Donaldson AFB

Donaldson Air Force Base Greenville Army Air Base
Greenville County, near Greenville, South Carolina
USGS 2006 airphoto
Donaldson AFB
Coordinates	34°45′30″N 82°22′35″W / 34.75833°N 82.37639°W / 34.75833; -82.37639Coordinates: 34°45′30″N 82°22′35″W / 34.75833°N 82.37639°W / 34.75833; -82.37639
Type	Air Force Base
Site information
Owner	Greenville, South Carolina Greenville County, South Carolina
Controlled by	United States Air Force
Site history
Built	1942
In use	1942−1963

Donaldson Air Force Base is a former facility of the United States Air Force located south of Greenville, South Carolina. It was founded in 1942 as Greenville Army Air Base; it was deactivated in 1963 and converted into a civilian airport. It is currently an active airfield known as Donaldson Center Airport.

It was used by the United States Army Air Forces' Third Air Force as a B-25 Mitchell medium bomber training airfield during World War II. It was home to C-124 Globemaster II transports and called "The Airlift Capital of the World" for its role in the Berlin airlift, Korean War, and Cold War, being assigned to both Tactical Air Command (TAC) and the Military Air Transport Service (MATS).

Originally named Greenville Army Air Base when opened in 1942, and later Greenville Air Force Base in 1947, the base was renamed in March 1951 as Donaldson Air Force Base in honor of Captain John Owen Donaldson, (1897–1930). Donaldson spent his boyhood in Greenville, South Carolina, attending Greenville High School, Furman University and Cornell University before joining the Royal Flying Corps and (after April 1918) the Royal Air Force in World War I. He became an ace, with eight victories, and was decorated by Great Britain, the United States and Belgium. Becoming an air racer after the war, Donaldson was killed on 7 September 1930 after winning the American Legion Air Race in Philadelphia when his plane spun out of control. He had won the Mackay Gold Medal for taking first place in the Army's transcontinental air race in October 1919.