Castle Air Force Base
| Castle Air Force Base Merced Army Airfield  |
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| Part of Strategic Air Command | |
| Merced County, near Atwater, California | |
2006 USGS Aerial Photo
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 Castle AFB
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| Coordinates | 37°22′50″N 120°34′05″W / 37.38056°N 120.56806°WCoordinates: 37°22′50″N 120°34′05″W / 37.38056°N 120.56806°W |
| Type | Air Force Base |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1941 |
| In use | 1941–1995 |
Castle Air Force Base (1941–1995) is a former United States Air Force Strategic Air Command base located northeast of Atwater, northwest of Merced and about 115 miles (185 km) south of Sacramento, California.
The base, located in unincorporated Merced County, was closed after the end of the Cold War in 1995. It is now known as the Castle Airport Aviation and Development Center.
The airfield was opened on 20 September 1941 as the Army Air Corps Basic Flying School, one of the fields utilized to meet the needs of the 30,000 Pilot Training Program. It provided basic air training for beginning pilots and crewmen. Many pilots and crews were trained here during the war including a number of Women's Air Service Pilots (WASPs).
Auxiliary air fields used by Merced Army Air Field during the war were:
With the end of the war 444th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) arrived on 15 November 1945 from West Field, Tinian with four squadrons (344th, 676th, 677th, and 678th) of wartime B-29s. The 444th operated from Merced for about six months with the 678th BS being re-designated as the 10th Recon Squadron and its aircraft being converted to the RB-29 configuration.
The three B-29 squadrons inactivated at Merced on 6 May 1946 with the 10th Reconnaissance Squadron relocating to Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona where it turned in its RB-29 aircraft. The 444th was inactivated on 16 November 1947.
During the summer of 1945, when most other air fields were winding down, Merced was expanded to accommodate the large air tankers then programmed to come into service. After the war ended, Merced was home to several air tanker squadrons and remained a training center for pilots and air crews.
Merced Army Air Field was renamed Castle Field on 17 January 1946. It was named for Brigadier General Frederick W. Castle, who, on Christmas Eve 1944, remained at the controls of his burning B-17 Flying Fortress while his crew bailed out, and then died when the aircraft exploded.
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