as a test program for the Department of the Air Force with
the idea that the Air Force would have their own engineers capability. Members of Congress did
not provide the necessary funds as requested for these units, but did allow the Air Force to
enhance some of their TO
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Casper, Willie H., Jr. Pictorial History of Fort Wolters, Volume 11: 864 Engineer Battalion, Special Category Army and Air Force, book, Date Unknown; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth25113/m1/3/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boyce Ditto Public Library.