SC Aviation and Technology Center: Historical Perspectives

SC Aviation and Technology Center, formerly the Donaldson Center Industrial Air Park, was originally a military air base. Today, the center's convenient location and extensive aviation facilities have established it as a leading business and aviation technology center. As the center continues to develop and grow, it also strives to honor its historical heritage.

Military Origins

In the early 1940s, the US War Department selected Greenville, SC as the site for a new air base to support the US build-up for WWII. The base was completed in May 1942, and in June, Greenville Army Air Base was officially activated as a training base for replacement aircrews. The first units to arrive that summer were the 90th Bomb Group (Heavy), with their B-24s, and the 334th Bombardment Group, with their B-25s. The 90th stay was short-lived as they were sent to the Pacific Theater immediately, but the 334th stayed on through the course of the war to train replacement B-25 aircrews.

In the summer of 1945, with WWII coming to an end, a number of training bases were slated for closure. This included Greenville Army Air Base, which was placed on standby status in November of that year. During the next four years, the base transitioned from aircrew training to a military airlift mission, and was also renamed Greenville Air Force Base.

With the onset of the Korean War, the base became home to the 375th & 433rd Troop Carrier Wings, flying the C-119 “Boxcar.” In 1951, the base was renamed Donaldson Air Force Base, in honor of Captain John O. Donaldson, a Greenville native and World War I flying ace. The base became one of the busiest for the Air Force, with the 63rd Troop Carrier Wing aircrews flying the large C-124 "Globemaster" transport all over the globe including Antarctica! Large hangars and expansive ramps were constructed to support these large aircraft, and the base was known as the "Troop Carrier Capitol of the World."

In December 1962, the Air Force announced plans to close the base permanently. Donaldson was declared surplus in 1963 and steps were taken to deed the 2,600-acre property back to the City and County of Greenville. The City and County took title of the facilities on January 25, 1964. A management committee initially operated the facility, which was named Donaldson Center Industrial Air Park. The Donaldson Development Commission replaced the management committee in 1975. Formed by a joint resolution of the City and County, the Commission has more formal authority than the original management committee and acts as agent in the realm of property development and management.

In 2008, the Donaldson Center was renamed SC Technology and Aviation Center. The name change reflects the park's progressive development plans and continued focus on the future. Today, there are over four thousand workers employed by over 80 companies and organizations at the center.

Captain John Owen Donaldson, 1897 - 1930

John Donaldson was born May 14, 1897 in Fort Yates, SD, where his father, Thomas Quinton Donaldson was stationed with a cavalry regiment. Young Donaldson spent his boyhood in Greenville, SC, attending Greenville High School and Furman University.

While attending Cornell University, Donaldson joined the United States Air Service. After pilot training, he was assigned to 32 Squadron (RAF) on July 3, 1918. Flying the S.E.5a, he shot down seven German aircraft in less than two months. Donaldson was himself shot down and captured on September 1, 1918. The following day, while being held in a temporary prison camp, he and a fellow prisoner escaped. On September 9, 1918, the unlucky duo was recaptured while attempting to swim a stream between the Allied and German lines. Three days later, Donaldson together with his former companion and three other prisoners, escaped for the second time. After days of dodging the Germans, they cut through an electrified fence and made their way to safety in the Netherlands. This was the first successful POW escape of the war. Promoted to Captain, Donaldson was sent to Windsor Castle to meet King George V. Later U.S. General John Pershing would award him the Distinguished Flying Cross, joining decorations from Britain, France, and Belgium.

After the war, Donaldson received the Mackay Trophy for winning the U.S. Army’s transcontinental air race in October 1919. Resigning his commission in 1920, he later became president of Newark Air Service in NJ and continued to participate in air races. On September 7, 1930, after winning the American Legion Air Race in Philadelphia, Donaldson was killed as 40,000 people watched his plane spin out of control and plunge 1,800 feet to the ground. His body was brought to Greenville, SC for a memorial service, and he was buried in Atlanta’s West View Cemetery with full military honors.

Historical Timeline

• U.S. Government activated facilities in 1942 as Greenville Army Air Base, to be used for training B-25 crews; first troops arrived in August 1942.
• The base was deactivated at the end of WWII, but reactivated in 1946 as the home of the 9th Air Force. In 1948, the name was changed to Greenville Air Force.
• In March of 1951, the base was renamed for a third time as Donaldson Air Force Base in honor of Captain John O. Donaldson, the fourth ranking aerial ace of WWI and a native of Greenville.
• It was also in March of 1951 that the 18th Air Force (Troop Carrier) was activated, the first such organization in U.S. Air Force history.
• Airlift units based at Donaldson played an instrumental role in airlift/mobility operations such as the Berlin Airlift and Operation DEEP FREEZE, an exercise involving airlifting supplies and personnel to Antarctica.
•  In 1962, the U.S. Air Force moved the Military Air Transport Command to Hunter Air Base in Savannah, GA, and started to reduce the personnel at Donaldson to a skeleton force.
• In spring of 1963, Donaldson Air Force Base was finally closed and all of the remaining facilities were sold back to the city and county government, per a reversionary clause.
• Donaldson Center was originally governed by the Donaldson Management Committee, composed by members from the County Delegation, the City Council, the County Development Board, and the Chairman of the Planning Commission.
• In 1975, the "home" rule was established, creating the Donaldson Development Commission with three members appointed by City, three members appointed by County and one member appointed at large.
• In 2008, the Donaldson Center Industrial Air Park was renamed SC Technology and Aviation Center. The air field will now be known as Donaldson Field in honor of the center's previous namesake.
• Today, there are over 80 businesses at the technology and aviation park, employing over 4000 employees.