59th Medical Wing celebrates 20 years of excellence Published June 25, 2013 By Howard Halvorsen 59th Medical Wing History Office JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center became a numbered wing 20 years ago on July 1, 1993, the same day Air Training Command merged with Air University to forge the new Air Education and Training Command of today. The transformation from medical center to the 59th Medical Wing was one of several changes the Air Force was making under then Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Merrill A. McPeak. Sharply reduced military budgets and a post-Cold War strategic mindset drove the Air Force to drastically restructure its organizational makeup. McPeak sought to strengthen the chain of command, clarify accountability for mission accomplishment and preserve Air Force heritage, all while reducing the size of the Air Force by half between 1990 and 1995. So where does the 59th Medical Wing trace its lineage? The hospital was first designated the 3700 Medical Squadron on Aug. 25, 1948 and organized the following day. The hospital was re-designated on several occasions during the following decade. It was re-designated the 3700 Station Medical Squadron on Nov. 1, 1948; the 3700 Medical Group on June 27, 1950; the 3700 USAF Hospital on Oct. 16, 1953, and then the USAF Hospital, Lackland on July 1, 1958. On March 2, 1963, the medical facility was renamed Wilford Hall USAF Hospital; and on July 1, 1969, the Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center. The 59th Medical Wing may not be the first medical wing in U.S. Air Force history, but Air Force leaders were in quite a quandary when they sought to find a number designation for a medical wing. Drawing on the lineage and heritage of a fighter or bomber wing that had a high kill count in previous wars would not have been fitting. Also, Air Force senior leaders did not want a wing number whose emblem depicted bombs and explosions or a motto reading "Death From Above" or something of the sort. Consequently, the 59th Medical Wing gains its lineage and heritage from a unit that was originally established on Aug. 21, 1941 as the 59th Observation Group. Its first mission was to look for German submarines off the eastern seaboard. The wing changed names a few times, and was called the 59th Fighter Group while training pilots in Georgia, but the unit was mostly dormant since 1944. Most importantly, the wing had no menacing motto; and thankfully, the emblem depicted nothing more threatening than soft, white clouds. The facility in which most of the 59th MDW units reside remains today. Wilford Hall is named after the great Maj. Gen. (Dr.) Wilford Hall, whose most notable contribution to Air Force medicine was in the field of aeromedical evacuation. The Air Force's flagship hospital was given his name a year and a day after Hall passed away. Regardless of the name, the 59th Medical Wing has been and remains the envy of the military medical world. No other medical unit has a string of accomplishments that includes providing medical support for the fledgling NASA Mercury project, the care of returning prisoners of war from Vietnam, treating foreign heads of state, operating worldwide in humanitarian and war missions, and being at the forefront in training, research and innovation with programs like the Critical Care Air Transport Teams and their global aeromedical evacuation mission. With the recent establishment of the San Antonio Military Health System, the 59th MDW is poised for even greater accomplishments as integrated military medicine and civilian medical partnerships are forged within the San Antonio area. The 59th Medical Wing's emblem, which exemplifies the importance of its mission, proved to be prophetically fitting. In fact, the old 59th Fighter Group motto may say it best: Exemplar - which roughly translates from Latin to mean "setting the high standard for others to follow". USAF. (U.S. Air Force Graphic by Rosario "Charo" Gutierrez) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res USAF. (U.S. Air Force Graphic by Rosario "Charo" Gutierrez)