The 38th Flying Training Wing is an inactive

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

unit. It was last assigned to the

Western Flying Training Command Flying Division, Air Training Command, was a training formation of the United States Air Force. The unit was established in 1926 as the Air Corps Training Center to be the primary pilot training center for the Air Corps. It was reorganized int ...

, and was disbanded on 16 June 1946 at

Williams Field Williams Field or Willy Field is a United States Antarctic Program airfield in Antarctica. Williams Field consists of two snow runways located on approximately 8 meters (25 ft) of compacted snow, lying on top of 8–10 ft of ice, flo ...

, Arizona. There is no lineage between the United States Air Force 38th Combat Support Wing, established on 10 August 1948 at Itami Airfield, Japan, and this organization.

History

The wing was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Command and Control organization which supported Training Command Flight Schools in the southwestern United States, primarily in New Mexico. The wing controlled fight schools primarily instructing in advanced (Phase III) two and four engine training, along with bombardier training and before June 1944, glider training. Graduates of the advanced schools were commissioned as Second Lieutenants, received their "wings" and were reassigned to Operational or Replacement Training Units operated by one of the four numbered air fores in the zone of interior. As training requirements changed during the war, schools were activated and inactivated or transferred to meet those requirements.Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas

Lineage

* Established as 38th Flying Training Wing on 17 December 1942 : Activated on 8 January 1943 : Disbanded 16 June 1946.35th Flying Training Wing, lineage and history document Air Force Historical Agency, Maxwell AFB, Alabama

Assignments

* AAF West Coast (later, AAF Western Flying) Training Center, 8 January 1943 – 16 June 1946

Training aircraft

The schools of the wing used a wide variety of planes to support its numerous training needs: * The

Cessna AT-17 Bobcat The Cessna AT-17 Bobcat or Cessna Crane is a twin-engine advanced trainer aircraft designed and made in the United States, and used during World War II to bridge the gap between single-engine trainers and larger multi-engine combat aircraft. Th ...

was the standard two-engine advanced trainer, along with the Cessna UC-78 variant of the AT-17 : The North American

B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

medium bomber, as well as the AT-24 Mitchell were used for two-engine bomber training and transition. Some Martin

B-26 Marauders The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in th ...

were also used for training. : Four-Engine training was done with

Boeing B-17 The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

and

Consolidated B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

bombers * Glider/Liaison aircraft training used L-2, L-3, L-4 aircraft, as well as the TG-5, TG-6 and CG-4 gliders

Assigned Schools

; Artesia Municipal Airport, Artesia, New Mexico : AAF Contract Glider School : 3d AAF Flying Training Detachment : Opened: October 1942, Closed: January 1943 (L-2, L-3, L-4, TG-5, TG-6) : Big Spring Flying Service (Glider pilot training); Glider school closed January 1943. Remained as auxiliary for Roswell AAF (Auxiliary Field #8); USAAF use ended in October 1945 ;

Carlsbad Army Airfield Cavern City Air Terminal is a public use airport in Eddy County, New Mexico, United States. It is owned by the city of Carlsbad and located five nautical miles (6 mi, 9 km) southwest of its central business district. The airpor ...

, Carlsbad, New Mexico : AAF Advanced Flying School (Bombardment) : 319th Bombardier Training Group : Opened: September 1942, Closed: October 1945 (AT-11) : Aircraft carried fuselage code "C"; Had one auxiliary airfield, 25+ practice bombing ranges ; Deming Army Airfield, Deming, New Mexico : AAF Advanced Flying School (Bombardment) : Opened: November 1942, Closed: December 1944 (AT-11) : Aircraft carried fuselage code "D"; Bombardier school closed November 1944; Transferred to Second Air Force 16th Bombardment Training Wing December 1944; became B-29 Superfortress training field using modified B-25s; closed December 1945; Had three auxiliary airfields, 19 practice bombing ranges ;

Fort Sumner Army Airfield Fort Sumner Municipal Airport is a village owned, public use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) northeast of the central business district of Fort Sumner, a village in De Baca County, New Mexico, United States. It is included ...

, Ft. Sumner, New Mexico : AAF Advanced Flying School, Two-Engine : AAF Gunnery School : Opened: January 1942, Closed: July 1944 (AT-17, UC-78) : Two-engine school closed July 1944; transferred to II Fighter Command and became fighter pilot RTU operating P-40s and P-47s; Had at least seven auxiliary airfields; Closed November 1945 : Aircraft carried fuselage code of "I"; ; Fort Sumner AAF Aux No. 7, Tucumcari, New Mexico : AAF Contract Glider School : 2d AAF Flying Training Detachment : Opened: October 1942, Closed: April 1944 (L-2, L-3, L-4, TG-5, TG-6, CG-4A) : Cutter-Carr Flying Service (Glider pilot training); Glider school closed April 1944. Remained as auxiliary for Fort Sumner AAF (Auxiliary Field #7); USAAF use ended in October 1945 ;

Hobbs Army Airfield Hobbs Army Airfield was an airfield used during World War II by the United States Army Air Forces Air Training Command as part of the Western Flight Training Center. It is located in the vicinity of Hobbs, New Mexico. History On 18 December 194 ...

, Hobbs, New Mexico : AAF Advanced Flying School, Two/Four-Engine, and transition school : Opened: September 1942, Closed: February 1945 (AT-11, B-17D/F/G) : Aircraft carried fuselage code "H"; Had at least seven auxiliary airfields ;

Kirtland Army Airfield Kirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in the southeast quadrant of the Albuquerque, New Mexico urban area, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base was named for the early Army aviator Col. Roy ...

, Kirtland, New Mexico : AAF Advanced Flying School (Bombardment) : Opened: May 1941, Closed: April 1944 (AT-11, B-24E) : Aircraft carried fuselage code "Q"; Transferred to Second Air Force, Marcy 1945 for B-29 Superfortress training; Had at least six auxiliary airfields; remained open after World War II ended, now Kirtland Air Force Base. ;

La Junta Army Airfield LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

, La Junta, Colorado : AAF Advanced Flying School, Two-Engine : Opened: July 1942, Closed: May 1945 (AT-24, UC-78, B-25) : Had at least four auxiliary airfields, training switched to B-25s in September 1944; school transferred to II Fighter Command, June 1945, became single-engine fighter RTU (P-40, P-47); closed December 1945 : Aircraft carried fuselage code of "J"; ;

Marfa Army Airfield Marfa may refer to: Music * Marfa (instrument), an African percussion instrument * Marfa (music), celebratory music of the Hyderabadi Muslims Places * Márfa, a village in Baranya county, Hungary * Marfa, Chad * Marfa, Texas, a city in the hi ...

, Marfa, Texas : AAF Advanced Flying School, Two-Engine, also Two-Engine Transition : Opened: November 1942, Closed: May 1945 (AT-17, UC-78, B-25, B-26) : Had at least seven auxiliary airfields : Aircraft carried fuselage code of "M"; ;

Pecos Army Airfield Pecos Municipal Airport is a city-owned airport two miles southwest of Pecos, in Reeves County, Texas, United States. The FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2009–2013 categorized it as a ''general aviation'' airport. Faci ...

, Pecos, Texas : AAF Advanced Flying School, Two-Engine : Opened: June 1942, Closed: May 1945 (AT-17, UC-78) : Aircraft carried fuselage code "P" ;

Roswell Army Air Field Roswell may refer to: * Roswell incident Places in the United States * Roswell, Colorado, a former settlement now part of Colorado Springs * Roswell, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta * Roswell, Idaho * Roswell, New Mexico, known for the purported ...

, Roswell, New Mexico : AAF Advanced Flying School, Two/Four-Engine, and transition school : AAF Flying School (Bombardment) : Opened: May 1941, Closed: February 1945 (AT-11, B-25, B-17) : Aircraft carried fuselage code "W"; Transferred to Second Air Force, February 1945 for B-29 Superfortress training; Had at least nine auxiliary airfields remained open after World War II ended, became Walker Air Force Base; closed 1967. ; Young Municipal Field, Fort Morgan, Colorado : AAF Contract Glider School : 1st AAF Flying Training Detachment : Opened: May 1942, Closed: November 1943 (L-2, L-3, L-4, TG-5, TG-6) : Plains Airways, Inc. (Glider pilot training)

Stations

* Roswell Army Airfield, New Mexico, 8 January 1943 * Kirtland Field, New Mexico, 10 September 1943 * Williams Field, Arizona, 26 February 1945 – 16 June 1946.

References

{{USAAF Training Bases World War II Training wings of the United States Army Air Forces Military units and formations established in 1942