Chennault Air Force Base
| Chennault Air Force Base Lake Charles Air Force Base Lake Charles Army Airfield  |
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| Part of Strategic Air Command | |
| Lake Charles, Louisiana | |
USGS aerial photo as of 2006
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 Chennault AFB
Location of Chennault Air Force Base, Louisiana
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| Coordinates | 30°12′38″N 093°08′35″W / 30.21056°N 93.14306°WCoordinates: 30°12′38″N 093°08′35″W / 30.21056°N 93.14306°W |
| Type | Air Force Base |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1940 |
| In use | 1940-1963 |
Chennault Air Force Base was a United States Air Force Strategic Air Command base located near Lake Charles, Louisiana. It was closed in 1963.
In June 1941, the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury leased the Lake Charles Municipal Airport to the federal government to build the Lake Charles Army Flying School, an advanced flying school for single-engine fighter pilots. It had two axillary fields for emergency and overflow landings and takeoffs. The airfield was assigned to the Army Air Corps Training Command, Gulf Coast Training Center.
The 481st School Squadron was reassigned to Lake Charles AAF on 10 February 1942, being redesignated as the 481st Single Engine Flying Training Squadron (Advanced) on 28 October, used the North American AT-6 Texan. The 482d and 483d squadrons were assigned shortly afterwords; being part of the 60th and 61st Single Engine Flying Training Groups (Advanced)>
Advanced single-engine flight training was performed at Lake Charles until 13 January 1943 when it was reassigned to the newly established Aloe Army Airfield, Texas. AAF Flying Training Command was replaced by Third Air Force, which established a tactical bomber group training school at the airfield, being redesignated as Lake Charles Army Airfield.
Known units assigned were:
At the end of the war, Lake Charles AAF was designated as a permanent installation, and the 47th Bombardment Group (Light) was reassigned from the closing Seymour-Johnson Field, in North Carolina. The 47th flew the A-26 Invader light bomber.
Budget cuts in 1946 forced the inactivation of the 47th Bomb Group, and the airfield was inactivated on 31 December. The airfield was reassigned to Air Technical Service Command for disposition. It subsequently was turned over to the City of Lake Charles on 28 February 1947.
When the Korean War began in 1950 a cadre was formed to reactivate the 44th Bombardment Wing at March Air Force Base, California. The Wing's activation at March followed by a reassignement to the recently reactivated Lake Charles AFB in July 1951, where the wing became operational and was assigned to Fifteenth Air Force, 12th Air Division.
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