The main airfield of Dalhart Army Air Base was 3.4 miles southwest of the city, so it was located in Hartley County.

In the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Dalhart Texan newspaper began asking its readers what they could do to support America's war effort.

Three prominent men in Dalhart, Herman Steele, manager of the Dalhart Chamber of Commerce, along with Mayor Herbert Peeples and Elmer Elliot, manager of the DeSoto Hotel announced plans to petition the Army Air Corps to build a training base near the town.

Four large hangars along with support buildings, barracks a street network, electric, sewer and water lines were constructed.

On 1 July 1942, the still uncompleted airfield was assigned to the Central Flying Training Command, being under the jurisdiction of the Army Air Forces Glider School.

[1] Glider training was performed by the 14th Troop Carrier Squadron, which arrived on 9 October 1942 with C-47 Skytrains being used for tow planes.

[1][2] In February 1943, Dalhart was transferred to Second Air Force, which placed the base under the jurisdiction of II Bomber Command.

The new mission of the base was to be B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator Heavy Bomber aircrew replacement training.

[1][2] In March 1944, the mission of Dalhart was again changed to B-29 Superfortress training as crews were needed in the Pacific Theater for the strategic bombardment of Japan.

The 393d was the first and only squadron to fly missions with Atomic Bombs and attack Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan in August 1945.

The 347th Fighter Group began training P-38 Lightning pilots from the field in August for long-range escort missions of B-29s in the Pacific.

[2][5] Closed at the end of 1945, eventually the buildings were sold, although title remained with the Army and later United States Air Force.

Its history is similar to Hartley Field, being an auxiliary glider airfield in 1942, and used by the 415th Bombardment Group 521st Fighter-Bomber Squadron.

Miller Field Airport had one 6,500-foot runway (17/35) along with a fixed-base operator providing fuel and general aviation repairs.

[6] During the 1980s Miller Field was used by drug smugglers who flew cocaine out of Mexico in general aviation aircraft.

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