Jackson Army Air Base

Jackson Army Air Base (1941-1949) - A World War II U.S. Army Air Field established in 1941 near Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi. Named Jackson Army Air Base in June 1941 after the nearby City of Jackson. Closed in 1949 and returned to civilian use. Pre World War II Davis Field in Jackson was originally 151 acres of land purchased for $53,500 by the City in 1928. Jackson’s first airport was dedicated on 9 Nov 1928. Delta Air Lines made its first flight that year. In 1936 the airport was improve with a terminal building and a paved apron. The airfield was named Hawkins Field in 1941 after A.F. Hawkins, a city commissioner who was interested in aviation. The Dutch at Jackson In May 1941 the Dutch government-in-exile established the Royal Netherlands Military Flying School at Jackson's Hawkins Field. The school began operated Lend-Lease aircraft with civilian pilots from the Mississippi Institute of Aeronautics. Training was later conducted with U.S. Army Air Corps and even later with U.S. Army Air Forces units in the southeast United States. The school and the flight training were all done by civilians. The Netherlands pilots operated from the facility as a separate entity until January 1942 when the Army Air Forces Southeast Training Center took over the base and the Dutch pilots began training under the auspices of 74th Flying Training Wing at Maxwell Field, Alabama. The Netherlands crews left in May 1945 and flight training was closed down in October 1945. Pre World War II In June 1941 Hawkins Field was renamed Jackson Army Air Base. When the U.S. Army took over Hawkins Field, a massive military construction program was initiated to transform the civil airport into a military airbase. Construction was rapid given the emergency wartime conditions. == World War II -- The Base was activated on 1 May 1942 and was used by the United States Army Air Forces' Flying Training Command as a basic flying training airfield. The airfield had four runways: 3,317 by 150 feet NNE/SSW Concrete/Asphalt 3,310 by 150 feet NNW/SSE Concrete/Asphalt 4,825 by 150 feet NW/SE Concrete 5,400 by 150 feet NNW/SSE Concrete The runways were laid out on an "A" layout, with one extended length main runway, and two short secondary runways connected to the apron. In addition to the airfield, the building of a large support base included several hundred buildings, numerous streets, and a utility network was carried out with barracks, various administrative buildings, maintenance shops and hangars. The Base consisted of a large number of buildings based on standardized military plans and architectural drawings, with the buildings designed to be temporary theater-of-operations style. The base and its buildings, together with complete water, sewer, electric and gas utilities, was designed to be nearly self-sufficient, with hangars, barracks, warehouses, hospitals, dental clinics, dining halls, and maintenance shops. There were libraries, social clubs for officers, and enlisted men, and Base Exchanges to provide for living necessities and recreational activities. Sports teams were established that competed with each other on base and traveled circuits to compete with other bases and civilian teams. Post War On 2 Oct 1947 Colonel John A.H. Miller, the base commander, announced the name change of Jackson Army Air Base to Jackson Air Reserve Training Detachment. The airfield operated as an Air Force Reserve training center until 31 Mar 1949 when it was declared excess and returned it to civil control as Hawkins Field. Jackson Army Air Base Partial Commanders List (edit list) Assumed Relieved Rank Name Cullum Notes 1941-03-10 1942-04-08 Colonel Houghton, Junius H. 5574 West Point Grad 1916 First Commander 1942-04-08 1942-11-06 Colonel Mayer, William B. N/A 1942-11-06 1944-03-29 Colonel Foster, Thad V. N/A 1944-03-29 1944-07 Major Mahoney, John A. Jr N/A 1944-04-10 1944-07 Colonel Titus, Donald W. 8456 West Point Grad 1928 1944~ 1944-12 Major Mahoney, John A. Jr N/A 1944-11-16 1945-10-03 Colonel Garrison, William H. 4708 West Point Grad 1908 1945-10-03 Lt Colonel Edgar, Pendleton N/A 1946-10 Colonel Fargo, Donald K. N/A 1946-01~ Colonel Allen, Henry C. N/A 1947~ 1949-06-20 Lt Colonel Miller, John A.H. N/A Last Commander Dates are formatted in yyyy-mm-dd to sort correctly. The Cullum Number is the graduation order from the United States Military Academy by year and class rank and links to a page for the officer on the website version of the Cullum Register. Listings without a Cullum Number indicate that the person was not a graduate of the United States Military Academy. Current Status Now Hawkins Field is a joint civil-military public airport owned by the City of Jackson and operated by the Jackson Metropolitan Airport Authority. {"selectable":false,"width":"500"} Location: Near Jackson in Hinds County, Mississippi. Maps & Images Lat: 32.33417 Long: -90.22194 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 315' See Also: Sources: USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 2085468 Links: Wikipedia - Jackson Army Air Base Visited: No