The field became inactive in late 1945 and the property reverted to the city of Laredo, which used it as a municipal airport until 1950. That year, the base was reactivated and renamed Laredo Air Force Base in April 1952 to provide intermediate and advanced flight training for jet pilots, including pilot trainees from 24 countries. In the early 1960s, the Air Training Command transitioned to the Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) concept, where student pilots would take all flight training from basic through advanced at a single base.
The initial host unit stationed at Laredo AFB was the 3640th Pilot Training Wing, later superseded by the 38th Flying Training Wing (38 FTW), initially operating the T-33 in the 1950s and transitioning to the T-41, T-37 and T-38 aircraft in the 1960s. As the Vietnam War began to scale down in the early 1970s, the Air Force recognized that defense budgets and pilot training requirements would be reduced. As a result, several UPT bases were identified for closure, including Laredo AFB and Webb AFB in Texas and Craig AFB in Alabama. In December 1973, the 38 FTW was transferred without personnel or equipment to Moody AFB, Georgia where it absorbed the resources and personnel of the 3350th Flying Training Wing. With the 38 FTW's departure, Laredo AFB was closed and turned over to the City of Laredo. Today the facility is known as Laredo International Airport.
Referencesedit
April 12, 2024
laredo, force, base, since, deactivated, undergraduate, pilot, training, installation, training, command, laredo, texas, facility, originally, established, laredo, army, field, world, army, force, facility, that, began, operations, november, 1942, primarily, a. Laredo Air Force Base is a since deactivated Undergraduate Pilot Training UPT installation of the Air Training Command ATC in Laredo Texas The facility was originally established as Laredo Army Air Field a World War II U S Army Air Force facility that began operations in November 1942 primarily as an aerial gunnery school with an associated gunnery range Laredo Air Force BaseIATA LRDICAO KLRDSummaryAirport typeMilitaryOperatorU S Air ForceLocationLaredo TexasElevation AMSL508 ft 155 mCoordinates27 32 37 N 99 27 41 W 27 54361 N 99 46139 W 27 54361 99 46139RunwaysDirection Length Surfaceft m14 32 5 928 1 807 Concrete17L 35R 8 236 2 510 Concrete17R 35L 7 830 2 387 AsphaltService members of WASP on the flight line at Laredo Army Air Field Texas 22 January 1944 The field became inactive in late 1945 and the property reverted to the city of Laredo which used it as a municipal airport until 1950 That year the base was reactivated and renamed Laredo Air Force Base in April 1952 to provide intermediate and advanced flight training for jet pilots including pilot trainees from 24 countries In the early 1960s the Air Training Command transitioned to the Undergraduate Pilot Training UPT concept where student pilots would take all flight training from basic through advanced at a single base The initial host unit stationed at Laredo AFB was the 3640th Pilot Training Wing later superseded by the 38th Flying Training Wing 38 FTW initially operating the T 33 in the 1950s and transitioning to the T 41 T 37 and T 38 aircraft in the 1960s As the Vietnam War began to scale down in the early 1970s the Air Force recognized that defense budgets and pilot training requirements would be reduced As a result several UPT bases were identified for closure including Laredo AFB and Webb AFB in Texas and Craig AFB in Alabama In December 1973 the 38 FTW was transferred without personnel or equipment to Moody AFB Georgia where it absorbed the resources and personnel of the 3350th Flying Training Wing With the 38 FTW s departure Laredo AFB was closed and turned over to the City of Laredo Today the facility is known as Laredo International Airport References edit Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Laredo Air Force Base amp oldid 1133812377, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
