Description

Amarillo Army Field is located ten miles east of the city of Amarillo, deep in the Panhandle of Texas. Ground for the field was broken on April 20, 1942, and on May 26, the War Department designated the new installation as Amarillo Field. Since the field was built on a typical barren plain, great care has been taken to enhance its living conditions. More than 25,000 trees, shrubs and bulbs have been planted and carefully nurtured, and in addition a systematic program of soil-erosion prevention has been established and elimination of dust during the windy season has been accomplished by sowing the entire area with native grasses. The first large contingent of permanent party men arrived on the field on September 2 and the first group of potential students arrived the following day. These students entered upon their course of study on September 7. The field was officially opened to the public on Armistice Day, November 11, and a crowd of Panhandle citizens estimated to number 40,000, visited the technical school to view the various phases of the school’s training program. The official name of the field was changed on December 2, to Amarillo Army Air Field. On December 23, the first class of students were graduated from the field. Late in May, a new activity was added to the field with the assumption of basic training. This branch of training has grown to be one of the major activities of the field and has as its mission, the education of Army air personnel in the fundamentals of soldiering; so now in addition to supplying thousands of mechanics, it teaches new men the basic fundamentals of warfare in its training center. Regardless of their duties here or in the various theatres of war, the men of Amarillo Army Air Field have the same goal in mind – they intend to “keep ’em flying”!