JBSA was established in accordance with congressional legislation implementing the recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission. The legislation ordered the consolidation of the three facilities which were nearby, but separate military installations, into a single joint base, one of 12 formed in the United States as a result of the law.
Joint Base San Antonio supports a population of 80,000 and supports students at three installations annually of up to 138,000. Upon becoming the largest single DoD installation/enterprise, it has a total Plant Replacement Value of about 10.3 billion, lead a work force of over 8,000 personnel, manages an annual budget of 800 million, interface with 1,000 civic leaders of San Antonio, 20 smaller communities, four counties and four Congressional Districts, support more than 266 mission partners, supported and supporting units, and finally, support more than 250,000 other personnel including 425 retired general officers (2nd largest concentration in U.S.).[2]
The primary mission at Fort Sam Houston is as a medical training and support post. The post is the home of Army North, Army South, Army 5th Recruiting Brigade, Brooke Army Medical Center, the Institute of Surgical Research, US Army Medical Center of Excellence, the Army Medical Command and the 502d Air Base Wing.[2]
Fort Sam Houston provides facilities to and support for the activities of garrison units and other tenant organizations. The post also supports the thousands of Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers who train there year-round. Soldiers from Fort Sam Houston have participated in every American War since 1845 and have deployed worldwide in support of post-Cold War contingency operations.[2]
Together with Camp Stanley (Camp Stanley is not part of JBSA), Camp Bullis is part of the Leon Springs Military Reservation. Camp Bullis has provided firing ranges, training areas and logistics support to Fort Sam Houston and other active and reserve component units in South Texas for nearly 100 years. Its most frequent users are the Army Medical Center of Excellence, Defense Medical Readiness Training Institute, Air Force Ground Combat Skills School and Army units stationed at Fort Sam Houston. There are currently 130 military personnel stationed at Bullis.[2]
Lackland Air Force Base is home to more than 120 Department of Defense and associate organizations, including the 37th Training Wing, the largest training wing in the U.S. Air Force. Lackland is the Air Force's only site for enlisted basic military training, and also offers professional and technical skills, and English language training for members of the U.S. Air Force, other military services, government agencies, and allies. Its four primary training functions graduate more than 86,000 students annually.[2]
Randolph is 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. It serves as headquarters of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC) as well as the Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC) and is 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 is 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 has come to be known throughout the Air Force as "the Taj Mahal," or simply "The Taj".[2]
Flying and notable non-flying units based at JBSA.
Units marked GSU are Geographically Separate Units, which although based at JBSA, are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location. Some units may be entirely garrisoned at JBSA, but be spread out across different sites.
