In 1917 the Army announced its intention of establishing a series of camps to train prospective pilots after the United States entry into World War I.

Only a few Air Service aircraft arrived from Waco; most of the Curtiss JN-4 Jennys to be used for flight training were shipped in wooden crates by railcar.

Junius Wallace Jones, who later rose to the rank of Major General and was the first Inspector-General of the United States Air Force received his flight training here.

Many local officials speculated that the U.S. government would keep the field open because of the outstanding combat record established by Carlstrom-trained pilots in Europe.

[2] Rapid demobilization followed the end of World War I, and despite the experience of that conflict, the Army's air arm remained quite small during most of the interwar period.

Carlstrom was ordered to phase down all activities at the base, and the flying training school was subsequently transferred to Brooks Field.

[2] With the need for primary pilot training brought on by World War II, Carlstrom re-opened in March 1941 under the operation of Riddle Aeronautical Institute.

In 2002, the G. Pierce Wood Memorial Hospital was closed; until 2011 the DeSoto County Juvenile Correctional Facility operated on the site.

The Oak Ridge Cemetery in Arcadia is the final resting-place of twenty-three RAF cadets who died while in the United States for training.

In 2014, the state of Florida sold the property to Power Auto Corporation, for the construction of a driver training facility and a hotel.