Texas Almanac, 1945-1946 Page: 79
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TEXAS IN SECOND WORLD WAR. 79
and the Technical Training Command. The
former, established in January, 1942. originat-
ed in the first Air Corps Training Center in
1926 at San Antonio, including a primary
flying school at Brooks Field and an ad-
vanced school at Kelly Field. Expansion
mushroomed the Air Corps Training Center
in 1940 into three new centers-Southeast
Training Center at Montgomery, Ala.; Gulf
Coast Center at Randolph Field, San Anto-
nio, and West Coast Center at Moffett
Field, Calif. They were brought under
jurisdiction of a single higher headquarters
In January, 1942, when Flying Training
Command was established in Washington
headquarters. General Yount, placed in
command in July, 1942, moved his headquar-
ters to Fort Worth.
When the Flying Training Command
merged with the Technical Training Com-
mand in July, 1943, General Yount was
placed in command of the new AAF Training
ommand and the three former flying train-
ing centers were redesignated as Flying
Training Commands. The Gulf Coast Train-
ing Center became the Central Flying Train-
ing Command, headquarters remaining at
Randolph Field.
Technical training in the air service began
with activation of the Enlisted Mechanics
Training Department at Kelly Field, San
Antonio, Oct. 1, 1917. When hostilities ceased
at the close of the first World War all tech-
nical schools were closed except the one at
Kelly Field. In 1921 the school moved to
Chanute Field, Ill. In July, 1943, the Tech-
nical and Flying Training Commands merged
and control of technical training returned
again to Texas under General Yount's head-
quarters at Fort Worth.
Major Airfields.
The status of air installations, for obvious
reasons, changes from time to time. But an
idea of how the training has progressed in
Texas is obtained from records which show
that in the fall of 1938 the Army Air Force
was graduating 300 to 500 pilots annually
and all of them were trained in Texas. Only
Randolph Field, once referred to as the
"West Point of the Air," and Kelly Field,
both in San Antonio, were used. In June,
1944, the Training Command had about twen-
ty-eight major airfields and fourteen con-
tract flying fields. Randolph Field ceased to
train aviation cadets in March, 1943, and be-
came the Air Forces Central Instructors
School.
Officer candidates school for the air forces
was located at San Antonio Aviation Cadet
Center.
Another major activity is at Love Field in
Dallas, headquarters of the Fifth Ferrying
Group, ferrying division of the Air Transport
Command and one of eight in the country.
Its duties are to help ferry aircraft from
factories to installations in this country and
to battlefronts all over the world. Ferrying
is still its principal mission, but transporta-
tion operations were increasing in scope late
in 1944. On Dec. 23, 1941, Major (later Col.)
Thomas D. Ferguson assumed command of
the newly designated Midwest area of the
Air Corps Ferrying Command and from
Hensley Field near Dallas directed ferrying
of planes from newly established factories
in that section. On Sept. 28, 1942, the Mid-
west sector became the Fifth Ferrying
Group at Love Field.
Kelly Field, San Antonio, late in 1944
housed the world's largest air depot. More
than 18,000 persons work at the field to
keep nearly a tenth of the air force in con-
dition for training and combat. Planes from
the world's combat area are rebuilt, under
the name of the San Antonio Air Service
Command which is based at Kelly.
Following is a list of AAF Training Comn-mand stations in Texas and activity as of
Nov. 29, 1944:
Army Air Forces Training Command, Fort
Worth.-National headquarters.
Aloe Army Air Field Victoria.-AAF Pilot
School (advanced single-engine).
Amarillo Army Air Field, Amarillo.-AAF
Technical School, AAF Basic Training Cen-
ter No. 12.
Big Spring Army Air Field, Big Spring.-
AAF Bombardier School.
Blackland Army Air Field, Waco.-AAF
Pilot School (avanced two-engine).
Brooks Field, San Antonio.-AAF Pilot
School (advanced two-engine).
Bryan Army Air Field, Bryan.-AAF In-
structors School (instrument pilot).
Camp Mystic.-Rest Camp (subpost to San
Antonio Aviation Cadet Center).
Childress Army Air Field, Chlldress.-AAF
Bombardier School.
Curtis Field, Brady.-AAF Contract Pilot
School (primary).
Eagle Pass Army Air Field, Eagle Pass.-
AAF Pilot School (advanced single-engine).
Ellington Field, Houston.-AAF Navigation
School.
Fort Worth Army Air Field, Fort Worth.-
kAF Pilot School (specialized four-engine).
Foster Field, Victoria.-AAF Pilot School
(advanced single-engine).
Gainesville Army Air Field, Gainesville.-
Subpost of Fort Worth Army Air Field.
Garner Field, Uvalde.-AAF Contract Pilot
School (primary).
Goodfellow Field, San Angelo.-AAF Pilot
School (basic).
Harlingen Army Air Field, Harlingen.-
AAF Flexible Gunnery School.
Hondo Army Air Field, Hondo.-AAF Nav-
igation School.
Laguna Madre, IHarlingen.-Subpost of Har-
lingen Army Air Field.
Laredo Army Air Field Laredo.-AAF Cen-
tral School for Flexible gunnery.
Laughlin Field, Del Rio.-AAF Pilot School
(specialized two-engine).
Lubbock Army Air Field, Lubbock.-AAF
Pilot School (advanced two-engine).
Marfa Army Air Field, Marfa.-AAF Pilot
School (advanced two-engine).
Matagorda Island, Victoria.-Subpost of
Foster Field.
Matagorda Peninsula.-AAF Instructors
School (fixed gunnery); subpost of Foster
Field.
Midland Army Air Field, Midland.-AAF
Bombardier School and AAF Instructors
School (bombardier).
Moore Field, Mission.-AAF Pilot School
(advanced single-engine).
Pampa Army Air Field, Pampa.-AAF Pi-
lot School (advanced two-engine).
Pecos Army Air Field, Pecos.-AAF Pilot
School (advanced two-engine).
Perrin Field, Sherman.-AAF Pilot School
(basic)
Randolph Field, San Antonio.-Headquar-
ters Central Flying Training Command; AAF
Central Instructors School.
San Angelo Army Air Field, San Angelo.-
AAF Bombardier School.
San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center, San
Antonio.-AAF Preflight School; AAF Officer
Candidate School.
San Marcos Army Air Field, San Marcos.-
AAF Navigation School.
Sheppard Field, Wichita Falls.-AAF Basic
Training Center,
South Plains Army Air Field, Lubbock.-
AAF Advanced Glider School.
Temple Army Air Field, Temple.-Auxill-
ary to Waco Army Air Field.
Terrell (British School).-AAF Contract Pi-
lot School (primary-advanced).
Waco Army Air Field, Waco.-AAF Pilot
School (basic).
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Texas Almanac, 1945-1946, book, 1945; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117166/m1/81/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.