Pratt Army Airfield

Pratt Army Airfield
Part of Second Air Force
Located Near: Pratt, Kansas
Pratt Army Airfield 1943
Pratt AAF
Coordinates	37°42′18″N 098°45′15″W / 37.70500°N 98.75417°W / 37.70500; -98.75417 (Pratt AAF)Coordinates: 37°42′18″N 098°45′15″W / 37.70500°N 98.75417°W / 37.70500; -98.75417 (Pratt AAF)
Site history
Built	1942
In use	1942-1945

Pratt Army Airfield is a closed United States Army Air Forces base. It is located 4 miles (6.4 km) north-northwest of Pratt, Kansas, and was closed in 1946. Today it is used as Pratt Regional Airport.

Pratt Army Airfield (AAF) is significantly historic as it was the first United States Army Air Forces B-29 Superfortress station, receiving the prototype YB-29 bomber in the summer of 1943. Along with Walker Army Airfield near Victoria, Great Bend Army Airfield near Great Bend and Smoky Hill Army Airfield near Salina the initial cadre of the 58th Bombardment Wing was formed. The 58th Bomb Wing was the first B-29 combat wing of World War II and engaged in the first long-range strategic bombardment of the Japanese Home Islands beginning in March 1944 from bases in India.

Construction of Pratt Army Airfield was begun in September 1942. The field is located about three miles north of the city of Pratt, a community of about 7,000, which was the only urban area readily accessible to personnel of the field. The area of the field sloped slightly from west to east, with an elevation varying from 1,969 feet to 1,930 feet.

Eventually, Pratt AAF would have three 8,000-foot-long main runways and five hangars. Station construction was of the theater of operations type. By the time of the official dedication of the field in May 1943, some 60 barracks had been completed, giving accommodations to 2,460 enlisted men. Total authorized construction called for 72 barracks with a capacity of 3,060 enlisted men and eight officers' quarters with a housing capacity of 522.

A few personnel began to arrive well before completion of the field. The first group, a 12-man Engineer cadre on detached service, stayed for a time at the Calbeck Hotel in Pratt until facilities at the field had been completed sufficiently for them to move in. The first building on the airfield was the engineer's building, and from there, the construction of the base would be directed. Site preparation grading started in October, and during the time the airfield was under construction, the announcement was made that the original design would be expanded to accommodate B-29 training.