Rice Army Airfield
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rice Army Airfield
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| Part of Army Air Force Training Command | |
| Located near Rice, California | |
 29 May 2002 |
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| Type | Army Airfield |
| Coordinates | |
| Built | 1942 |
| In use | 1942-1944 |
| Controlled by | United States Army Air Forces |
| Garrison | Army Air Force Training Command |
Rice Army Airfield is an abandoned World War II airfield located 1 mile east-southeast of Rice, California, just south of State Route 62.
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[edit] Wartime Use
The airfield was a sub base of Thermal Army Air Field and later, San Bernardino Army Air Field.
The facility was acquired by the United States Army Air Forces IV Air Support command in 1942 and was operational later that year. THe airfield consisted of two 5'000 foot runways with and numerous dispersal pads extending off the runways to the south, and support facilities and barracks to house about 3,000 men.
Its primary mission was to train United States Army Air Force pilots and aircrew with a wide variety of tactical aircraft, from light observation planes to medium bombers. Rice was under the overall command of Fourth Air Force, headquartered at Hamilton AAF.
By 1944, the airfield was assigned to March Field as a sub-base. Military operations at Rice Army Air Field ended in August 1944 was closed later in mid-1944, and declared surplus at the end of October.
[edit] Civil Use
Apparently the airfield was reopened as a public civilian airport in the late 1940s, but it was changed to a private airfield at some point between 1952-55, and was again closed by 1958.
Today there is little left of this facility except a large concrete pad which was the aircraft ramp. Tumbleweeds have taken over the rest of the facility with some crumbling remnants of runways visible from the air. There are no buildings standing except for some concrete foundations.
