Summary
During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) established numerous airfields in New Mexico for training pilots and aircrews of USAAF fighters and bombers.
New Mexico World War II Army Airfields | |
|---|---|
| Part of World War II | |
  Alamogordo AAF Clovis AAF Kirtland AAF Carlsbad AAF Deming AAF Fort Sumner AAF Hobbs AAF Roswell AAF class=notpageimage| Map Of New Mexico World War II Army Airfields | |
| Type | Army Airfields |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1940-1944 |
| In use | 1940-present |
Most of these airfields were under the command of Fourth Air Force or the Army Air Forces Training Command (AAFTC) (A predecessor of the current-day United States Air Force Air Education and Training Command). However the other USAAF support commands (Air Technical Service Command (ATSC); Air Transport Command (ATC) or Troop Carrier Command) commanded a significant number of airfields in a support roles.
It is still possible to find remnants of these wartime airfields. Many were converted into municipal airports, some were returned to agriculture and several were retained as United States Air Force installations and were front-line bases during the Cold War. Hundreds of the temporary buildings that were used survive today, and are being used for other purposes.
Major Airfields edit
Second Air Force
- Alamogordo AAF, Alamogordo[1]
- Clovis AAF, Clovis
- Kirtland Field, Albuquerque
Air Technical Service Command
- Albuquerque AAF, Albuquerque (merged into Kirtland Field in 1944)
Army Air Forces Training Command
- Now: Cavern City Air Terminal (IATA: CNM, ICAO: KCNM, FAA LID: CNM)
- Deming AAF, Deming (reassigned to Second Air Force in 1944)
- Now: Deming Municipal Airport (IATA: DMN, ICAO: KDMN)
- Now: Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (IATA: FSU, ICAO: KFSU)
- Was: Hobbs Army Airfield (1942-1948)
- Now: Hobbs Industrial Air Park
- Roswell AAF, Roswell
- Was: Walker Air Force Base (1947-1967)
- Now: Roswell International Air Center (RIAC) (IATA: ROW, ICAO: KROW, FAA LID: ROW)
References edit
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- Mueller, Robert (1989). Air Force Bases, Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-53-6.
- Thole, Lou (1999), Forgotten Fields of America : World War II Bases and Training, Then and Now - Vol. 2. Pictorial Histories Pub . ISBN 1-57510-051-7
- Military Airfields in World War II - New Mexico
External links edit
- "Keep 'Em Flying: The Story of the Hobbs Army Air Field"
- [1] "Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: New Mexico"