Mitchel Air Force Base
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- For the airport in Wisconsin see Mitchell Field
Mitchel Air Force Base also known as Mitchel Field, originally called Air Field No. 2, was established in 1918 in the Hempstead Plains of Long Island, New York, USA.
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[edit] History
Long Islanders think of the Mitchel Field area as the home of Hofstra University, Nassau Community College and Nassau Coliseum, or as the site of many historic early flights. But that area of the Hempstead Plains also played a significant part in military history: It has been the site of training camps in almost every war in which the United States has fought.
The centrally located grassy area was first used for military purposes early in the 18th Century, when soldiers drilled and held reviews there. Soldiers recruited by the British to fight in the French and Indian War were mustered there, and infantry regiments based in New York City were sent there for summer encampments.
When the British became the enemy during the American Revolution, they made use of the area, stationing the 17th Light Dragoons on the plains. When America fought the British again in the War of 1812, it was American soldiers who camped in the plains. United States troops were there again during the Mexican War in 1846. And during the Civil War, Union troops were trained at what was then known as Camp Winfield Scott. The name changed to Camp Black during the Spanish-American War in 1898.
In 1917, the government set up an Aeronautical General Supply Depot and Concentration Camp on the site. That meant it was used for the concentration and distribution of supplies for three nearby airfields.
Mitchel Field got its name on July 16, 1918, when it was named for Maj. John Purroy Mitchel, a former mayor of New York who was killed 10 days earlier in a training flight in Louisiana. Camp Mills, just west of Mitchel Air Force Base, was the largest training center for the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. The 42nd Infantry Division, known as the Rainbow Division, left for overseas from the camp and became the first American ground troops to see combat in France.
The military returned to the Camp Mills site in 1938, when the Second Air Base Squadron moved in for two years.
During World War II, Mitchel was the main point of air defense for New York City, equipped with two squadrons of P-40 fighters. In the late 1940s it was headquarters of the Air Defense Command, First Air Force and Continental Air Command. By 1949, Mitchel was relieved of the responsibility for defending New York City because of the many problems associated with operating tactical aircraft in an urban area. However, Mitchel did serve as the terminus for the last speed record set on Long Island, a transcontinental speed record of 4 hours, 8 minutes set by Col. W. Millikan in an F-86 on January 2, 1954. After several notable crashes, including a P-47 into Hofstra University's Barnard Hall, public pressure ultimately led to the field's closure. The last active unit to be based at Mitchel was the 514th Troop Carrier Wing flying Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars. Military activities on the Hempstead Plains ceased in late 1944. Due to the noise, small size of the field, and several spectacular crashes, Mitchel was closed in 1961 with the property being turned over to the County of Nassau.
Though closed as an Air Force base in 1961, it still has military housing and exchange facilities to this day (December 2005); with families from military activities in the area.
[edit] Present
Mitchel Field is now a complex located in Uniondale, New York, and home to Cradle of Aviation Museum, Nassau Coliseum, Mitchel Athletic Complex, Nassau Community College and Hofstra University.
Mitchel Athletic Complex (also called Mitchel Field) is currently home to the Long Island Lizards pro lacrosse team of the Major League Lacrosse and the Long Island Rough Riders pro soccer team. The Rough Riders currently play in the United Soccer Leagues (USL) 2nd division. The USL D2 is two divisions below the premier soccer league in America, Major League Soccer.
Mitchel Athletic Complex, which was completed in 1984 for New York State amateur events and expanded in 1997 for regional/national athletics, hosted track and field events during the 1998 Goodwill Games. It was also the home of the New York Power of the Women's United Soccer Association.
