Big Spring Army Airfield
| Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield  |
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|---|---|
| Part of Air Training Command (ATC) | |
| Big Spring, Texas, USA | |
2006 USGS photo
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 Webb AFB
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| Coordinates | 32°13′05″N 101°31′17″W / 32.21806°N 101.52139°WCoordinates: 32°13′05″N 101°31′17″W / 32.21806°N 101.52139°W |
| Type | Air Force Base |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | United States Air Force |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1942 |
| In use | Open 1942 – closed 1977 |
Webb Air Force Base (IATA: BGS), previously named Big Spring Air Force Base, was a United States Air Force facility of the Air Training Command that operated from 1951 to 1977 in West Texas within the current city limits of Big Spring. Webb AFB was a major undergraduate pilot training (UPT) facility for the Air Force, and by 1969, almost 9,000 pilots had been trained at Webb. The last operational wing at Webb AFB was the 78th Flying Training Wing.
The facility first was used by the United States Army Air Forces as Big Spring Army Air Field, opening on 28 April 1942 as part of the Central Flying Training Command.
Activated on 26 June 1942, the mission of Big Spring AAF was to train aviation cadets in high-altitude precision bombing as bombardiers. It was one of the "West Texas Bombardier Quadrangle" schools of the Army Air Forces Training Command. The other bases in the quad were Midland Army Airfield, San Angelo Army Airfield, and Childress Army Airfield.
Construction of the Army Air Forces Bombardier School began on 15 May 1942, and the airfield received its first class of cadets (118 men) on 16 September 1942. The 79th Bombardier Training Group was the USAAF instructional unit at Big Spring AAF; the 365th Base Hq and Air Base Squadron maintained the station and commanded the ground support units. Operational squadrons under the 78th BTG were:
The AT-11 (Beechcraft Model 18 and the B-18 Bolo were the primary aircraft flown for training. After an intense three-month course, the class graduated, exactly one year and ten days after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Beginning in 1943, the 78th also trained Free French cadets. Many of the young men who trained at the school went on to fly combat missions in the B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator, B-25 Mitchell, B-26 Marauder, or B-29 Superfortress, in all combat theaters of World War II.
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