Brooksville Army Airfield

Brooksville Army Airfield
 
Part of Army Air Forces Training Command
Third Air Force
Located near: Gainesville, Florida

Brooksville Army Airfield - 1944
Brooksville Army Airfield
Coordinates 28°28′25″N 082°27′20″W / 28.47361°N 82.45556°W
Site history
In use 1940-1945

Brooksville Army Airfield, was a United States Army Air Forces airfield constructed during World War II, located 7.2 miles (11.6 km) southwest of Brooksville, Florida.

History

The facility was opened in November 1942 by the United States Army Air Forces. Constructed on 2,014 acres offered by the town of Brooksville, Brooksville Army Airfield was used as part of the Air University's Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics (AAFSAT) tactical combat simulation school in Central and Northern Florida in the early and mid-1940s. It was assigned as a sub-base to the Orlando Army Air Base, with Brooksville AAF being used primarily as bomber training base.

Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics

Operations at this field began in November 1942 with the arrival of the 1st Bombardment Squadron, which was transferred from the 9th Bombardment Group at Orlando AAB and equipped with the B-17 Flying Fortress. The 1st Bomb Squadron engaged in advanced combat training for aircrews, flying mock combat missions against fighters of the 50th Fighter Group based at Orlando AAB. In early 1944, the 1st Bomb Squadron was reassigned to Texas, where it began training as a B-29 Superfortress squadron, destined for Twentieth Air Force in the Pacific Theater.

In early 1944, the 5th, 99th and 430th Bomb Squadrons were also sent to Brooksville from Orlando. The 5th, equipped with B-24 Liberators; the 99th with B-25 Mitchells; and the 430th with B-26 Marauder medium bombers. All of these squadrons were also moved out to Texas in February 1944, along with the 1st Bomb Squadron, minus their aircraft, which were left at Brooksville.

Third Air Force

With the move of the 9th Bombardment Group squadrons, jurisdiction of Brooksville AAF was transferred from Training Command to III Bomber Command, stationed at MacDill Field near Tampa. In late 1943, when Second Air Force began transitioning to B-29 Superfortress training, the B-17 mission returned to MacDill. Brooksville then became an auxiliary of MacDill Field and nearby Drew Army Airfield. The medium bomber training mission was moved from MacDill to Brooksville and the B-17s formerly of AAFSAT were used by training crews from both MacDill and Drew for Replacement Crew Training.

In an administrative reorganization by HQ Army Air Force on 1 May 1944, numbered training units in the Zone of the Interior (ZI) (i.e., Continental United States) were re-designated as "Army Air Force Base Units." At Brooksville, the 377th Army Air Forces Base Unit was activated for operational training as well as station management.

Bomber crews from Brooksville regularly made practice runs to the Avon Park Bombing Range and the Osprey Bombing Range. A tactical bombing school operated under the direction of AAFSAT from Orlando AAB remained, with the aircrews flying missions as part of the school.

Closure

With the end of hostilities, Third Air Force sent down orders to close the facility. Jurisdiction of the airfield was transferred to Air Technical Service Command (ATSC), whose mission was the transfer of any useful military equipment to other USAAF bases around the country. Under ATSC, buildings and equipment were sold to civilian governments and/or commercial entities and any useful military equipment transferred to other USAAF installations. The base was subsequently declared as surplus and turned over to the War Assets Administration (WAA) for disposal and return to civil use.

Brooksville AAF became the Hernando County Airport in late 1945 and was renamed as Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport in 2013. Only a large concrete bunker (approximately 25x100 ft), used in testing and alignment of aircraft machine guns, and various aircraft parking "hard stands" (also known as "keyholes") adjacent to the runways and taxiways remain from World War II.

Major units assigned

See also

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

    External links