Description

32 pages
History of Moore Field – Moore Field is a single engine advanced flying school of the Army Air Forces, situated approximately 13 miles northwest of Mission, Texas, and less than 10 miles from the Rio Grande River and Mexico. In September, 1941, the work of clearing the cactus, mesquite and greasewood off the tract began, and shortly afterward the construction of runways, ramps, hangars, control towers, barracks and other buildings was under way. The first class of Aviation Cadets arrived late in February, 1942, and there was a new class every four-and-a-half weeks after that as the new school started turning out fighter pilots by the hundreds. The field was named in honor of Lieutenant Frank Murchison Moore, a native of Houston, Texas, who was killed while on a combat flying mission for the United States Army in France in 1918. The field is surrounded by uncleared brush land, but much of the land in this part of the Rio Grande Valley has been cleared and planted to citrus fruit, or vegetables, so that the Aviation Cadets and Student Officers see a checkerboard of alternating green and gray from their sleek AT6’s as they fly their required hours. The field’s principal purpose is to train fighter pilots, but the enlisted men stationed here to “Keep ’em Flying” have to keep fit themselves, and there is a full schedule of physical training, drill and weapons instruction for them. This book attempts to tell part of the story of each man’s activities here: the comfortable living quarters, the soldierly routine, the recreational facilities, the opportunities for church going, good libraries for enlisted men and Officers and of course, the vital story of training to make the world’s best aviators and to keep them aloft.