The military use of Tallahassee Dale Mabry Field began in 1938 when the United States Army Air Corps established a contract flying school at the airport.

Senator Claude Pepper and Florida Governor Spessard Holland influenced the Army to make Dale Mabry Field a United States Army Air Force airfield as part of the buildup of the military prior to the United States entry into World War II.

In October 1940 military activity began with the construction of a railroad siding and drainage improvements to overcome the swamp conditions at the site.

In addition, several sub-bases and auxiliary airfields were assigned: The base became a nearly self-sufficient city, with several runways, barracks, officers’ quarters, mess hall, hangars, a hospital, a church and a bowling alley.

Students at Dale Mabry also used a gunnery base at Alligator Point and a bombing range at Sopchoppy on the Gulf for their training needs.

The 58th Fighter Group, which had arrived in March 1942, was the first Operational Training Unit (OTU) permanently assigned to Dale Mabry AAF.

However Dale Mabry was unable to support the large number of aircraft and in September 1942, the 305th Fighter Squadron was reassigned to Sarasota Army Airfield to be a training unit while remaining under the control of the 338th FG.

On 13 June 1943, the 307th and 441st Fighter Squadrons were transferred to the Perry Army Airfield sub-base of Dale Mabry to conduct training, while remaining under the control of Group Headquarters.

Several bases in Florida, including Dale Mabry, served as detention centers for German prisoners-of-war (POWs) in the latter part of 1944 and 1945.

In addition Air Materiel Command established a maintenance sub-depot to maintain the training aircraft assigned to the base.

Over a dozen pilots died in accidents while learning how to fire at targets such as a giant, plywood “bull’s eye” at Alligator Point to the south.

A special crew dispatched by The 325th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight out of Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida determined that the course of action was to detonate the bomb in place to neutralize it and did so safely.