Harvard Army Air Field
| Harvard State Airport Harvard Army Airfield |
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1999 USGS Photo
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | Nebraska Department of Aeronautics | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | Harvard, Nebraska | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Harvard Township, Clay County, near Harvard, Nebraska | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 1,815 ft / 553 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 40°39′05″N 098°04′47″W / 40.65139°N 98.07972°WCoordinates: 40°39′05″N 098°04′47″W / 40.65139°N 98.07972°W | ||||||||||||||
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 08K
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Source: Federal Aviation Administration
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| Aircraft operations | 1,570 |
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Harvard State Airport (FAA LID: 08K) (Harvard State Airfield) is two miles northeast of Harvard, in Clay County, Nebraska. It has no airline flights.
Harvard Army Airfield was built in 1942 as a United States Army Air Forces training airfield. It is in a farming area, and covered 1,704 acres (6.90 km2). It was one of eleven training airfields in Nebraska during World War II.
On 2 September 1942, an announcement was made to the community that a satellite Army Airfield would be built just northeast of Harvard. By September 17 construction began, farmers were removed from their properties, and by November 19, the work was nearly completed with 277 buildings and structures were built. It was a major World War II training center for bomber crews of the 2nd Air Force. Complete engine and air-frame repairs were available for B-17, B-24 and B-29 bombers at the five hangars on the field. Between August 1943 and December 1945, twenty six bombardment squadrons received proficiency training at Harvard AAF
The airfield was under the command of Second Air Force Headquarters, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The 521st Army Air Force Base Unit commanded the support elements at Harvard as part of Air Technical Service Command. The 521st was assigned to the 15th Bombardment Training Wing (September 1943 – March 1944), then transferred to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing in March 1944 for B-29 training.
The airfield was opened as a satellite base for Kearney AAF, but was soon scheduled for full-time operation as independent USAAF airfield. By early 1943, the base was on a 24-hour program of training Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator and crews for the European theater against the German Luftwaffe.
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