Joint Base San Antonio is located in San Antonio, Texas and is a joint base made up of the United States Army Fort Sam Houston, the United States Air Force Randolph Air Force Base, Lackland Air Force Base and Martindale Army Airfield. The base is under the jurisdiction of the 502d Air Base Wing of the United States Air Force. Their mission seeks to prepare the Leaders for mission command through innovative digital training.
The base is located less than ten miles away from San Antonio International Airport and is a 12-minute drive from Martindale Army Airfield, 16 minutes from Brooks City Base, 27 minutes from Camp Bullis Army Base, and 30 minutes from Camp Stanley Army Base.
San Antonio boasts 300 days of sunshine a year with warm summers, mild winters and near-perfect temperatures throughout the spring and fall.
Quick Facts
| Coordinates | 29° 27' 04.60" N 98° 27' 08.52" W |
|---|---|
| City | San Antonio, TX 78236 |
| Phone | 210-671-1110 |
| DSN | 473-1110 |
Joint Base San Antonio History
Fort Sam Houston
Ft. Sam Houston is one of the oldest U.S. Army posts, having been created in 1876 as a supply depot. Until the completion of housing on the facility in 1880, officers lived in tents and wooden barracks. In 1890, the base name was upgraded from Post at San Antonio to Fort Sam Houston and, at that time, was the second largest Army Post in the United States and soon became the largest during the Mexican Revolution and Spanish American War.
Following this, the base expanded tremendously in both acreage and number of on-site facilities. During World War II, more than 1,000 recruits passed through the Fort each day. After the war over half a million soldiers used the Fort to transition back into civilian life. During the Korean War Sam Houston was used primarily to train medical personnel. By 1991, the base had become the largest medical training institutions in the world.
Randolph Air Base
Randolph air base was created in 1926 when a Congressional Act called for a five-year expansion of Air Corps Programs. While many locations for the Base were proposed, Congress had little desire to purchase land for the site. San Antonio, afraid of losing the Base to another city, donated the land to the Air Corps as a gift on December 31st, 1927.
While deciding a name for the base, one of the committee men, Captain William Randolph, died in an aircraft accident, and the base was dedicated as Randolph Field. Randolph Air Base modeled their training after West Point and Annapolis which earned them the nickname “West Point of the Air” in the 1930’s. During World War II, the base primarily focused on training pilots and the Korean War brought in combat crew training. After the Vietnam War, the facility dropped most of its wartime training and now is primarily a facility for flight training.
Lackland Air Base
Lackland Air Base was formed on June 15, 1941 as part of Kelly Field. In 1943 the War Department assigned it to the AAF Central Flying Training Command which acted as a primary flight school for pilot training. In 1948 Lackland earned the name Lackland Air Base after General Frank Lackland. During the Cold War, Korean War, and Vietnam War it shared Basic Military Training status temporarily with Sampson Air Force Base. Today it is involved with the FFA and is a long-range radar site.
JB San Antonio Housing
Housing is available through at Joint Base San Antonio though Lincoln Military Housing. Lincoln Military Housing offers 925 homes within eight villages. There is a two pet maximum within the on-base houses and prices per each unit vary. For more information on housing, please call 210-270-7638.
Schools near Fort Sam Houson
The Fort offers childcare programs from ages 6 weeks old to 5 years old. Both part day and full day options are available. For on site childcare, please call 210-221-5002.
An independent Elementary, Middle, and High School as well as a Military Co-op are located on base for grades K-12.
To contact, please call:
- Fort Sam Houston Elementary School: 210-368-8800
- Robert G. Cole Middle School: 210-368-8729
- Robert G. Cole High School: 210-368-8730
- Military Co-Op: 210-368-8771
Things to Do
San Antonio has the distinction of holding the nickname “Military City, USA” and is the seventh largest city in the United States.
The base is adjacent to the city of San Antonio and has multiple recreational opportunities for military families and military personnel. Several must-see attractions include The Alamo, The Riverwalk, The Alamodome, SeaWorld San Antonio, and the Six Flags Fiesta Texas theme park. The city features very popular parks such as Brackenridge Park and the San Antonio Zoo. Basketball fans can watch NBA games at the San Antonio Spurs Stadium. An active calendar of events can be found here.