Army Air Fields (WWII) · from 1941

Carswell Air Force Base

United States Air Force base in Texas.

History

Carswell Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) base, located northwest of Fort Worth, Texas. For most of its operational lifetime, the base's mission was to train and support heavy strategic bombing groups and wings.

Carswell was a major Strategic Air Command (SAC) base during the Cold War. It was the headquarters of several SAC intercontinental bombardment wings, equipped with the latest heavy bombers from B-29 Superfortresses; B-36 Peacemakers and B-52 Stratofortresses. The west side of the airfield is home to United States Air Force Plant 4, a 602-acre (2.44 km2) industrial complex occupied over the decades by Convair, General Dynamics, and now by Lockheed Martin. The bulk of the Air Force Convair B-36, B-58 Hustler, General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark, EF-111 Raven and F-16 Fighting Falcon fleets were built there. The F-35 Lightning II aircraft for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and various NATO and Allied partner nations is currently built there.

With the end of the Cold War and the subsequent downsizing of the American military, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission of 1991 recommended that Carswell AFB be closed by 1994. In lieu of outright closure, the majority of the installation was transferred to the U.S. Navy for use as a naval air station to replace the nearby Naval Air Station Dallas that was also being closed due to BRAC action.

Today, the facility is known as Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth / Carswell Field. It retains an Air Force Reserve Command presence from its previous status as an air force base that includes the headquarters for an Air Force Reserve numbered air force and a tenant Air Force Reserve fighter wing. The installation also hosts tenant Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Army Reserve and Texas Air National Guard flying units which were formerly located at Naval Air Station Dallas. On the base's grounds is the Federal Medical Center, Carswell, the only federal medical center the Bureau of Prisons operates solely for women.

Text from Wikipedia: Carswell Air Force Base, CC BY-SA 4.0, lightly trimmed.

Key dates

1944
Major Carswell was returning from an attack on Japanese shipping in the South China Sea on 26 October 1944.
1946
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.
1947
By 1947 the initial production version B-36A was ready and in June 1948 the first Convair B-36A Peacemaker was delivered.
1951
On 16 February 1951 the 11th Bombardment Wing was activated and the group was assigned to it.
1955
On 13 June 1955, the Strategic Air Command realigned its three numbered air forces resulting in Headquarters, 8 AF moving from Carswell to Westover AFB, Massachusetts.
1958
As a result, SAC activated the 7th Air Refueling Squadron at Carswell on 1 April 1958 and assigned it to the wing.
1960
On 1 August 1960, the USAF finally formally assumed B-58 operations responsibility and began testing. 59-2436, the first fully operational Hustler equipped with all tactical systems, was delivered to the 43rd.
1972
Beginning in 1972, the 301st Fighter Wing (under various designations) has trained at Carswell as an Air Force Reserve Command unit, training for tactical air missions, including counter-air, interdiction, and close air support.
1993
On 1 October 1993, the Air Force Reserve's 301st Fighter Wing assumed base responsibilities, establishing Carswell as Carswell Air Reserve Station.

Dates and events quoted from the same Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Records that place someone at this base

A base history doesn't name everyone who served. These records do:

More history

Did a relative serve at Carswell Air Force Base? Our free search checks 15 public sources and shows which records match, with links to the pages.