Greenville Air Force Base (Mississippi)
Greenville Air Force Base Greenville Army Airfield | |
---|---|
Part of Air Training Command (ATC) | |
Located near Greenville, Mississippi | |
![]() USGS Aerial photo of Greenville AFB, 2006 | |
Coordinates | 33°28′58″N 90°59′08″W / 33.48278°N 90.98556°W |
Type | Air Force Base |
Site information | |
Controlled by | United States Air Force |
Site history | |
Built | 1940 |
In use | 1941–1945;1950–1960 |
Garrison information | |
Garrison | Air Training Command |
Occupants | AAF Basic Flying School (1941–1942) 334th Bombardment Group (Medium) (1942–1944) 3505th Pilot Training Wing (1950–1960) 3505th Technical Training Group (1960–1966) |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/Greenville_Army_Airfield_Mississippi_photo_pictorial.pdf/page1-220px-Greenville_Army_Airfield_Mississippi_photo_pictorial.pdf.jpg)
Greenville Air Force Base is a former
History
World War II
In February 1940, a United States Army Air Corps site selection board picked Greenville, Mississippi, as the location of a training center for the Second Aviation Initiative. By mid-June construction at the 2,000-acre (8.1 km2), 140 building site was in full progress. The Air Corps activated Greenville Army Airfield in August 1940, only two months after construction commenced. The first aircraft arrived on 5 November. The first basic flying training class, 42-D, began on 22 December 1942 and was composed of 136 students.
Basic flying training at GAAF as of September 1943 consisted of the following:[1]
Week | Hours | Description |
---|---|---|
1 | 3 | Transition, including: turns, climbs, glides, stalls, spins, spiral, eights, and forced landings. Dual instruction in forced landings was given throughout the course and their importance was stressed. |
2 | 5 | Same as first week, plus: prior to solo students were instructed in and were competent to recover from spins. Spins included power-on spins, power-off spins, and spins from stalls, turns, and climbs. Emphasis was placed on stalls, both power-on and power-off. Started cross-wind landing practice. |
3 | 9 | Same as first two weeks, including accuracy, with 90 degrees side approached, steep banks and the start of instrument training. |
4 | 9 | Reviewed all previous work. Started chandelles, lazy eights, night flying and formation training. |
5 | 9 | Review. Started day navigation training and continued night flying, formation, and instrument training. Started power approaches. |
6 | 9 | Review. Continued night flying, formation, instrument, and day navigation. Started acrobatic training and pylon eight training. |
7 | 9 | Review. Continued night flying, formation, instrument, day navigation, acrobatic training, and pylon eight training. |
8 | 9 | Review. Continued formation, instrument, day navigation, and acrobatics. Started 180 degree side approaches, and night navigation training. |
9 | 8 | Review. Concluded formation, instrument, day and night navigation, acrobatics, 180 degree side approaches, and final check rides. |
The airfield had many auxiliary landing fields to support pilot training:
- Greenville Municipal Airport 33°23′15″N 091°00′00″W / 33.38750°N 91.00000°W
- Indianola Auxiliary Field 33°28′56″N 090°40′44″W / 33.48222°N 90.67889°W
- Walker Auxiliary Field 33°36′30″N 090°51′20″W / 33.60833°N 90.85556°W
From January 1942 until January 1944, 5,705 Aviation Cadets graduated from the Basic Flying School at Greenville Army Airfield, while 605 were eliminated for flying deficiencies and another 113 for non-flying deficiencies.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Greenville_AAF_MS_Aviation_Cadets.jpg/220px-Greenville_AAF_MS_Aviation_Cadets.jpg)
The Army Air Forces Pilot Training School (Basic) conducted contract flying training until inactivated in March 1945. The airfield was reactivated on 5 June 1945 and was transferred to
Cold War
The airfield was operated as a civilian airport in the late 1940s. However, in order to handle increased pilot requirements for the Korean War, the United States Air Force's Air Training Command (ATC) activated the former World War II army airfield as Greenville Air Base on December 1, 1950. It used as a station for a contract flying school, although contract flying squadrons were not established until 1951 when the 3300th Flying Training Squadron was activated.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/3505th_Pilot_Training_Group_-_ATC-_Emblem.png/125px-3505th_Pilot_Training_Group_-_ATC-_Emblem.png)
ATC activated
On 1 December 1960, pilot training at Greenville was discontinued and the 3505th Pilot Training Wing was inactivated. The T-33s were sent to the new Consolidated Pilot Training school (later redesignated as Undergraduate Pilot Training, or UPT) at Craig Air Force Base, Alabama. Air Training Command initially wanted to close the base, however, owing to political pressure, several technical training courses were transferred to the base and the facility became the Greenville Air Technical Training Center for ATC. Between November 1960 and mid-1961, Greenville received six personnel courses from Lackland Air Force Base, Texas and two fire protection courses from Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado under the new 3505th Technical Training Wing. In 1962, several medical courses were also reassigned to Greenville from Lackland.
In December 1963,
See also
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Mississippi World War II Army Airfields
- 27th Flying Training Wing (World War II)
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- ^ History AAF Pilot School (Basic), Greenville Army Air Field, Greenville, Mississippi, Second Installment, 7 Dec 1941 to 1 Jan 1943
- Manning, Thomas A. (2005), History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas
- Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites, History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC. OCLC 57007862, 1050653629