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Harlingen Air Force Base

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With the outbreak of World War II in Europe in September 1940, the U.S. Government saw the need to expedite military readiness. It would create a military airfield in Harlingen. The city voted a $105,000 bond issue to acquire 960 acres to be leased to the War Department for 24 years and upon which the field would be constructed. Fifteen farmhouses and buildings on the site were removed, but one building was left in place to become the field office. Gen. Gerald C. Brant, the commander of Central Flying Command who first visited Harlingen in early 1941, also ordered that two existing palm groves and orange trees be retained. On June 30, 1941 a contract was let for Morgan and Zachary, El Paso and Laredo builders, to start the military airfield construction. The mission of Harlingen Army Airfi

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Air Training Command

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50 Airfield information Harlingen Air Force Base

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Location of Harlingen Air Force Base

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Located near: Harlingen, Texas

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With the outbreak of World War II in Europe in September 1940, the U.S. Government saw the need to expedite military readiness. It would create a military airfield in Harlingen. The city voted a $105,000 bond issue to acquire 960 acres to be leased to the War Department for 24 years and upon which the field would be constructed. Fifteen farmhouses and buildings on the site were removed, but one building was left in place to become the field office. Gen. Gerald C. Brant, the commander of Central Flying Command who first visited Harlingen in early 1941, also ordered that two existing palm groves and orange trees be retained. On June 30, 1941 a contract was let for Morgan and Zachary, El Paso and Laredo builders, to start the military airfield construction. The mission of Harlingen Army Airfield was to train aerial gunners. The Harlingen Army Gunnery School received its first assigned cadre in August 1941. Its primary mission, with an initial student load of 600, was that of training aerial gunnery students in a five week (extended to six weeks in 1943) training program. Over 48,000 soldiers were trained until the school, one of three such types in the country, closed in 1945. It was initially assigned to the AAF Gulf Coast Training Center as a flexible gunnery school, with the 78th Service Group being designated as the first host organization at the new airfield. By mid-September 1941 the airfield and base at Harlingen was 30 percent complete. By mid-October the work was half-finished, but the field itself was almost complete. In November the steel water tower which would loom over the base for many years was swung into place. December saw the steelwork on two hangars and control towers well under way. The airfield consisted of two parallel 6000-foot runways aligned North/South, and two 5,200-foot diagonal runways aligned NE/SW and NW/SE. A large parking ramp and several aircraft hangars were constructed along with a support base of warehouses, dormatories, a fire station, some water towers and a number of support buildings all constructed of wood and tar paper on concrete blocks. An auxiliary airfield at Port Isabel, Texas was also constructed to support the training and flight operations at Harlingen. Training was conducted in both air-to-air & air-to-surface gunnery. The air-to-air training used a variety of aircraft, including AT-6 Texans, BT-13 Valiants, P-63 Kingcobras, B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators. For ground-based training, a number of facilities were available, including the moving target ranges and a number of gunnery simulators. The first class of aerial gunners graduated from the Gunnery School in January 1942. On 8 January 1943, the War Department constituted and activated the 79th Flying Training Wing (Flexible Gunnery) at Harlingen and assigned it to the AAF Eastern Central Training Command. Gunnery practice was carried out by having the student fire at a sleeve target towed by an AT-6. Students were also taught strafing techniques. A series of shop silhouettes were installed offshore near South Padre Island, and students fired at these water targets from B-34 and AT-6 aircraft. The planes utilized for training and transportation at the Harlingen Army Air Field were the Vultee BT-13 Valiant, Bell P-39 Airacobra, Bell P-63 Kingcobra, Beech C-45H Expeditor, Lockheed A-29 Hudson, Lockheed B-34 Ventura, Martin B-26 Marauder, North American B-25 Mitchell, Douglas C-47 Skytrain, North American AT-6 Texan Trainer, and Consolidated B-24 Liberator. In 1944, Harlingen began training B-29 Superfortress gunners. They received practically the same training as those for other aircraft, but at the end of the year a few of them began to receive training in B-24s modified by the addition of central fire control turrets to make them more like B-29s. Among the training devices used in this instruction was the manipulation trainer—12 towers arranged to resemble a formation of planes. The towers ranged in height from 10 to 40 feet, each equipped with 2 nose, 2 tail, 2 ring sighting, and 4 blister positions. As students in these positions faced simulated attacks from PT-13 and PT-17 aircraft, they "fired" camera guns at the attacking fighters. The combat of World War II ended in August 1945. The need for gunners no longer existed. By this time an estimated 48,000 men could call the gunnery school their alma mater. The school and field were soon phased out. The 79th conducted flexible gunnery training until 1 October 1945. On 12 October Harlingen became a temporary separation center for the men stationed there. By 5 January 1946 it was made public that the base would be declared surplus. As such it would be the fourth and last of such bases in this area to be deactivated, as Moore Field, the Brownsville Army Airfield, and the Laguna Madre Sub-Base of Harlingen had already been listed for deactivation. At this time Harlingen had a total of 5,000 men split almost evenly between trainees and permanent personnel. Harlingen Army Airfield was inactivated 1 February 1946, the facility was turned over to the War Assets Administration on 5 February as surplus property. With the airfield's closure, some of the well-constructed barracks were sold or donated. The Citrus Center of Texas A&I University acquired and moved some of them to its Weslaco campus in 1947. A one-story barracks was sold to the Hansen family in Weslaco and was transformed into their home at 801 Oklahoma Street. The Grace Lutheran Church of Harlingen took two of them and moved them to the corner of Jackson and 10th Street. One became the sanctuary and the second one the parish hall. In 1948 one two-story barracks was purchased by the Molder family who trucked it to North Business 77. Here it was transformed into the very popular Green Gables Restaurant and Lounge, famed for its steaks.