San Marcos Municipal Airport

Infobox Airport
name = San Marcos Municipal Airport
nativename =
nativename-a =
nativename-r =

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image-width =
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IATA = HYI
ICAO = KHYI
type = Public
owner =
operator =
city-served =
location = City of San Marcos, Texas
elevation-f = 597
elevation-m = 182
coordinates = Coord|29|53|33.892|N|097|51|46.815|W|type:airport_region:US|display=inline,title
website =
metric-elev =
metric-rwy =
r1-number = 8/26
r1-length-f = 6,330
r1-length-m = 1,929
r1-surface = Asphalt
r2-number = 13/31
r2-length-f = 5,603
r2-length-m = 1,708
r2-surface = Asphalt
r3-number = 17/35
r3-length-f = 5,213
r3-length-m = 1,589
r3-surface = Asphalt
stat-year =
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San Marcos Municipal Airport Airport codes|HYI|KHYI is a commercial airport located 4 miles E of San Marcos, Texas.

It is owned and operated by the City of San Marcos, Texas.

History

Shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, San Marcos was selected as a training site for pilots and became the San Marcos Army Air Field. Over a 2 year period, approximately 10,000 highly trained air navigators were trained there.

With the end of World War II the base faced abandonment, but with the aid of Congressman Lyndon Johnson and Senator John Connally, the site was reactivated in May, 1946 to train Army Air Force personnel as helicopter pilots and renamed San Marcos Air Force Base. It was deactivated once again in October, 1949, but was reopened in January, 1951, to train pilots for the Korean War. With nearly 5000 men on duty, the base was home to the largest helicopter training facility in the nation. It trained mechanics as well as pilots.

On Armed Forces Day, May 16, 1953, the base once again received a new name, the Edward Gary Air Force Base in honor of Lieutenant Arthur Edward Gary, the first Hays County soldier killed in World War II.

The base was transferred to the U.S. Army in 1956 and underwent yet another name change, one which is still referred to by some locals today, Camp Gary. A civilian contractor trained pilots for fixed wing aircraft until the summer of 1959. In 1963, the base was essentially closed and marked for disposal.

Organized San Marcans fought to save the base, and on November 20, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced in a speech at his alma mater, Southwest Texas State University, that the abandoned Camp Gary would be the site of a new federal vocational training facility called Job Corps. Today it's known as the Gary Job Corps Center, the largest in the nation.

See also

* Texas World War II Army Airfields

References

* [http://www.airnav.com/airport/KINK AirNav.Com - Winkler County Airport (KINK)]
* Thole, Lou (1999), Forgotten Fields of America : World War II Bases and Training, Then and Now - Vol. 2. Publisher: Pictorial Histories Pub, ISBN 1575100517

External links