List of Training Section Air Service airfields

This is a list of the airfields used by the Training Section, Air Service, United States Army during World War I.

Overview
The history of aviation training in the United States military began on 8 October 1909, when Wilbur Wright began instructing Lieutenants Frank P. Lahm and Frederic E. Humphreys on Signal Corps Airplane No. 1, which the Army had recently purchased from the Wright brothers. Each of the two men received a little over three hours training before soloing on 26 October 1909. Flying training in the Army remained on a small scale until the outbreak of World War I in April 1917.

During World War I, approximately 23,000 volunteers entered flying cadet training. Eight private and state universities offered preflight (ground school) training. Primary and advanced training were more of a problem because, in April 1917 when the United States entered the war, the Army had fewer than 100 flying officers and only three flying fields-- Hazelhurst Field, Mineola, New York; Chandler Field, Essington, Pennsylvania; and Rockwell Field, San Diego, California. Chandler Field was closed in the summer of 1917 as inadequate, and its personnel and equipment transferred to the new Gerstner Field, Louisiana. Because it would take a long time to construct adequate training facilities in the United States, Canada provided flying bases at Deseronto and Camp Borden in the Toronto area during the summer of 1917 so that several hundred American cadets could begin primary flying training under the tutelage of the British Royal Flying Corps. The British also operated three flying schools in the United States, located at Camp Taliaferro, Fort Worth, Texas. By Christmas 15 US training bases were available, a number expanded to 27 in the United States and 16 in Europe by the end of the war. Here cadets underwent six to eight weeks of primary pilot training, including 40-50 hours in the air, usually in a Curtiss JN-4 or in a Standard J-1.

Over 11,000 flying cadets received their wings and were commissioned before entering four weeks of advanced training either in the United States or Europe. Bombing instruction occurred primarily at Ellington Field and Taliaferro Field, Texas, among other locations, provided observation training, while pursuit (fighter) courses were restricted to a series of Air Instructional Centers (AIC)s in France because of a lack of necessary equipment in the United States. Brooks Field, Texas, contained the principal instructor's school.

Because the United States was in World War I only for a year and a half and entered it so unprepared, only about 1,000 of the 11,000 aviators trained during the war were actually involved in operations against the enemy. Most of these operations consisted of artillery observation or air-to-air combat. Rapid demobilization followed the end of World War I, and many of these flying schools were closed and turned over to local authorities as airports, although some remained in service though the 1920s, World War II, and into the modern era.

Airfields
By November 1918, the Air Service put 18 new airfields into service for advanced flying, experimental testing, and specialized training in bombing, observation and pursuit fighter training. In Canada, Camp Borden near Toronto was also used by the Air Service in conjunction with the Royal Flying Corps. All of these new airfields were named after Americans who lost their lives on aeronautical duty, some of which in the days when aviation was in its infantry. Three civilians who were pioneers in aeronautics were also honored.


 * Brooks Field
 * San Antonio, Texas
 * Named after Cadet Private Sidney Johnson Brooks, Jr
 * 29.34167°N, -98.435°W
 * Aviation Flight Instructor School.


 * Call Field
 * Wichita Falls, Texas
 * Named after 1st Lieutenant Loren H. Call
 * 33.87167°N, -98.555°W
 * Pilot/Observation training
 * Closed, May 1919


 * Carlstrom Field
 * Arcadia, Florida
 * Named after 1st Lieutenant Victor Carlstrom
 * 27.13833°N, -81.80278°W
 * Gunnery/Pursuit training


 * Camp John Wise
 * San Antonio, Texas (Approximate)
 * Named after John Wise, Pioneer Balloonist
 * 29.42389°N, -98.49361°W
 * United States Army Balloon Corps, Balloon School


 * Chandler Field
 * Essington, Pennsylvania
 * Named after 1st Lieutenant Rex Chandler
 * 39.86056°N, -75.3°W
 * Seaplane pilot training


 * Chanute Field
 * Rantoul, Illinois
 * Named after Octave Chanute, Pioneer Aviation Engineer
 * 40.29417°N, -88.14306°W
 * Primary pilot training


 * Chapman Field
 * Miami, Florida
 * Named after Victor Chapman, First American aviator killed in World War I (1916)
 * 25.63944°N, -80.29222°W


 * Dorr Field
 * Arcadia, Florida
 * Named after Cadet Private Stephen H. Dorr
 * 27.20722°N, -81.67°W
 * Gunnery/Pursuit training


 * Eberts Field
 * Lonoke, Arkansas
 * Named after Captain Melchior Eberts
 * 34.79528°N, -91.91917°W
 * Primary pilot training
 * Closed, May 1919


 * Ellington Field
 * Houston, Texas
 * Named after 2d Lieutenant E. L. Ellington
 * 29.60722°N, -95.16389°W
 * Bombardment training


 * Gerstner Field
 * Lake Charles, Louisiana
 * Named after 2d Lieutenant Fredrick J. Gerstner
 * 30.11861°N, -93.08°W
 * Bombardment training
 * Closed, May 1919


 * Fort Omaha
 * Omaha, Nebraska
 * 41.30667°N, -95.95694°W
 * Aeronauts and Balloon Observers


 * Hazelhurst Field
 * Mineola, Long Island, New York
 * Named after 2d Lieutenant Leighton W. Hazelhurst
 * 40.74222°N, -73.59889°W


 * Kelly Field
 * San Antonio, Texas
 * Named after 2d Lieutenant George E. M. Kelly
 * 29.37611°N, -98.58139°W
 * Primary pilot training


 * Langley Field
 * Hampton, Virginia
 * Named after Samuel Langley, Pioneer Aviatorr
 * 37.08306°N, -76.35917°W
 * Aeronauts and Balloon Observers


 * Love Field
 * Dallas, Texas
 * Named after 1st Lieutenant Moss Lee Love
 * 32.84889°N, -96.85056°W
 * Primary pilot training
 * Closed, May 1919


 * March Field
 * Riverside, California
 * Named after 2d Lieutenant Peyton C. March, Jr.
 * 33.88944°N, -117.25889°W
 * Primary pilot training


 * Mather Field
 * Sacramento, California
 * Named after 2d Lieutenant Carl Spencer Mather
 * 38.55833°N, -121.3°W
 * Primary pilot training


 * McCook Field
 * Dayton, Ohio
 * Named after Alexander McDowell McCook
 * 39.77583°N, -84.19083°W
 * Aviation engineering


 * Park Field
 * Millington, Tennessee
 * Named after 1st Lieutenant Joseph D. Park
 * 35.35417°N, -89.86861°W
 * Primary pilot training


 * Payne Field
 * West Point, Mississippi
 * Named after Captain Dewitt Payne
 * 33.66556°N, -88.6325°W
 * Primary pilot training
 * Closed, May 1919


 * Penn Field
 * Austin, Texas
 * Named after Cadet Eugene Penn
 * 30.22667°N, -97.76°W
 * Primary pilot training (Never made operational)
 * Closed, May 1919


 * Post Field
 * Fort Sill, Lawton Oklahoma
 * Named after 2d Lieutenant Henry B. Post
 * 34.64861°N, -98.39944°W
 * Observation training
 * Aeronauts and Balloon Observers


 * Rich Field
 * Waco, Texas (Approximate Location)
 * Named after 2d Lieutenant Perry C. Rich
 * 31.54583°N, -97.18778°W
 * Primary pilot training
 * Closed, May 1919


 * Rockwell Field
 * San Diego, California
 * Named after 2d Lieutenant Lewis G. Rockwell
 * 32.69778°N, -117.21306°W
 * Gunnery/Pursuit training


 * Ross Field
 * Arcadia, California
 * Named after 2d Lieutenant Cleo J. Ross
 * 34.12972°N, -118.04°W
 * Aeronauts and Balloon Observers


 * Scott Field
 * Bellevielle, Illinois
 * Named after Corporal Frank S. Scott, the first enlisted person to be killed in an aviation crash.
 * 38.54056°N, -89.85306°W
 * Primary pilot training


 * Selfridge Field
 * Mount Clemens, Michigan
 * Named after 1st Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge
 * 42.62083°N, -82.83917°W
 * Gunnery/Pursuit training


 * Souther Field
 * Americus, Georgia
 * Named after Major Henry Souther
 * 32.11139°N, -84.18694°W
 * Primary pilot training


 * Camp Taliaferro**
 * Named after 1st Lieutenant Walter R. Taliaferro
 * Hicks Field, Saginaw Texas (Field #1)
 * Named after Charles Hicks
 * 32.93083°N, -97.41167°W
 * Barron Field, Everman, Texas (Field #2)
 * Named after Cadet R. J Barron
 * 32.62556°N, -97.30472°W
 * Carruthers Field (later Benbrook Field), Benbrook, Texas (Field #3)
 * Named after Cadet W. K. Carruthers
 * 32.67806°N, -97.46°W
 * Operated by: Royal Flying Corps
 * Fort Worth, Texas
 * Primary pilot training
 * Closed, May 1919


 * Taylor Field
 * Montgomery, Alabama
 * Named after Captain Ralph L. Taylor
 * 32.30389°N, -86.12167°W
 * Primary pilot training


 * Wilbur Wright Field
 * Riverside, Ohio
 * Named after Wilbur Wright, Aviation Pioneer
 * 39.77917°N, -84.10444°W

** Camp Taliaferro was a flight training center under the direction of the Air Service which had and administration center near what is now the Will Rodgers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, Texas. Flying airfields consisted of Hicks Field near Saginaw Texas where US flight cadets and Canadian aerial gunnery students trained, Canadian and British cadets trained at Barron Field in Everman and at Carruthers Field in Benbrook. From 1917 to 1918 British Royal Flying Corps instructors trained 6000 flight cadets at the facilities making up Camp Taliafero.