List of Florida World War II Army Airfields

Infobox Military Structure
name=Florida World War II Army Airfields
partof = World War II
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type=Army Airfields
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built=1940-1944
builder=
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used= 1940-Present
demolished=
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events=During World War II, the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) established numerous airfields in Florida for antisubmarine defense in the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico and for training pilots and aircrews of USAAF fighters and bombers.

Most of these airfields were under the command of Third Air Force or the Army Air Forces Training Command (AAFTC) (predecessor of the current-day United States Air Force Air Education and Training Command). However the other USAAF support commands (Air Technical Service Command (ATSC); Air Transport Command (ATC) or Troop Carrier Command) commanded a significant number of airfields in a support roles.

It is still possible to find remnants of these wartime airfields as most were converted into municipal airports, while others remain as modern day U.S. Air Force installations. Hundreds of the temporary buildings that were used survive today, and are being used for other purposes.

Major Airfields

Air Technical Service Command
* Alachua AAF, 3 miles northeast of Gainesville, Florida: 512th Army Air Force Base Unit: Now: Gainesville Regional Airport (GNV):: Cross City AAF, 1 mile east of Cross City, Florida.:: Sub-base of Alachua AAF:: Now: Cross City Airport (CTY):: Dunnellon AAF, 5 miles west of Dunnellon, Florida.:: Sub-base of Alachua AAF:: Now: Dunnellon/Marion County Airport (X35):: Keystone AAF, 3 miles north of Keystone Heights, Florida.:: Sub-base of Alachua AAF:: Now: Keystone Heights Airport (42J):: Leesburg AAF, 5 miles east of Leesburg, Florida.:: Sub-base of Alachua AAF:: Now: Leesburg International Airport (LEE):: Montbrook AAF, 2 miles southwest of Williston, Florida.:: Sub-base of Alachua AAF:: Now: Williston Municipal Airport (X60):: Zephyrhills AAF, 1 mile southeast of Zephyrhills, Florida.:: Sub-base to Alachua AAF:: Now: Zephyrhills Municipal Airport (ZPH)

Army Air Force Training Command
* Avon Park AAF, 10 miles norheast of Avon Park, Florida: Combat Crew Training Station: Now:
* Boca Raton AAF, 2 miles northwest of Boca Raton, Florida: Eastern Technical Training Center: 319th Army Air Force Base Unit: Now: Boca Raton Airport (BCT) and Florida Atlantic University
* Buckingham AAF, 10 miles est of Fort Myers, Florida: Army Flying School/Eastern Flight Training Center: 328th Army Air Force Base Unit: Now: Buckingham Field Airport (FL59):: Naples AAF, 2 miles northeast of Naples, Florida.:: Sub-base to Buckingham:: Now: Naples Municipal Airport (APF)
* Carlstrom Field, located near Arcadia, Florida: Contract Flying School: Now: G. Pierce Wood Memorial Hospital Complex
* Chapman Field, 10 miles southwest of Miami, Florida: Contract flying school part of Emery-Riddle Aeronautical : Now: Redeveloped as part of urbanized area of Dade County and as USDA Research Station.
* Hendricks Field, 6 miles east of Sebring, Florida: Eastern Flight Training Command: 76th Army Air Force Base Unit: Now: Sebring Regional Airport (SEF):: Immokalee AAF, 1 mile east-northeast of Immokalee, Florida.:: Auxiliary to Hendricks AAF:: Now: Immokalee Airport (IMM)
* Kissimmee AAF, 2 miles west of Kissimmee, Florida: Contract Flying School: Now: Kissimmee Gateway Airport (ISM)
* Orlando AAB, 3 miles est of Orlando, Florida: Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics: 26th Army Air Force Base Unit: Now: Orlando Executive Airport (ORL):: Bushnell AAF, 3 miles northeast of Bushnell, Florida.:: Sub-base to Orlando AAB:: Now: Undeveloped grassland
* Pinecastle AAF: Was: McCoy Air Force Base (1951-1974): Now: Orlando International Airport (MCO)
* Tyndall Field, 7 miles southeast of Panama City, Florida: Eastern Flight Training Center: 69th Army Air Force Base Unit: Now: :: Apalachicola AAF, 2 miles west of Apalachicola, Florida:: Sub-base of Tyndall Field:: Army Air Force Flexible Gunnery Camp:: Now: Apalachicola Municipal Airport (AAF)

Third Air Force
* Bartow AAF, 4 miles northeast of Bartow, Florida: III Fighter Command: Now: Bartow Municipal Airport (BOW)
* Dale Mabry Field, 3 miles west of Tallahassee, Florida: III Fighter Command: Was: Dale Mabry Field (commercial airport) (1946-1961): Now: Campus of Tallahassee Community College
* Drew Field, 5 miles west of Tampa, Florida.: Now: Tampa International Airport (TPA):: Brooksville AAF, 6 miles southwest of Brooksville, Florida.:: Auxiliary to Drew Field:: Now: Hernando County Airport (BKV)
* Drane Field/Lakeland AAF, 4 miles southwest of Lakeland, Florida: Now: Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL)::* Winter Haven AAF, 2 miles northwest of Winter Haven, Florida.:: Aux to Lakeland AAF:: Now: Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport (GIF)
* Hillsborough AAF, 7 miles north-northeast of Tampa, Florida.: III Fighter Command: Now: Redeveloped as part of urbanized area of Hillsborough County, the southern portion of which is Busch Gardens, Tampa.
* Marianna AAF, 5 miles northeast of Marianna, Florida: 325th Army Air Force Base Unit: Now: Marianna Municipal Airport (MAI)
* MacDill Field, 8 miles south-southwest of Tampa, Florida.: Now: .
* Page Field/Fort Myers AAF, 4 miles south of Fort Myers, Florida: III Fighter Command: Now: Page Field (FMY)
* Perry AAF, 3 miles south of Perry, Florida: III FC/Joint use with United States Navy: Now: Perry-Foley Airport (40J)
* Pinellas AAF, 8 miles northeast of St. Petersburg, Florida: III Fighter Command: Now: St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport (PIE)
* Punta Gorda AAF, 5 miles east of Punta Gorda, Florida.: Now: Charlotte County Airport (PGD)
* Sarasota AAF, 4 miles north-northwest of Sarasota, Florida: III Fighter Command: Now: Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (SRO)
* Venice AAF, 2 miles south of Venice, Florida: 422d Army Air Force Base Unit: III Fighter Command: Now: Venice Municipal Airport (VNC)

Army Air Force Proving Ground Command
* Eglin Field, 2 miles west of Valparaiso, Florida: 51st Army Air Force Base Unit: Now: :: Hurlburt Field, 5 miles west of Fort Walton Beach, Florida.:: Auxiliary to Eglin AAF:: Now: :: Duke Field, 8 miles north of Valparaiso, Florida.:: Auxiliary to Eglin AAF:: Now: )

Air Transport Command
* Homestead AAF, 5 miles east of Homestead, Florida: 427th Army Air Force Base Unit: Was: Homestead Air Force Base (1948-1995): Now: .
* Miami AAF, 5 miles northwest of Miami, Florida: 408th Army Air Force Base Unit: Joint use USAAF/Pan American Airways: Now: Miami International Airport (MIA)
* Morrison Field, 2 miles west of Palm Beach, Florida: 427th Army Air Force Base Unit: Now: Palm Beach International Airport (PBI)

Secondary Airfields

Carrabelle Flt Strip (2 mi west of Carrabelle) · Eglin Aux Fields (#1-#9) · Lake Wales Afld (2 mi west-southwest of Lake Wales) · Marathon Flt Strip (3 mi east-northneast of Marathon) · Page Field (4 mi south of Fort Myers) · Taylor Field (1 mi southwest of Ocala)

References

* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.
* Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0912799129.
* Thole, Lou (1999), Forgotten Fields of America : World War II Bases and Training, Then and Now - Vol. 2. Pictorial Histories Pub . ISBN 1575100517
* [http://www.airfieldsdatabase.com/WW2/WW2.htm Military Airfields in World War II - Florida]

External links