Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. Occupying the site of the first Wright Flying School, it was named in honor of Second Lieutenant William C. Maxwell, a native of Atmore, Alabama. The base is the headquarters of Air University (AU), a major component of Air Education and Training Command (AETC), and is the U.S. Air Force's center for Joint Professional Military Education (PME). The host wing for Maxwell-Gunter is the 42d Air Base Wing (42 ABW). The Air Force Reserve Command's 908th Airlift Wing (908 AW) is a tenant unit and the only operational flying unit at Maxwell. The 908 AW and its subordinate 357th Airlift Squadron (357 AS) operates eight C-130H Hercules aircraft for theater airlift in support of combatant commanders worldwide. As an AFRC airlift unit, the 908th is operationally gained by the Air Mobility Command (AMC). Gunter Annex is a separate installation under the 42 ABW. Originally known as Gunter Field, it later became known as Gunter Air Force Station (Gunter AFS) when its runways were closed and its operational flying activity eliminated. It was later renamed Gunter Air Force Base (Gunter AFB) during the 1980s. As a hedge against future Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) closure actions, Gunter AFB was consolidated under Maxwell AFB in March 1992 to create a combined installation known as Maxwell/Gunter AFB. Maxwell AFB is also the site of Federal Prison Camp, Montgomery, a minimum security facility for male inmates. History Origins Toward the end of February 1910, the Wright Brothers decided to open one of the world's earliest flying schools at the site that would subsequently become Maxwell AFB. The Wrights taught the principles of flying, including take-offs, balancing, turns, and landings. The Wright Flying School closed on May 26, 1910. The field served as a repair depot during World War I. In fact, the depot built the first plane made in Montgomery and exhibited it at the field on September 20, 1918. Repair activity at the depot was sharply curtailed at the end of the war. Interwar years The Aviation Repair Depot's land was leased by the U.S. Army during World War I, and later purchased on January 11, 1920 for $34,327. Diminished postwar activity caused the U.S. War