Harlingen Army Airfield and Harlingen Air Force Base
Harlingen, Cameron County, Texas
Marker Inscription
With the depressed economy of the 1930s, Harlingen leaders sought to attract federal funds to the area. In May 1941, in preparation for what would become World War II, the U.S. War Department accepted the city's offer of 960 acres for a military airfield and flexible gunnery school. The area's flat topography, impractical for artillery training, was ideal for aircraft operations. Additional land was procured along the coast to use for combat maneuvers. The Harlingen Army Gunnery School received its first students in August 1941. By 1944, the facility was nearly 1,600 acres in size. Accommodating at peak times up to 9,000 trainees. Among those stationed at the base were Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). The field closed in 1946; following the war, numerous buildings were sold to area residents and businesses. In April 1952, with the U.S. involved in Korea, the government reactivated the field as Harlingen Air Force Base, with the primary mission of training navigators. New facilities included a hospital, and base and area residents followed local and national events in the Sun Lines newspaper. In 1961, the U.S. government announced numerous base closures, including the base in Harlingen. By June 1962, when the last class graduated from the school, more than 13,000 navigators had completed their training in Harlingen. The base closure, which removed millions of dollars from the local economy, severely impacted the city. Base facilities eventually served as a regional airport, which became the Valley International Airport in 1970. Portions of the base have also been used for an industrial air park, the Texas State Technical Institute (now College), the Marine Military Academy and the Rio Grande Valley Museum. (2004)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
As World War II approached, Harlingen offered the Army 960 acres of its flat coastal plain — useless for artillery but ideal for aircraft — and in August 1941 the Harlingen Army Gunnery School took its first students. At its peak the base trained up to 9,000 airmen, among them Women Airforce Service Pilots, before closing in 1946. Reactivated during the Korean War as Harlingen Air Force Base, it trained more than 13,000 navigators until its 1962 closure dealt the local economy a heavy blow; its grounds now serve an airport, museums, and schools.
Why it matters
Harlingen's field shows how World War II and the Cold War remade small American towns, pouring in federal money and airmen and then reshaping the community again when the base closed.
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Related events
- · Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP)
Themes & tags
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