“S” is for Shaw Air Force Base. Established in 1941 on the outskirts of Sumter to train pilots for World War II, Shaw Air Force Base later evolved into a home for U.S. Air Force tactical units. The facility was named after Sumter native Erwin Shaw, a pilot shot down in France in World War I. By 1945 more than 8,600 American, British, Canadian and French cadets received training at Shaw Airfield. In 1948 the U.S. Air Force renamed the facility Shaw Air Force Base. It became part of the Air Force’s Tactical Air Command and two years later home to the Ninth Air Force. The base’s units were involved in combat in the Vietnam Conflict and the Gulf War. In 1993 Shaw Air Force Base became the permanent home of the Twentieth Fighter Wing comprised of four fighter squadrons.
“S” is for Shaw Air Force Base
