User:Jmbranum/Ardmore Air Force Base

Ardmore Army Air Field (later Ardmore Air Force base) was a military installation named after the nearby city of Ardmore, Oklahoma but actually located closer to the town of Gene Autry, Oklahoma. It operated as a military post during two eras: 1942–1946 and 1953–1958. Today it is the site of the Ardmore Municipal Airport.

World War 2 Era
First established as the Ardmore Army Air Field in 1942, the post was established to train airmen for service in World War 2.

Initially the post served to train glider pilots but later trained combat crews to fly the Martin B-26 Marauder and the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Later in the war, the post was also used to house German prisoners of war from June 1-November 1, 1945.

The post was first operated as part of the Second Air Force but was later transferred to the Third Air Force on April 12, 1943, This was followed by a designation of the post as a sub-field of Will Rogers Air Force Base in June 1943 and then a later transfer of the post back to being part of the Second Air Force in August 1943.

Cold War Era
The base was decommissioned in 1946 and used by American Airlines as a training facility until 1953 when the post was reactivated, this time "Ardmore Air Force Base." Units stationed at the post during some or all of this era included the:


 * 463d Airlift Group.
 * 463rd Troop Carrier Wing (Medium)
 * 16th Troop Carrier Squadron (Assault Fixed Wing) – (October 17, 1954 to July 8, 1955)
 * 309th Troop Carrier Group (Assault Fixed Wing) – (July 8, 1955–?)
 * 456th Troop Carrier Group
 * 419th Troop Carrier Group of the 18th Air Force – (July 7, 1956-Sept. 1958)

The first C-130A Hercules put into active USAF service was at Ardmore Air Force Base, when plane number 55-023 (named the "City of Ardmore") first went into service as part of the 463rd Troop Carrier Wing on December 9, 1956 and later saw action in deployments to Europe, Africa, Japan, Okinawa and Vietnam (where the plane was nearly destroyed) before finally being decommissioned and placed on static display at Linear Park at Dyess AFB in Abilene, Texas in 1989.

Ardmore Air Force Based was closed in 1958. after which it became the Ardmore Municipal Airport.

Legacy
Today, the Department of Defense reports that there are five "medium risk" hazard sites at the former military installation.