Camp John Wise

Camp John Wise is a former United States Army military garrison, located in San Antonio, Texas. During World War I it was used as a training field for the U. S. Army Balloon Corps between 1917 until 1919.

The airfield was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established in 1918 after the United States entry into World War I. It named for John Wise of Philadelphia, a pioneer balloonist who constructed a balloon in which he set a world distance record in 1869.

History
The facility was a balloon training station on 261 acres of leased land four miles north of downtown San Antonio, was established on 19 January 1918. The United States Army Balloon School was transferred there from Fort Omaha, Nebraska. The personnel were quartered at Fort Sam Houston until March, when construction on their barracks was completed. The base reached a maximum strength of thirty-three officers and 1,800 enlisted men and was equipped with four balloons. The base was closed in 1919.