Air Activities of Texas, Corsicana Field
Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Prior to the United States entry into World War II, the U.S. Government contracted with a number of civilian flying schools to assist in training military pilots for the Army Air Corps. In December 1940 the Air Activities of Texas, Corsicana Field, was authorized to provide primary flight training, the second phase of a three-level process. Construction of the facility on a 400-acre tract of land began here in February 1941, and employed more than 250 laborers. In addition to a landing strip, they built hangars, barracks, offices, maintenance buildings, and a mess hall/kitchen. In March, 51 cadets arrived to complete 10 weeks of intense training. By 1943, each class contained more than 300 cadets. By 1944 8,480 cadets received flight instruction in 37 training classes. The flight school employed more than 550 civilians by January 1944, and provided a significant impact on the local economy. As the war drew to a close, the need for the flight school became unnecessary, and it closed. Post-war use of the property began in 1946 with the opening of Navarro Junior College, which occupied the site until 1951. The City of Corsicana purchased the site in 1963 for a municipal airport. (1996)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
As war loomed in 1940, the U.S. government turned to civilian flight schools to help train the pilots it would soon need in vast numbers, and Corsicana Field became one of them. Built on a 400-acre tract beginning in 1941, it delivered primary flight training to cadets in ten-week cycles—by 1944 more than 8,000 airmen had passed through in 37 classes, and the school employed over 550 civilians, reshaping the local economy. When peace came the field was no longer needed, and the site went on to house a junior college and later a municipal airport.
Why it matters
Fields like Corsicana show how the home front mobilized for World War II, turning ordinary Texas farmland into the training ground for the American air power that helped win the war.
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Related events
- · World War II pilot training
Themes & tags
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