[1] The airport is named for Mayor Harry L. Curtis of Brady, who proposed the site as an auxiliary field for the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).

[2] The FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2009–2013 calls it a general aviation facility.

On January 1, 1942, the facility was taken over by the United States Army Air Forces and was used during World War II as a primary (stage 1) pilot training airfield.

Facilities at the 354-acre field included a headquarters building and annex, a ground school, an infirmary, mess hall, three barracks, and four hangars.

It is notable that enlisted sergeant pilots received their primary flight training at Curtis Field in early 1942.