Craig Air Force Base
| Craig Air Force Base Craig Army Airfield  |
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|---|---|
| Part of Air Training Command (ATC) | |
| Dallas County, near Selma, Alabama | |
Aerial photo of Craig Field, 2006
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 Craig AFB
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| Coordinates | 32°20′38″N 86°59′16″W / 32.34389°N 86.98778°WCoordinates: 32°20′38″N 86°59′16″W / 32.34389°N 86.98778°W |
| Type | Air Force Base |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | United States Air Force |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1940 |
| In use | 1940-1977 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | Air Training Command |
| Occupants | 29th Flight Training Wing (1972-1977) 3615th Flying Training Wing (1950-1972) |
Craig Air Force Base near Selma, Alabama, was a U.S. Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) base that closed in 1977. As an active air force base, Craig had two 8,000-foot (2,400 m) parallel runways, a large aircraft parking ramp and several large maintenance hangars.
Today the facility is a civilian airport known as Craig Field Airport and Industrial Complex (ICAO: KSEM; FAA: SEM).
The last unit assigned to Craig AFB was the 29th Flying Training Wing (29th FTW), which was activated on 29 March 1972, absorbing the assets and personnel of the 3615th FTW. Flying training squadrons of the wing were:
The 29th FTW provided undergraduate pilot training (UPT) and operated the facilities on the base. Aircraft flown by the wing were Cessna T-37s and Northrup T-38s. The last class graduated in mid-August 1977.
The 29th FTW was inactivated with the closure of the base on 30 September 1977.
The naming of the base was important to the nearby city of Selma, and several names for the airfield were considered. The name finally chosen was to honor 1st Lt Bruce Kilpatrick Craig, who was killed while acting as a civilian flight test engineer with the Consolidated Aircraft Company when the British LB-30 Liberator, AL503, he was on an acceptance flight in crashed into San Diego Bay on 2 June 1941. He was born in Selma and was initially commissioned as an officer in the Infantry Reserve prior to transferring to the Army Air Forces and attending flight training.
What would become Craig Air Force Base was established before World War II to accommodate the growing number of pilot trainees. At that time, the United States Army Air Corps was rapidly expanding and it was clear that additional facilities would be needed for all phases of pilot training.
Originally cotton fields and cattle-grazing land, in 1940, the city of Selma purchased the land in 1940, then leased it to the United States Government. The building of Selma Army Air Base began in August 1940, and proceeded rapidly so that by December there were about forty structures on the new base. Since there were no barracks yet available, the troops slept in tents and their headquarters was in an old cafe. By December, the runways were under construction.
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Wikipedia