Matagorda Island Air Force Base () is a closed military airfield on the north end of

Matagorda Island Matagorda Island (), ''Spanish for'' "thick brush," is a 38-mile (61 km) long barrier island on the Texas Gulf coast, located approximately south of Port O'Connor, in the southernmost part of Calhoun County. The traditional homeland of ...

, northeast of

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi (; Ecclesiastical Latin: "'' Body of Christ"'') is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patrici ...

. It was closed by the United States Air Force in 1975.

History

World War II

The original airfield was built in 1942 as Matagorda Island General Bombing and Gunnery Range. It supported the USAAF

Gulf Coast Training Center 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 ...

pilot training in the

Southeast United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

. The airfield originally had three runways, with a large "L"-shaped concrete parking apron. It was under the control of

Foster Field Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium, Norris Diamond is a baseball stadium at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas. The stadium is home to the Angelo State University Rams Baseball team. It was built in 2000 for the San ...

, Victoria, Texas, as a sub-base. The range had four squadrons (856th, 857th, 858th, 859th) Single-Engine Gunnery Squadrons assigned, flying the

North American T-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces ...

, under the control of the 62d Single-Engined Flying Training Group, 79th Flying Training Wing. Aircraft from other training schools also used the airfield. The range was supported by the

Matagorda Peninsula Army Airfield Matagorda Peninsula Army Airfield is a closed military airfield, located on Matagorda Island, Texas. It was used during World War II as a training airfield by the 77th Flying Training Wing, Army Air Forces Central Flying Training Command. Hist ...

, a separate facility north of the range. During the war, an additional three runways were built to accommodate the large number of landings and takeoffs.Air Force Historical Research Agency, Matagorda Island Air Force Range, Texas
/ref> The facility was closed on 3 February 1945, and placed in a standby status. Document 00172239, Foster Field, Texas
/ref>

Strategic Air Command

During the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, in 1949, the United States Air Force

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...

reactivated the range and refurbished the runways. Runway 03/21 was extended to 8,000 ft to accommodate jet fighters, along with SAC

B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fly ...

and

B-50 Superfortress The Boeing B-50 Superfortress is an American strategic bomber. A post–World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, it was fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, stronger structure, a taller tail fin, and ot ...

bombers. The Air Force renamed the facility Matagorda Island Air Force Base. It built a dock, a large number of roads, and buildings on the base to accommodate personnel to support the gunnery and bombing range. During its operational lifetime, the range was controlled by

Carswell AFB Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth (abbreviated NAS JRB Fort Worth) includes Carswell Field, a military airbase located west of the central business district of Fort Worth, in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. This military a ...

and

Bergstrom AFB Bergstrom Air Force Base (1942–1993) was located seven miles southeast of Austin, Texas. In its later years it was a major base for the U.S. Air Force's RF-4C reconnaissance fighter fleet. History Bergstrom was originally activated on ...

, Texas, and

Chennault Air Force Base Chennault International Airport (IATA: CWF, ICAO: KCWF, FAA LID: CWF) is a center of aerospace activity based in Lake Charles, Louisiana, serves the needs of civilian and military aircraft from around the world with world-class infrastructure, ...

and

Barksdale AFB Barksdale Air Force Base (Barksdale AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in northwest Louisiana, United States, in Bossier Parish. It is contiguous to Bossier City, Louisiana, along the base's western and northwestern edge. Barksdale AFB ...

, Louisiana as a sub-base. Aircraft from both SAC and

Tactical Air Command Tactical Air Command (TAC) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. It was inactivated on 1 J ...

(TAC) and various

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...

squadrons used the facility. In 1965, the Reeves AN/MSQ-77 Bomb Directing Central system was tested by the

1st Combat Evaluation Group The 1st Combat Evaluation Group (initially "1CEG", later "1CEVG") was a Strategic Air Command (SAC) unit. It was formed on 1 August 1961 to merge the 3908th Strategic Standardization Group for SAC aircrew evaluation with the 1st Radar Bomb Sco ...

at the range for

Combat Skyspot Combat Skyspot was the ground-directed bombing (GDB) operation of the Vietnam War by the United States Air Force using Bomb Directing Centrals and by the United States Marine Corps using Course Directing Centrals (" MSQ-77 and TPQ-10 ground ra ...

ground-directed bombing Ground-directed bombing (GDB) is a military tactic for airstrikes by ground-attack aircraft, strategic bombers, and other equipped air vehicles under command guidance from aviation ground support equipment and/or ground personnel (e.g., grou ...

in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Because of its remote island location with limited access, during the Vietnam War, the facility was also used by

Air Commando The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

and other units, possibly under the direction of national intelligence agencies for training.

Current use

The base was deactivated in 1975 after the end of United States' involvement in Vietnam. The property was subsequently turned over to the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

as a federal wildlife refuge. Today, the runways and taxiways, although infested with vegetation, are in very good condition. The several structures, hangars, and buildings of various types are in various stages of deterioration. Also, a usable dock and a small port facility are available.

References

{{Authority control 1943 establishments in Texas Installations of the United States Air Force in Texas Military installations closed in 1945 Buildings and structures in Calhoun County, Texas 1945 disestablishments in Texas 1949 establishments in Texas 1975 disestablishments in Texas

History

World War II

Strategic Air Command

Current use

See also

References