Their efforts started in late 1941, with several visits by key city officials in Washington to talk with different agencies of the War Department.

By Thanksgiving 1941, the Chamber of Commerce and the Airport Committee, received a commitment from the War Department for a site engineer to consider Coffeyville.

The site was located seven miles north-east of Coffeyville, on a 1,456-acre tract of land which had been purchased by the United States government.

Construction, which was accomplished by contract under the supervision of the U. S. District Engineers, Tulsa, Oklahoma, commenced on 1 June 1942.

It had really started before when the county began to improve the road network around the new base to handle the increased truck traffic hauling construction material to the site.

Some men were living under a baseball stadium at Forest Park, a recreation area in the city of Coffeyville.

Due to a problem with the natural gas service, the first meal served at the base was barbecued wieners, instead of the originally planned roast beef.

The post refrigeration units were not complete, meats and other perishables were stored in the Coffeyville Ice and Cold Storage company until facilities at the field were ready.

Additionally, much remained to be built, i.e., taxiways, fencing, a crash station, a cadet operations building, some streets, and a civilian mess hall, etc.

The new base was placed under the jurisdiction of the 32d Flying Training Wing (Basic), Perrin Army Airfield, Texas.

These were followed before the end of the year by medical and veterinary detachments and by the 23d Airways Communications Squadron The first large number of base support personnel, about 600 men, came to the field by train, arriving on 18 September Coming for the most part from Enid Army Airfield, Oklahoma.

From 6 August 1943 until 31 May 1944 the flying training unit at the field was known as Army Air Forces Pilot School (Basic).

The training of cadets at Coffeyville actually began on 14 November 1942 with Class 43-C with 137 members from primary flying schools at Hatbox Field, Muskogee, Oklahoma.

To make matters more interesting, the sub-depot supply warehouses weren't finished, so parts were kept, and the sub depot operated in the City of Coffeyville at the Ford dealership.

To help with instrument training fifteen Link Trainers were put into operation in mid-December 1942 with Class 43-C.

Usually cross-country flights took place between Coffeyville and Claremore, Oklahoma, and Neosho, Joplin, and Nevada, Missouri.

Flight training consisted of several subjects that included, takeoffs and landings, aerobatics, cross-country navigation, and night flying.

The city of Coffeyville allowed the cadets to use the high school swimming pool, and reserved it for their use during part of the day.

The last basic flight training class, 44-G, held their graduation dance in Coffeyville's Memorial Auditorium on 20 May 1944.

At this point in the war, there was no longer the need for the vast numbers of new pilots being produced by the many training fields, so Coffeyille received notice to close down.

From beginning to end, approximately 4,840 cadets and aviation students began the basic flying course, in 16 separate classes, at Coffeyville.

On 1 June 1944 Coffeyville Army Airfield was transferred to Third Air Force as pilot training was wound down.

Three months later the unit was redesignated the Coffeyville Combat Crew Training Station (Photo Reconnaissance), with some emphasis being placed upon the preparation of photo-reconnaissance pilots for overseas movement.

Operating at first on a 10-weeks' schedule, the students divided their time, roughly in the ratio of one to four, between ground school studies and flying training.

Commencing in January 1945 the students were required to complete four weeks of special instrument training before taking up their photo reconnaissance work.

Because of limited facilities during the summer of 1945, some classes which had completed the instrument training course at Coffeyville were shipped to Will Rogers Army Airfield, Oklahoma, for the photo-reconnaissance work.

During the 12-months' period ending on 4 June 1945 over 460 photo reconnaissance pilots completed all their training requirements at Coffeyville, and were shipped to staging areas for processing and assignment to overseas shipments.

Early in the post-war period Coffeyville Army Air Field was earmarked for eventual inactivation.

Finally on 21 July 1947, the War Assets Administration made a formal presentation of the deed to the City of Coffeyville.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency