These Army airfields located in and around San Antonio, TX are treated alphabetically, below. Tucson was an important stopping point for Army flyers moving between San Antonio and the west coast.

BROOKS FIELD Brooks Field was founded on February 16, 1918. It had been a civil landing field before that. Brooks' Hangar 9, serving WWI-era fliers, is today a National Historic Landmark. although it is closed to the public

Sixty-seven Register military pilots cited Brooks Field as their home base (landing between 1925 and 1933); 3 pilots arrived at Tucson from Brooks (one in 1926; two in 1928); 26 identified it as their final destination (1926-1931). One of the pilots, James Flannery, logged his visit to Tucson in his pilot logbook, which you can view at his page.

Below, an aerial photograph of Brooks Field taken July 16, 1930, taken at noon from 1,000 feet. This image is shared with us courtesy of friend of dmairfield.org Tim Kalina.

Brooks Field, San Antonio, TX, July 16, 1930 (Source: Kalina)

There are 22 aircraft visible on the ramp and 13 visible between the 14 hangars aligned around the landing area. The Balloon and Airship School at Brooks Field began operating in 1919. The large building at center is an airship hangar.

Brooks Field, San Antonio, TX, July 16, 1930, Annotation (Source: Kalina)

The 20th Photo Section was based at Brooks in 1929; at Randolph Field in 1934. See their insignia, upper left. The insignia is part of a set of trading cards depicting U.S. Army Air Corps organization insignias offered by the Switzer's Licorice Company during the late 1930s. These 2" x 3" cards came on packages of Switzer's licorice cigarettes. See this link to view other interesting insignia from the era on Switzer's cards.

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DUNCAN FIELD (Incomplete) Duncan Field served as an aircraft repair depot and was an annex to Kelly Field (below). It was founded at the end of WWI and named after Major Thomas Duncan, killed in an air accident near Washington, DC in 1923.

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KELLY FIELD (Incomplete) Kelly Field had its origins in 1916 when Register pilot, then major, Benjamin Foulois was ordered to select a site for a new aviation field. It was named for George E.M. Kelly who died in an air crash on May 1, 1911. One hundred and seventy Register military pilots cited Kelly Field as their home base (landing between 1925 and 1933). Four pilots arrived at Tucson from Kelly; 61 cited it as their final destination. Below, courtesy of the San Diego Aerospace Museum Flickr Stream (SDAM), is a photograph of Kelly Field taken in 1926.

Kelly Field, San Antonio, TX, 1926 (Source: SDAM)

A 3-page history of Kelly Field written in 1958 is at the link. The history covers the period 1917 to 1958. A significant finding relevant to the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register is that, "... from July 7, 1922 through December 30, 1949, 3,945 pilots were graduated, making Kelly Field the Alma Mater of most of the fliers trained prior to World War II." Chances are good, therefore, that any Army pilots signed in the Register received their training at San Antonio, Kelly Field. The history is courtesy of the Benton Remmers "Lucky" Baldwin Photograph and Document Collection.

Another SDAM photograph from 1921 demonstrates an all-to-common incident facing pilots, a bird strike. The body of the large bird, a buzzard in this case, penetrated the leading edge of the upper starboard wing of the biplane.

Kelly Field, 1921, Bird Strike (Source: SDAM)

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RANDOLPH FIELD (Incomplete) Randolph Field, located about 15 miles northeast of San Antonio near Shertz, TX, was dedicated June 20, 1930. Forty-four Register signers identified Randolph Field as their home base; five arrived at Tucson from Randolph; 40 identified Randolph as their final destination. Please direct your browser to the link for additional information about Randolph Field.

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Dossier 1.2

UPLOADED: 12/13/08 REVISED: 12/05/14, 12/26/22