The War Department immediately opened ground schools at eight colleges and established twenty-seven flying fields to train pilots.

He immediately ordered flight training to begin on 17 July, at which point Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" trainers began flying from dawn until dusk.

[6] Chanute Field was an Air Service primary flying school, offering an eight-week course to new aviation cadets.

Hundreds of small flying fields closed, forcing consolidation of supply and aviation repair depots.

In November 1918, the first talk of base closure occurred and in August 1919, the recommendation was made in Washington to close Chanute Field.

By the following year the headquarters building, hospital, warehouses, barracks, officers' quarters, test cells, a fire station, and a 300,000 gallon water tower were all finished.

The total expenditure amounted to $13.8 million with most of it being funded by President Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration (WPA).

Two additional hangars, theaters, numerous barracks and family housing units, a gymnasium, and a network of concrete runways were also added.

To rectify this problem, the Air Corps established the Technical Training Command on 26 March 1941, headquartered at Chanute Field.

[10] With Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, citizens flocked to Chanute Field in large numbers to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Forces.

The technical training mission remained; however, a massive influx of new recruits and volunteers led to a critical housing shortage.

The new 15,000-man quarters built during Chanute's "Great Renaissance" proved insufficient to accommodate the large influx of new personnel.

To help provide recreational opportunities for the large number of students at Chanute, local organizations such as the St. Malachy Catholic Church and Masonic Lodge opened servicemen's centers.

Formed without pilots with the purpose of training the officer corps and ground support personnel, the 99th Pursuit Squadron was the first unit of what popularly became known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

Over 250 enlisted men were trained at Chanute in aircraft ground support trades such as airplane mechanics, supply clerks, armorers, and weather forecasters.

At this time, Chanute was also undergoing a major technological shift with the introduction and adoption of jet engines and the required technical curricula to support them.

This unit, which eventually grew to over 170 detachments, was to become the nucleus of a new field training program at Air Force Bases worldwide.

[10] The North Korean invasion of South Korea on 25 June 1950 soon affected the training workload at Chanute Field.

In September 1970, ATC transferred Chanute's Minuteman missile launch officer course to Vandenberg AFB, California.

Due to the cessation of aircraft support requirements for Chanute's training mission, the Air Force closed the base's remaining active runway in 1971.

With the introduction of modular F-100 engines used in the F-15 and F-16 aircraft, new Chanute training courses emerged to keep abreast of the changing equipment students would encounter in the field.

Chanute's continuing drive to enhance technical training resulted in the consolidation of the Aircraft Environmental/Pneudraulics and Electrical Systems Division on July 1, 1985.

The end of the Cold War and the reduced threat of future conflicts prompted the government to downsize the armed forces.

In October 2023, U.S. Air Force representatives joined Village of Rantoul leaders and residents, and other state and federal officials to celebrate 106 years of partnership, support and friendship during a ceremony marking the complete transfer of the former Chanute Air Force Base back to the community.

[19] In every odd-numbered year the base hosts the Half Century of Progress, the largest working antique tractor show in the world.

On October 25, 2023, the Department of the Air Force handed over control of the final buildings and properties to the Village of Rantoul, IL.

Chanute has been designated an EPA Superfund site, citing areas of contamination with volatile organic compounds, SVOCs, dioxins and furans, pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls, and metals detected in the soil and/or ground water/leachate.

[23][24] This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency