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296:. An Army survey crew was sent to Southwest Florida looking for suitable sites to build airfields, one selected was a site about 6 miles to the southeast of Arcadia, Florida. An agreement to lease the land for the Army was concluded, and the construction of some 90 buildings began in January 1918. It covered over 700 acres (2.8 km) which included fourteen hangars that housed four to eight planes each, a hospital, and six barracks that held 175 men each. Dozens of wooden buildings served as headquarters, maintenance, and officers’ quarters. Enlisted men had to bivouac in tents.
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pointed to the optimal weather conditions in the
Southwest Florida area for flight training. Cadets in flight training on 11 November 1918 were allowed to complete their training, however no new cadets were assigned to the base. Also the separate training squadrons were consolidated into a single Flying School detachment, as many of the personnel assigned were being demobilized.
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along
Highway 31 upon which the wooden hangars stood, and across the highway, on private property, is a concrete full-scale outline of a World War I biplane that is approximately one foot tall. It was used for target practice by filling it up with water and cadets would shoot at it from the air and be able to see "hits" when their bullets struck the water.
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cadets concurrently at such widely separated locations in Texas, California and
Florida prompted a decision in 1923 to centralize all flying training in San Antonio, Texas. Carlstrom was ordered to phase down all activities at the base, and the flying training school was subsequently transferred to Brooks Field.
443:. The 53d Flying Training Detachment was activated under then Brigadier-General Junius Wallace Jones, who learned to fly at Carlstrom. The 53d FTD exercised Air Corps oversight of Embry-Riddle. A new facility was built adjacent to the remains of World War I-era facilities and Riddle contracted to train
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With the sudden end of World War I in
November 1918, the future operational status of Carlstrom Field was unknown. Many local officials speculated that the U.S. government would keep the field open because of the outstanding combat record established by Carlstrom-trained pilots in Europe. Locals also
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Six hangars were constructed at
Carlstrom Field. The two built first survive today. Also still standing are the mess hall, band shell, canteen, administration building, water and sewage plants, and two training buildings. All that remains from World War I version of Carlstrom Field are concrete pads
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Closed after the war, Carlstrom Field became the site of the G. Pierce Wood
Memorial Hospital, a psychiatric hospital, in 1947. Many of World War II era buildings remained in use by the hospital, with former six-plane hangars serving as maintenance buildings. The band shell, site of dances and other
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In addition to the training at
Carlstrom Field, the pursuit pilot school operated a sub-field, Valentine Field, located at Labelle, Lee County, Florida. Valentine Field was named in honor of 2d Lieutenant Herman W. Valentine, who was killed in an airplane accident at Carlstrom Field on 4 May 1918.
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In 2002, the G. Pierce Wood
Memorial Hospital was closed; until 2011 the DeSoto County Juvenile Correctional Facility operated on the site. The only remembrance of Carlstrom field today is a plaque on the administration building placed when it was refurbished by the state of Florida in 1992, and a
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The War
Department had ordered that a small caretaker force remain to dismantle all remaining structures and to sell them as surplus, and by 1926 Carlstrom field was closed. Throughout the remainder of the 1920s and 1930s, the War Department leased out the vacant land to local farmers and ranchers.
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In
January 1920 primary pilot instruction resumed on a small scale at Carlstrom Field with the opening of the Air Service Pilots' School. Training in primary flying took place at both Carlstrom and Dorr Fields. However, the administrative difficulties of the Air Service training about 200 flying
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Rapid demobilization followed the end of World War I, and despite the experience of that conflict, the Army's air arm remained quite small during most of the interwar period. After the armistice, Carlstrom Field served as a testing area for various aircraft, dirigibles, and other aeronautical
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Carlstrom Field had a very unusual layout, with a compact group of buildings located inside a circular road, with five hangars located around the southern periphery of the road. No paved runway was ever built with the flying conducted from the 1-square-mile (2.6 km) grass field.
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Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the First World War, Volume 3, Part 2, Center of Military History, United States Army, 1949 (1988 Reprint), Zone of the Interior, Territorial Departments, Tactical Divisions organized in 1918. Posts, Camps and
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The Oak Ridge Cemetery in Arcadia is the final resting-place of twenty-three RAF cadets who died while in the United States for training. A special marker at the cemetery recognizes their service and a ceremony is held in their memory each year on Memorial Day.
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weapons. In October 1919, final testing of an experimental unmanned aircraft called the "Kettering Bug", one of the earliest examples of a cruise missile, was successfully tested & launched at Carlstrom Field.
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Jennys to be used for flight training were shipped in wooden crates by railcar. Carlstrom Field served as an advanced school for pursuit pilots. It offered a six-week course. It had a student capacity of 400.
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303:, Waco, Texas and assigned to the new Carlstrom Field. In April the 76th and 109th Aero Squadrons, also arrived from Rich Field, but were subsequently transferred over to
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Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the First World War, Volume 3, Part 3, Center of Military History, United States Army, 1949 (1988 Reprint)
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406:, who later rose to the rank of Major General and was the first Inspector-General of the United States Air Force received his flight training here.
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In 2014, the state of Florida sold the property to Power Auto Corporation, for the construction of a driver training facility and a hotel.
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In 1917 the Army announced its intention of establishing a series of camps to train prospective pilots after the United States entry into
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Carlstrom Field, Florida, World War II, note the PT-17 Stearmans on the flight line and the rebuilt hangars and ground station.
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307:; which was designed as an auxiliary sub-field for Carlstrom. Only a few Air Service aircraft arrived from Waco; most of the
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599:"DJJ closes doors, hundreds left without work - NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral & Naples, Florida"
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While a few buildings remain, the only recognition that this was an air base is a commemorative plaque.
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A 1942 photo of a Major George Ola in a PT-17 Stearman biplane trainer over Carlstrom Field
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Flying School Detachment (Consolidation of Squadrons A–F), November 1918 – September 1919
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713:, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC.
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is a former military airfield, located 6.4 miles (10.3 km) southeast of
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695:. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas
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In March, 1918 the 107th and 108th Aero Squadrons was transferred from
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439:, Carlstrom re-opened in March 1941 under the operation of
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Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Florida
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History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002
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Post Headquarters, Carlstrom Field, March–September 1919
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Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields, Carlstrom Field
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With the need for primary pilot training brought on by
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established in 1917 after the United States entry into
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Carlstrom Field, Florida, World War I photograph, 1918
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919:Buildings and structures in DeSoto County, Florida
647:Abandoned Military Bases Will Leave You Speechless
27:Former military airfield in DeSoto County, Florida
468:tired B-17 weather vane on top of the building.
392:Re-designated: Squadron "F", July–November 1918
382:Re-designated: Squadron "E", July–November 1918
711:Locating Air Force Base Sites, History's Legacy
629:"Florida Selling Off Shuttered Mental Hospital"
369:Re-designated: Squadron "D", July–November 1918
356:Re-designated: Squadron "C", July–November 1918
343:Re-designated: Squadron "B", July–November 1918
330:Re-designated: Squadron "A", July–November 1918
280:Carlstrom Field was named after 1st Lieutenant
562:"Records of the Army Air Forces [AAF]"
513:United States Army World War I Flight Training
451:and graduated the first class in August 1941.
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235:Army Air Force Training Command (World War I)
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315:Squadrons assigned to Carlstrom Field were:
266:one of thirty-two Air Service training camps
540:, Oryx Press, Phoenix, Ariz., 1991, p. 147.
233:Training Section, Air Service (World War I)
173:DeSoto County Juvenile Correctional Complex
924:World War I airfields in the United States
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518:29th Flying Training Wing (World War II)
351:(II), May 1918 (Initially at Dorr Field)
538:Directory of Military Bases in the U.S.
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387:302d Aero Squadron (Service), June 1918
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909:USAAF Contract Flying School Airfields
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687:Air Force Historical Research Agency
508:Florida World War II Army Airfields
883:Western Technical Training Command
878:Central Technical Training Command
873:Eastern Technical Training Command
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777:Army Air Forces Training Command
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681: This article incorporates
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808:Western Flying Training Command
803:Central Flying Training Command
798:Eastern Flying Training Command
154:Air Service, United States Army
904:1917 establishments in Florida
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441:Riddle Aeronautical Institute
164:United States Army Air Forces
709:Shaw, Frederick J. (2004),
691:Manning, Thomas A. (2005),
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683:public domain material
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115:27.13833°N 81.80278°W
536:William R. Evinger:
404:Junius Wallace Jones
264:. The airfield was
225:Garrison information
817:Specialized schools
631:. December 9, 2014.
447:aviators under the
377:(II), February 1918
375:284th Aero Squadron
362:205th Aero Squadron
349:111th Aero Squadron
336:108th Aero Squadron
323:107th Aero Squadron
120:27.13833; -81.80278
111: /
18:108th Aero Squadron
866:Technical training
609:on 3 November 2011
568:. August 15, 2016.
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144:Controlled by
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643:"Carlstrom Field"
566:National Archives
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16:(Redirected from
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364:(II), April 1918
325:(II), March 1918
282:Victor Carlstrom
262:Arcadia, Florida
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199:Battles/wars
178:Site history
459:Postwar use
294:World War I
288:World War I
270:World War I
209:World War I
191:In use
118: /
94:Coordinates
898:Categories
824:Bombardier
723:1050653629
613:13 January
524:References
305:Dorr Field
301:Rich Field
106:81°48′10″W
103:27°08′18″N
844:Navigator
579:Stations.
194:1917–1945
170:Condition
719:57007862
705:29991467
701:71006954
486:See also
230:Garrison
839:Gunnery
670:Sources
276:History
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42:, near
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183:Built
715:OCLC
697:OCLC
659:2019
615:2022
186:1917
131:Type
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