Midland Army Airfield

Midland Army Airfield AAF Gulf Coast Training Center
Midland Army Airfield, Texas, 13 October 1943
IATA: none ICAO: none
Summary
Location	Midland, Texas
Built	1942
In use	1942-1945
Occupants	Midland AAF Bombardier training school
Coordinates	31°56′36″N 102°12′19″W / 31.94333°N 102.20528°W / 31.94333; -102.20528 (Midland AAF)Coordinates: 31°56′36″N 102°12′19″W / 31.94333°N 102.20528°W / 31.94333; -102.20528 (Midland AAF)
Map
Midland AAF Midland Army Airfield, Texas
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 00R/18L 6,500 1,981 Asphalt 00L/18R 4,243 1,293 Asphalt 05/23 6,500 1,981 Asphalt 14/32 6,500 1,981 Asphalt
Texas World War II Airfield database

Midland Army Airfield is a former World War II military airfield, located 8.4 miles west-southwest of Midland, Texas. It operated as a Bombardier training school for the United States Army Air Forces from 1942 until 1945.

Midland Army Air Field was a World War II United States Army Air Forces bombardier-training base on U.S. Highway 80 halfway between Midland and Odessa in Midland County.

It was originally named Sloan Field for Samuel Addison Sloan, who leased 240 acres of pastureland from Clarence Scharbauer, a rancher in October 1927 to establish a privately owned landing field and flying school. Sloan was killed in a plane crash on January 1, 1929, and the operation was continued by his brother and sister. Sloan Field was designated an Army Airways Station in May 1930. In 1939 Harvey Sloan sold the Field to the City of Midland for $14,500.

Prominent businessmen in Midland could foresee the possibility of a military base in West Texas. In 1940, after Hitler struck Poland, they started promoting the airport for use as a training base to the military establishment in Washington. Work was done by the WPA with more runway and taxiway improvements, as well as airfield lighting. A visit by Brigadier General G.C. Brant, Commander of the Gulf Coast Air Corps Training Center at Randolph Field was made and he reported that the situation at Midland was very favorable. It was on Friday, June 13, 1941, that it was announced that Midland would get the air school. On July 1, 1941, the municipal airport was leased to the United States government for a dollar a year, and construction began on July 17.

Immediate search for ranch land to be used as target ranges was instigated and plans for "an advanced twin-engine flying and bombardment school" had begun. Ground was broken on July 15, 1941 with the leasing of 1,030 acres of land for the duration of the war plus six months. Twenty-three bomb ranges were mapped out - located within a 50-mile radius of the base.

One of the first structures to go up was the 500,000 gallon water tank which is still in use. Buildings for Headquarters, officer, enlisted and cadet barracks, a station hospital, classrooms, mess hall and flight line were all being erected by civilian employees. By the time the first enlisted man arrived in October 1941, he found that 105 buildings were partially completed with the remaining 99 waiting to be started. In November 1941, officers and enlisted men started arriving for duty.