Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth includes Carswell Field, a military airbase located west of the central business district of Fort Worth, in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. This military airfield is operated by the United States Navy Reserve. It is located in the cities of Fort Worth, Westworth Village, and White Settlement in the western part of the Fort Worth urban area.
NAS Fort Worth JRB is the successor to the former Naval Air Station Dallas and incorporates other Reserve commands and activities, primarily those of the Air Force Reserve, that were present on site when the installation was known as Carswell Air Force Base, a former Strategic Air Command facility later transferred to the Air Combat Command.
Several United States Navy headquarters and operational units are based at NAS Fort Worth JRB, including Naval Air Reserve air wings and aviation squadrons, intelligence commands and Seabees.
The Air Force Reserve Command's Tenth Air Force headquarters and the 301st Fighter Wing and its flying squadron the 457th Fighter Squadron continue to be based at the installation. The Wing is currently converting to the F-35 Lightning II after operating the F-16 for 32 years. The 136th Airlift Wing of the Texas Air National Guard and its flying component, the 181st Airlift Squadron, fly new stretch versions of the C-130J airlifter. MAG-41, a Marine Aircraft Group, with VMFA-112, VMGR-234, VMR-1, and various ground units are also located at NAS Fort Worth JRB. VR-59 flies the C-40A personnel and cargo transport.
Aircraft types initially based at NAS Fort Worth JRB were the F-14 Tomcat, F/A-18 Hornet, C-9B Skytrain II, C-130 Hercules and KC-130 Hercules that relocated from the former NAS Dallas, joining extant F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft that were previously located at the installation while it was known as Carswell Air Force Base and later as Carswell Air Reserve Station.
Currently based aircraft are Navy C-40 Clipper transports of the Naval Air Reserve, Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters of the Air Force Reserve Command, C-130 Hercules airlift aircraft of the Texas Air National Guard, Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters and KC-130 Hercules aerial refueling and transport aircraft of the Marine Corps Reserve. The U.S. Army Reserve also has D Co, 6/52AVN flying UC-35 and C-12 aircraft on VIP transportation duties.
Origins
Carswell Air Force Base was named after Medal of Honor recipient Major Horace S. Carswell, Jr., USAAF. Major Carswell was returning from an attack on Japanese shipping in the South China Sea on 26 October 1944 when he attempted to save a crewmember whose parachute had been destroyed by flak. He remained at the controls of his crippled bomber and died while crash-landing the B-24 Liberator near Tungchen, China. The base was renamed in his honor on 29 January 1948.Carswell's origins date back to the early years of aviation. After the United States' entry into World War I in April 1917, General John J. "Blackjack" Pershing invited the British Royal Flying Corps to establish training fields in the southern United States where the warmer weather would be more conducive for flying year-round. In June, the War Department inspected 6 sites around Fort Worth, Texas which had been offered by the Chamber of Commerce. In August the War Department signed leases with the RFC on 3 sites around Fort Worth. Knows as the Flying Triangle, these sites were Hicks Field, Barron Field, and Benbrook Field based on their locations. In April 1918 these airfield were turned over to the Air Service, United States Army as training fields for American pilots. Hundreds of pilots learned their basic and primary flying skills at these airfields in the Fort Worth area during the war. They were closed in 1919 when the war ended.
In 1940 the City of Fort Worth had filed an application with the Civil Aeronautics Administration, asking for a primary pilot training airfield for the Army Air Corps. In May, General Jacob E. Fickel visited Fort Worth on an inspection visit. Fickel had learned to fly at Carruthers Field in 1918. At the same time, the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce was trying to convince aircraft manufacturers to build an aircraft assembly plant in the area. Consolidated Aircraft, wanting to build in the area, suggested to the Air Corps that they jointly build an airfield adjacent to the heavy bomber plant they wanted to build in Fort Worth. On 16 June 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved $1.75 million to construct an airfield next to the Consolidated manufacturing plant. The Army wanted to have the airfield ready quickly before the plant was put into production and construction of the Lake Worth Bomber Plant Airport began almost immediately.
World War II
The Army changed its plans after the attack on Pearl Harbor; instead of being an operational base, Tarrant Field, as the facility was called, became a heavy-bomber training school. The first unit assigned to the base was the Army Air Forces Training Command Combat Crew School on 1 July 1942. At the same time, the Consolidated plant began assembly of B-24D Liberator aircraft in May, with the first aircraft being assigned to the school in August. On 29 July, the base was again renamed, this time as Fort Worth Army Air Field.The Army Air Forces Combat Crew School took graduates of Training Command's advanced-pilot training schools and experienced 2-engine pilots, and, trained them on flying the B-24 Liberator. The school was officially opened on 12 October 1942 and was under the jurisdiction of the 34th Flying Training Wing at San Angelo Army Air Field, Texas. The school was initially equipped with B-24Ds that were assembled across the runway at Consolidated; later it was upgraded to B-24Es that were manufactured at Consolidated's Willow Run Plant in Michigan, then flown to the Fort Worth plant for final modifications.
During training, nine-member crews were assigned to each plane, and the crews ate, slept and trained together 24-hours a day. This allowed the crew to learn both the technical skills needed for aircraft operation as well as the other crew members' minds and reactions. Each day they trained five hours in the air and five hours on the ground. Each class lasted four and one-half weeks. Training officials added a Bomb Approach School in October 1943, which incorporated teamwork between a pilot and bombardier. In addition, the 9000th WAC Company of the Women's Army Corps was used in the control tower as well as in the communications office of the base.
In late 1944, the B-24 training was phased out at Fort Worth AAF, being replaced with a B-32 Dominator Flight Crew Conversion Training School. Training Command instructor pilots were flown to the Consolidated manufacturing plant in San Diego to learn about the Dominator, which was planned as a stablemate of the B-29 Superfortress; much like the B-17 Flying Fortress was teamed with the B-24 Liberator. The first B-32 arrived at Fort Worth in September 1944, however it was in the modification plant until January before it was released to the training school. By the end of 1944, only five production aircraft had been delivered by Consolidated; by comparison the B-29 had been flown in combat for nearly six months. The Army was quite unhappy about the Dominator and the production problems it was experiencing.
Eventually 40 TB-32 trainers were produced for the training program to get underway. Prospective B-32 pilots underwent 50 hours training in the TB-32s, and co-pilots received 25 hours of flight time and 25 hours of observer training. Ultimately, a shortage of equipment meant the B-32 training at Fort Worth was never fully realized, and, after V-J Day, officials eliminated the B-32 training program.
Strategic Air Command
In November 1945, jurisdiction of Fort Worth AAF was transferred to Second Air Force, which established its 17th Bombardment Operational Training Wing at the base, equipped with B-29A Superfortresses. The Air Force had decided to keep Fort Worth as a permanent airfield, and, in 1946, constructed an 8,200 ft north–south extra heavy-duty runway for future use.The number of completed B-32s at the Consolidated plant had reached 74 production aircraft, along with the TB-32 trainers, many of which were parked at the field. These were ordered flown from Fort Worth directly to storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and Kingman Fields, Arizona for disposal, and, the partially assembled B-32 aircraft in the plant were ordered scrapped in place.
Fort Worth Army Air Field was assigned to the newly formed Strategic Air Command in March 1946, and on 1 October 1946, the 7th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy was activated. With its activation, the 7th became part of the Fifteenth Air Force, headquartered at Colorado Springs, Colorado. Personnel and aircraft of the new group, consisting of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, were transferred to Fort Worth AAF from the 92nd Bombardment Group at Spokane AAF, Washington. On 1 November 1946, the Eighth Air Force moved its headquarters to Fort Worth AAF from MacDill Field, Florida.
With its B-29s, the group prepared its people for any combat eventuality that might arise, flying simulated bombing missions over various cities.
On 5 July 1947, a flight of eight B-29s of the 492nd Bomb Squadron deployed from Fort Worth AAF to Yokota AB, Japan. Shortly after this the detachment received orders to redeploy to Fort Worth AAF via Washington, D.C. The aircraft left Yokota AB on 2 August, flew over the Aleutian Islands, then into Anchorage, Alaska. From Anchorage the flight flew over Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, turned south and flew over Minnesota and Wisconsin. The bombers flew a low-level flight between The Pentagon and Washington Monument in the Capital on 3 August. Completing this aerial demonstration, they headed for Fort Worth, landing 31 hours after launch from Japan and covering 7,086 miles.
On 12 September, the group deployed 30 B-29s to Giebelstadt Army Airfield, near Würzburg, West Germany. This flight was the largest bomber formation flown from Fort Worth AAF overseas to date, landing in Germany on 13 September. During their ten-day stay, the group bombers participated in training operations over Europe, as well as a show-of-force display by the United States in the early part of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The flight redeployed from Germany on 23 September.