Founding of the academy followed the designation of the U.S. Air Force as a separate branch of the military in 1947 and recognized the importance of air power in the Cold War. The Air Force is the only branch of the military that had an interim site for its service academy. The three-year operation of the Academy at Lowry enabled the Air Force to gain a head start in the commissioning of officers before the permanent facility opened near Colorado Springs. 

The Lowry building actually dates to World War II.  Put up quickly in an effort to rapidly mobilize the nation’s defense in the months after the Pearl Harbor attack, the military never intended these temporary buildings to remain in place for long.  Although once plentiful at military bases throughout the region, base closures and demolitions have severely depleted their numbers.  This building is a rare surviving example of temporary WWII era military construction.