Flexible Gunnery School at Kingman, KAAF

 As for this piece, it is some what modified for the use in a special program I created for the B-17 Alunimun Overcast visit... In Febuary 2017, the Experimantal Aircarft Association sent its aircraft to the Kingman Airport for a two day visit... So the local EAA Chapter ask me to help in this event. So I created a booklet format for the flight crew... The chapter is 765... Back to this piece, it is a major part of  my script... The first paragraph is new, rest of the other paragraphs are peppered with some modifications....

Flexible Gunnery School at Kingman

Kingman Army Air Field

In the 1930’s, the Army Air Corps was looking for a heavy bomber. Boeing created a model of the futuristic bomber prototype the Air Corps was looking for, it was called Model 299. The Army Air Corps liked the idea of the Boeing prototype, so they ordered the preproduction of the XB-17 for more testing. The XB-17 proved it worth as a heavy bomber, so the Army Air Corps began ordering the B-17. War was brewing in Europe, so the Army Air Corps wanted to be ready to protect the United States continent from future attacks.

Around 1940, the Army Air Force needed new bases to train gunners for the B-17. There would be 7 such training schools throughout the country. The new school would help in supporting the mission of the Army Air Force in the European and Pacific Theaters. The schools would be referred to as Flexible gunnery training school. The B-17 had at least six gun positions and used the Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun. Every gunner had to proficient with the weapon on the aircraft. 

The search for a new school began April 1941 and the location is Kingman and it was a prime locale. Major John C. Horton of the West Coast Flying Training Command Headquarters at Moffett Field, CA. His visit to Kingman was perfect. The population was low, the valley floor was level and land acquisition was easy and available for a reasonable price. This would enable the school to be in operation quickly.      

In April 1942, the Army Air Force gave its preliminary ok for the construction of a school at Kingman. The cost for a new school was estimated over $9 million. Final approval received on May 27 and Lt. Col. Harvey P. Huglin was selected to be the first base commander and set up in downtown Kingman in the Harvey House as headquarters. 

The school’s construction started in the summer of 1942 with runways and streets being laid out first. The buildings began soon after. On August 4, the Army Air Force Flexible Gunnery School at Kingman was activated. The first occupants and the initial key base organizations were the 460^th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron on December 1^st. On December 10, Col. George E. Henry assumed command of the school. The next came in are the 1120^th, 1121^st, 1122^nd, 1123^rd Flexible Gunnery Training Squadrons, the 334^th Aviation SQ (segregated black squadron), and the 1100^th Guard SQ (military police). On December 28, a group of 13 aircraft landed at the school, six were trainers and officially assigned to the school.

During construction, there were problems for the workers and military personnel. One problem was the lack of food delivery, which was overcome by the building the cafeterias. The housing problem was next because Kingman was a small town. The need of housing units helped in easing the problem. Some of the younger construction workers wanted a union in the company but ended up being drafted. There was stop work order on the Davis Dam project, the men were moved to help in the continuation of the construction of the airfield.

Besides the construction of the runways at the school, there were six auxiliary airfields created for emergency use. Site #1 is at Red Lake or Cyclopic, Site #3 is at Antares or Hackberry, Site #4 is Yucca (which became Yucca Sub-Base and eventually Yucca Army Air Field), Site #5 is at Topock (which is located at the Needle Mountain Exit on I-40 just east of Topock), Site #6 is at Lake Havasu (was used as the main airport during the early days Lake Havasu City’s grow and today is closed), and Site #7 is at Signal (just off the Yucca Air to Air Range, off the southeast corner). 

After the opening of the base, Bugs Bunny was selected as the base mascot through the cooperation of Warner Brothers. Bugs helped in raising the morale of the airfield. Bob Hope, The Three Stooges, and Kay Kyser visited the school as part of the USO shows. The troops were able to visit the Grand Canyon as part of rest and relaxation. Site #6 did create a camp at the lake for more R & R. Bond drives were held at the base and in Kingman for the war effort.

The training for the gunners was an intense 6 six weeks course. They had two weeks in the classroom, another two weeks at the Kingman Ground to Ground facility, and two more weeks flying in either the Kingman Air to Air Range or at the Yucca Air to Air Range. As for gunnery school training, the gunners would learn on BB guns first and go to shotguns and finally shooting the Browning M2 machine gun. As for the air gunnery, the gunners shot from the AT-6 Texans and eventually the B-17s were assigned to the school.

On May 3, 1943, a name change came in an order, the Flexible Gunnery School at Kingman became the Kingman Army Air Field. Also in 1943, the existing squadrons and new squadrons that were added after the initial startup were now being consolidated. The 1120^th and 329^th were combined with 328^th and became 328^th Flexible Gunnery Training Squadron. The 1122^nd, 537^th, and 538^th were combined into the 1123^rd FGTS. The 1121^st became the 329^th. The 536^th was formed to handle the overflow from the other squadrons. Here are some more addition to the school, 760^th FGTS (which becomes the Mess outfit), 1012 Quartermaster PL, 31^st Altitude SQ (training for high altitude), 684^th Army Band, 1^st Weather SQ, DET 25 of the 858^th Signal Service Co., DET 14 of the 909^th Quartermaster Co., and 2053 Ordnance Co. During the year of 1943, the Chinese Air Force sent over gunnery students for training.

The aircraft at the school whether assigned or transit included AT-6, AT-11, and AT-23 (flight training or tow targets), BT-18 (flight training), P-36 and P-39 (for maintenance) and a fleet of B-17s.

1944 was another year of change for the school. On April 22, the base units on the airfield were consolidated into one organization by an Army Air Force order. The units were combined into the Army Air Force Base Unit 3018^th. June 15, Col. Donald B. Phillips became the next base commander.

The training of gunners leads to a competition of “Shoot Outs” with the other schools in the Army Air Force system. The Kingman school usually held the top honors in these shootouts. This show how intense the gunnery training was at any given school in the system. The training will help the gunners be better in the air combat environment of any given theater like Europe or Pacific. 

There were some mishaps during the year of 1944 of the field personnel and students. The first was on January 2, a B-17 flying over McClellan Field, CA, during the flight in bad weather the B-17 disintegrated killing 11 of the 13 member crew. Then January 6, a student bus was crossing the railroad tracks at the school to enter the base from an all-day training at the Kingman Ground to Ground facility. The bus was hit by a westbound train. The accident claimed the lives of 26 students and 8 students did survive. (Which is the highest death toll for the state of Arizona). On November 3 a tragic mid-air collision of a B-17 and a P-39, this took place during a morning training flight. The accident kills 15 men.

With the war ending in Europe, 1945 was the school’s final year in operation for training B-17 gunners. On April 1, Col. Walter L. Wheeler became the base commander. Kingman Army Air Field was placed on a temporary inactivation by an order of Army Air Force Training Command on June 30. On July 9, Col. Lance Call became the base commander to deactivate the school. 

The 3018^th was changed to the 4184^th by an Army Air Force order on September 29. For the school was becoming a storage depot for aircraft coming in from the air combat theaters. On October 4, Lt. Col. James L. Meadows became the base commander. On November 24, Lt. Col. John J. Ratigan became the last base commander. 

At midnight on February 25, 1946, Kingman Army Air Field ceased to exist at a gunnery school. The following morning the War Assets Administration Storage Depot 41 began with a purpose of storing aircraft from the theaters of war.

Copyright 1990-2018

email  kingmanaafsd41@gmail.com

Wings and Wheels Auto Air Show 1998

This is from the 1998 issue of the Air & Auto Show newspaper... The group changed its name in 1997 to Wings and Wheels and created the Kingman Air and Auto Show... I believed the 97 show used the same newspaper format....

A History: KAAF Revisited

In the course of human progress it seems an almost universal rule that, whenever someone states a need, someone comes along to fill it. In 1934, with the clouds of war building in Europe and threatening to drift westward, the Army Air Force stated a need for a heavy bomber. Boeing Aircraft Company of Seattle obliged with its Project 299. After putting the prototype through its paces in 1935, the Army ordered a fleet of the aircraft, now dubbed the B-17, and popularly known as the Flying Fortress. And a fortress it was. It bristled with armament fore and aft, port and starboard, above and below.

Now the need was to recruit gunners and find a place to train them in the use of the weapons aboard the Fortress. Each gunner would be required to become proficient in all positions.

In 1941, Major John C. Horton of the West Coast Flying Training Command Headquarters at Moffett Field, Ca., took a trip to Kingman, Az., and found it the perfect location. The land was fairly level, the population was sparse, and the land was available at a fair price. 

Now the pace quickened, for on December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. War was declared against Japanese Empire, and shortly afterward, against Germany. The B-17, along with the rest of the family of warplanes, was needed immediately on both fronts.

During construction of the base, there were a few problems among the workers. Food delivery was slow. Cafeterias were hurriedly built to feed the hands. There was also a housing problem. 

Eventually, the ease of the emergency construction of new units. Some of the construction workers began agitating for Union representation. This problem was solved by drafting the agitators.

Davis Dam was being built during this time. Work on the dam was temporarily suspended, and the construction crews were sent to Kingman to help with the new base.

They worked fast in those days. On August 4, 1942, under the command of Lt. Col. Harvey P. Huglin, the Army Air Force Flexible Gunnery School was officially declared open for business only a couple of months after the project started. 

But before the business of the base could be conducted, the operation had to be organized. This was the job of 460^th Base Headquarters Squadron which moved on December 1, 1942. Shortly afterward, a new base commander was assigned this was Col. George E. Henry, who reported on duty December 10.

Now came the first wave of people for whom the base was built, the 1120^th, 1121^st, 1122^nd, and 1123^rd Flexible Gunnery Training Squadrons. Also taking up residence at this time was the all black 334^th Aviation Squadron, and the 1100^th Guard Squadron—otherwise known as the Military Police.

The new gunners were put to work immediately, but not in airplanes. The first part of their training was to assure their familiarity with weaponry of any kind. They were introduced to the BB guns Range. Here they used devices similar to the armament in the aircraft except their weapons fired only BBs. Once proficient with their BB guns, they graduated to shotguns (possibly to grow accustomed to the recoil). On completion of their preliminary training, the gunners were finally allowed to enter the B-17 and fire the actual weapons for which they had volunteered. This method of training paid dividends, for later on, in competition with other gunnery schools, the Kingman School often took top honors.

Morale was always an issue among a large group of young men miles from home, many for the first time, and no place to go with their weekend passes but the tiny desert town of Kingman. Enter Bob Hope, et. al. to the rescue. Other big-name entertainers came to the base, such as the Three Stooges with their zany tomfoolery and Kay Kaiser with his orchestra and his fun and games. The USO organized other shows to help keep the people happy and willing to work all out for the war effort.

Bugs Bunny was there, too. With sanction from Warner Brothers, Bugs was adopted as the official base mascot The poster of Bugs with a fierce countenance and armed to the teeth for war, was displayed in a most prominent location on the base.

On May 7, 1943, the facility was officially named the Kingman Army Air Field. The base continued to grow and change during 1943. Many new squadrons were added to the base some of the existing ones were combined. The 1120^th and the 329^th merged with 328^th to become the 328^th Flexible Gunnery Training Group. The 1122^nd, 537^th and 538^th were consolidated to form the 1123^rd Flexible Gunnery Training Group. The 536^th and the 760^th Flexible Gunnery Training Group were added to the list. Also assigned to the B-17 flight groups was the 31^st Altitude Squadron, training for operation at high altitudes.

Serving to augment the training groups were 1012^th Quartermaster Platoon, the 684^th Army Band, the 1^st Weather, Detachment 25 of the 858^th Signal Service Company, Detachment 14 of the 909 Quartermasters and the 2053^rd Ordnance Company. In 1943 a detachment of Chinese gunners was sent to Kingman for training.

There were aircraft other than the B-17 assigned to the base. The AT-6, AT-11, and the AT-23 were used for flight training and target towing. The BT-18 was used for flight training.

As often happens in massive programs employing large numbers of people and machinery working to the limit of their endurance, sudden tragedies will strike. The Kingman training school was no exception. On January 2, 1944, a B-17 flying near McClellan Field, Ca disintegrated in bad weather. Of the thirteen men killed in the resulting crash, eleven were from Kingman. Four days later, on January 6, a bus loaded with gunnery students bound for the base, crossed the railroad tracks just north of the entrance. The driver did not see the oncoming train. Train and bus collided, and 28 students died. 

On April 22, 1944, the Kingman Army Air Field was consolidated and redesignated the Army Air Force Unit 3018. Each of the units on the base became subdivisions of the 3018^th. On June 15 Col. Donald P. Philips became the new base commander. During 1944 the 3018^th was one of the top training schools in the United States.

The war ended on both fronts in 1945. With peace in the world, there was no further need for a gunnery school. Or for the airplanes that carried the guns. The year saw the base gradually wind down to a stop.

Command of the base change again to Col. Walter L. Wheeler, who became commander on April 1, 1945. Kingman Army Air Field was temporarily inactivated on June 30. Col. Lance Call became the base commander to supervise the deactivation. In the last quarter of 1945, the base designation changed again, becoming the 4184^th. Base commander changed twice more to Lt. Col. James L. Meadows and John J. Ratigan. At midnight, February 25, 1946, the gunnery training base became history.

On February 26, the training base became Storage Depot 41.

“Storage Depot” was a misnomer. The intent was to render thousands of airplanes down to aluminum ingots. Kingman was one of five sites chosen for the task. Never mind they were created for the purpose of mass destruction, those airplanes represented some the finest and most complex examples of mechanical art ever produced by the human race up to that time. In addition to the B-17s, other airplanes brought into the base includes B-24s, P-38s, B-26s, and A-26s. The job was finished by the first quarter of 1948. Seventy million pounds of aluminum from 7000 airplanes were shipped out of Kingman.

A relatively few of the airplanes escaped by destruction, and some are still flying today. Others rest in museums to be viewed by people who do not remember, or who do not understand the meaning of what they are seeing. 

In July 1948, the military released the base for civilian use, and it became the property of Mohave County. In 1979, Mohave County Airport Authority was formed. This later became the Kingman Airport Authority, the entity which currently controls the field now known as the Kingman Airport and Industrial Park. 

A National Emergency gave birth to a grand adventure. Peacetime brought the adventure to an abrupt end. To the people who were there and participated in the adventure, it was an unforgettable experience. Writers of history books may grant it a line or two of text…. Or may not. But there is a group of people in and around Kingman who refuse to let the memories die. The result of their unflagging efforts in the annual Kingman Army Air Field Reunion.

Copyright 1990-2018

email  kingmanaafsd41@gmail.com

Kingman Army Airfield Auto and Air Show

 Here is another version of the previous piece, this time is in the Kingman Army Airfield  Auto and Air Show booklet... some very minor changes, mainly the last two paragraphs combined.  This is the first year as an airshow... in 1996....

Airfield History…

Kingman Army Air Field

In the course of human progress it seems an almost universal rule that, whenever someone states a need, someone comes along to fill it. In 1934, with the clouds of war building in Europe and threatening to drift westward, the Army Air Force stated a need for a heavy bomber. Boeing Aircraft Company of Seattle obliged with its Project 299. After putting the prototype through its paces in 1935, the Army ordered a fleet of the aircraft, now dubbed the B-17, and popularly known as the Flying Fortress. And a fortress it was. It bristled with armament fore and aft, port and starboard, above and below.

Now the need was to recruit gunners and find a place to train them in the use of the weapons aboard the Fortress. Each gunner would be required to become proficient in all positions.

In 1941, Major John C. Horton of the West Coast Flying Training Command Headquarters at Moffett Field, Ca., took a trip to Kingman, Az., and found it the perfect location. The land was fairly level, the population was sparse, and the land was available at a fair price. 

Now the pace quickened, for on December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. War was declared against Japanese Empire, and shortly afterward, against Germany. The B-17, along with the rest of the family of warplanes, was needed immediately on both fronts.

During construction of the base, there were a few problems among the workers. Food delivery was slow. Cafeterias were hurriedly built to feed the hands. There was also a housing problem. 

Eventually, the ease of the emergency construction of new units. Some of the construction workers began agitating for Union representation. This problem was solved by drafting the agitators.

Davis Dam was being built during this time. Work on the dam was temporarily suspended, and the construction crews were sent to Kingman to help with the new base.

They worked fast in those days. On August 4, 1942, under the command of Lt. Col. Harvey P. Huglin, the Army Air Force Flexible Gunnery School was officially declared open for business only a couple of months after the project started. 

But before the business of the base could be conducted, the operation had to be organized. This was the job of 460^th Base Headquarters Squadron which moved on December 1, 1942. Shortly afterward, a new base commander was assigned this was Col. George E. Henry, who reported on duty December 10.

Now came the first wave of people for whom the base was built, the 1120^th, 1121^st, 1122^nd, and 1123^rd Flexible Gunnery Training Squadrons. Also taking up residence at this time was the all black 334^th Aviation Squadron, and the 1100^th Guard Squadron—otherwise known as the Military Police.

The new gunners were put to work immediately, but not in airplanes. The first part of their training was to assure their familiarity with weaponry of any kind. They were introduced to the BB guns Range. Here they used devices similar to the armament in the aircraft except their weapons fired only BBs. Once proficient with their BB guns, they graduated to shotguns (possibly to grow accustomed to the recoil). On completion of their preliminary training, the gunners were finally allowed to enter the B-17 and fire the actual weapons for which they had volunteered. This method of training paid dividends, for later on, in competition with other gunnery schools, the Kingman School often took top honors.

Morale was always an issue among a large group of young men miles from home, many for the first time, and no place to go with their weekend passes but the tiny desert town of Kingman. Enter Bob Hope, et. al. to the rescue. Other big-name entertainers came to the base, such as the Three Stooges with their zany tomfoolery and Kay Kaiser with his orchestra and his fun and games. The USO organized other shows to help keep the people happy and willing to work all out for the war effort.

Bugs Bunny was there, too. With sanction from Warner Brothers, Bugs was adopted as the official base mascot The poster of Bugs with a fierce countenance and armed to the teeth for war, was displayed in a most prominent location on the base.

On May 7, 1943, the facility was officially named the Kingman Army Air Field. The base continued to grow and change during 1943. Many new squadrons were added to the base some of the existing ones were combined. The 1120^th and the 329^th merged with 328^th to become the 328^th Flexible Gunnery Training Group. The 1122^nd, 537^th and 538^th were consolidated to form the 1123^rd Flexible Gunnery Training Group. The 536^th and the 760^th Flexible Gunnery Training Group were added to the list. Also assigned to the B-17 flight groups was the 31^st Altitude Squadron, training for operation at high altitudes.

Serving to augment the training groups were 1012^th Quartermaster Platoon, the 684^th Army Band, the 1^st Weather, Detachment 25 of the 858^th Signal Service Company, Detachment 14 of the 909 Quartermasters and the 2053^rd Ordnance Company. In 1943 a detachment of Chinese gunners was sent to Kingman for training.

There were aircraft other than the B-17 assigned to the base. The AT-6, AT-11, and the AT-23 were used for flight training and target towing. The BT-18 was used for flight training.

As often happens in massive programs employing large numbers of people and machinery working to the limit of their endurance, sudden tragedies will strike. The Kingman training school was no exception. On January 2, 1944, a B-17 flying near McClellan Field, Ca disintegrated in bad weather. Of the thirteen men killed in the resulting crash, eleven were from Kingman. Four days later, on January 6, a bus loaded with gunnery students bound for the base, crossed the railroad tracks just north of the entrance. The driver did not see the oncoming train. Train and bus collided, and 28 students died. 

On April 22, 1944, the Kingman Army Air Field was consolidated and redesignated the Army Air Force Unit 3018. Each of the units on the base became subdivisions of the 3018^th. On June 15 Col. Donald P. Philips became the new base commander. During 1944 the 3018^th was one of the top training schools in the United States.

The war ended on both fronts in 1945. With peace in the world, there was no further need for a gunnery school. Or for the airplanes that carried the guns. The year saw the base gradually wind down to a stop.

Command of the base change again to Col. Walter L. Wheeler, who became commander on April 1, 1945. Kingman Army Air Field was temporarily inactivated on June 30. Col. Lance Call became the base commander to supervise the deactivation. In the last quarter of 1945, the base designation changed again, becoming the 4184^th. Base commander changed twice more to Lt. Col. James L. Meadows and John J. Ratigan. At midnight, February 25, 1946, the gunnery training base became history.

On February 26, the training base became Storage Depot 41.

“Storage Depot” was a misnomer. The intent was to render thousands of airplanes down to aluminum ingots. Kingman was one of five sites chosen for the task. Never mind they were created for the purpose of mass destruction, those airplanes represented some the finest and most complex examples of mechanical art ever produced by the human race up to that time. In addition to the B-17s, other airplanes brought into the base includes B-24s, P-38s, B-26s, and A-26s. The job was finished by the first quarter of 1948. Seventy million pounds of aluminum from 7000 airplanes were shipped out of Kingman.

A relatively few of the airplanes escaped by destruction, and some are still flying today. Others rest in museums to be viewed by people who do not remember, or who do not understand the meaning of what they are seeing. 

In July 1948, the military released the base for civilian use, and it became the property of Mohave County. In 1979, Mohave County Airport Authority was formed. This later became the Kingman Airport Authority, the entity which currently controls the field now known as the Kingman Airport and Industrial Park. 

A National Emergency gave birth to a grand adventure. Peacetime brought the adventure to an abrupt end. To the people who were there and participated in the adventure, it was an unforgettable experience. Writers of history books may grant it a line or two of text…. Or may not. But there is a group of people in and around Kingman who refuse to let the memories die. The result of their unflagging efforts in the annual Kingman Army Air Field Reunion.

Copyright 1990-2018

email  kingmanaafsd41@gmail.com