Randolph Air Force Base
historic place in Bexar County, Texas
Randolph Air Force Base (IATA: RND, ICAO: KRND, FAA LID: RND) is a United States Air Force base located in Bexar County, Texas, about 15 miles (24 km) east-northeast of Downtown San Antonio.
Opened in 1931, Randolph has been a flying training facility for the United States Army Air Corps, the United States Army Air Forces, and the Air Force during its entire existence.
On 1 October 2010, Randolph AFB merged with Lackland Air Force Base and the US Army's Fort Sam Houston to form Joint Base San Antonio.
Etymology
Randolph AFB was named after Captain William Millican Randolph, a native of Austin, who was on the base naming committee at the time of his death in a crash.
The base served as headquarters of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC) as well as the Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC) and was known as "the Showplace of the Air Force" because of the Spanish Colonial Revival Style architecture in which all structures, including hangars were constructed. The symbol of the base was a large water tower atop Building 100, housing the headquarters for Randolph's major flying unit, the 12th Flying Training Wing (12 FTW). With its distinctive architecture, the wing's headquarters became known throughout the Air Force as "the Taj Mahal", or simply "The Taj".
History
1920s and 1930s
The idea for Randolph began soon after passage in the United States Congress of the Air Corps Act of 1926, which changed the name of the Army Air Service to the Army Air Corps, created two new brigadier general positions and provided a five-year expansion program for the under-strength Air Corps. One of the new general officer positions was given to Frank P. Lahm, who was placed in charge of all flying training.
General Lahm established the Air Corps Training Center in August 1926 and set up its headquarters at Duncan Field, next to Kelly Field, Texas.
The public source identifies “Randolph Air Force Base” as historic place in Bexar County, Texas. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Randolph, Force and Base.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Randolph Air Force Base”, the useful work is to connect “historic place in Bexar County, Texas” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q980034. The first chronological checks are 1931, 2010 and 1926.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Randolph Air Force Base”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Randolph Air Force Base primary sources, Randolph Air Force Base archive and Randolph research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Randolph Air Force Base” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.