Harlingen Air Force Base Harlingen Air Force Base , originally Harlingen Army Airfield , is a former United States Air Force base located in northeast Harlingen , Texas , United States . After its closure , the airport was redeveloped into Valley International Airport . History . World War II . With the outbreak of World War II in Europe in September 1940 , the U . S . Government saw the need to expedite military readiness . It would create a military airfield in Harlingen . The city voted a $ 105 , 000 bond issue to acquire 960 acres to be leased to the War Department for 24 years and upon which the field would be constructed . Fifteen farmhouses and buildings on the site were removed , but one building was left in place to become the field office . Gen . Gerald C . Brant , the commander of Central Flying Command who first visited Harlingen in early 1941 , also ordered that two existing palm groves and orange trees be retained . On June 30 , 1941 a contract was let for Morgan and Zachary , El Paso and Laredo builders , to start the military airfield construction . The mission of Harlingen Army Airfield was to train aerial gunners . The Harlingen Army Gunnery School received its first assigned cadre in August 1941 . Its primary mission , with an initial student load of 600 , was that of training aerial gunnery students in a five week ( extended to six weeks in 1943 ) training program . Over 48 , 000 soldiers were trained until the school , one of three such types in the country , closed in 1945 . It was initially assigned to the AAF Gulf Coast Training Center as a flexible gunnery school , with the 78th Service Group being designated as the first host organization at the new airfield . By mid - September 1941 the airfield and base at Harlingen was 30 percent complete . By mid - October the work was half - finished , but the field itself was almost complete . In November the steel water tower which would loom over the base for many years was swung into place . December saw the steelwork on two hangars and control towers well under way . The airfield consisted of two parallel 6000 - foot runways aligned North / South , and two 5 , 200 - foot diagonal runways aligned NE / SW and NW / SE . A large parking ramp and several aircraft hangars were constructed along with a support base of warehouses , dormatories , a fire station , some water towers and a number of support buildings all constructed of wood and tar paper on concrete blocks . An auxiliary airfield at Port Isabel , Texas was also constructed to support the training and flight operations at Harlingen . Training was conducted in both air - to - air & air - to - surface gunnery . The air - to - air training used a variety of aircraft , including AT - 6 Texan s , BT - 13 Valiant s , P - 63 Kingcobra s , B - 17 Flying Fortress es and B - 24 Liberator s . For ground - based training , a number of facilities were available , including the moving target ranges and a number of gunnery simulators . The first class of aerial gunners graduated from the Gunnery School in January 1942 . On 8 January 1943 , the War Department constituted and activated the 79th Flying Training Wing ( Flexible Gunnery ) at Harlingen and assigned it to the AAF Eastern Central Training Command . Gunnery practice was carried out by having the student fire at a sleeve target towed by an AT - 6 . Students were also taught strafing techniques . A series of shop silhouettes were installed offshore near South Padre Island , and students fired at these water targets from B - 34 and AT - 6 aircraft . The planes utilized for training and transportation at the Harlingen Army Air Field were the Vultee BT - 13 Valiant , Bell P - 39 Airacobra , Bell P - 63 Kingcobra , Beech C - 45H Expeditor , Lockheed A - 29 Hudson , Lockheed B - 34 Ventura , Martin B - 26 Marauder , North American B - 25 Mitchell , Douglas C - 47 Skytrain , North American AT - 6 Texan Trainer , and Consolidated B - 24 Liberator . In 1944 , Harlingen began training B - 29 Superfortress gunners . They received practically the same training as those for other aircraft , but at the end of the year a few of them began to receive training in B - 24s modified by the addition of central fire control turrets to make them more like B - 29s . Among the training devices used in this instruction was the manipulation trainer — 12 towers arranged to resemble a formation of planes . The towers ranged in height from 10 to 40 feet , each equipped with 2 nose , 2 tail , 2 ring sighting , and 4 blister positions . As students in these positions faced simulated attacks from PT - 13 and PT - 17 aircraft , they " fired " camera guns at the attacking fighters . The combat of World War II ended in August 1945 . The need for gunners no longer existed . By this time an estimated 48 , 000 men could call the gunnery school their alma mater . The school and field were soon phased out . The 79th conducted flexible gunnery training until 1 October 1945 . On 12 October Harlingen became a temporary separation center for the men stationed there . By 5 January 1946 it was made public that the base would be declared surplus . As such it would be the fourth and last of such bases in this area to be deactivated , as Moore Field , the Brownsville Army Airfield , and the Laguna Madre Sub - Base of Harlingen had already been listed for deactivation . At this time Harlingen had a total of 5 , 000 men split almost evenly between trainees and permanent personnel . Harlingen Army Airfield was inactivated 1 February 1946 , the facility was turned over to the War Assets Administration on 5 February as surplus property . With the airfield ' s closure , some of the well - constructed barracks were sold or donated . The Citrus Center of Texas A & I University acquired and moved some of them to its Weslaco campus in 1947 . A one - story barracks was sold to the Hansen family in Weslaco and was transformed into their home at 801 Oklahoma Street . The Grace Lutheran Church of Harlingen took two of them and moved them to the corner of Jackson and 10th Street . One became the sanctuary and the second one the parish hall . In 1948 one two - story barracks was purchased by the Molder family who trucked it to North Business 77 . Here it was transformed into the very popular Green Gables Restaurant and Lounge , famed for its steaks . Cold War . With the outbreak of the Korean War on 25 June 25 , 1950 , the city fathers of Harlingen looked to utilize the mostly mothballed Army Air Force airfield facilities . It was pointed out to the U . S . Congress that the former Harlingen Army Air Field and facility was designed to accommodate 6 , 500 trainees and at peak operation carried a maximum load of 9 , 000 trainees . In addition , 200 Federal Housing Units , all still intact and livable , had been constructed adjacent to the base ’ s main entrance . The statement to the Congress went on to state that the field itself was equipped with five concrete runways , each over one mile in length . All were intact and in usable condition , including runway lights , as were the control tower , landing lights , three large hangars and a machine shop building . The House Armed Services Committee , acting under the National Defense Program , appropriated $ 15 million for the reactivation of the Harlingen Army Air Field as a U . S . Air Force installation . Later a $ 12 million price tag was attached to the field ’ s rehabilitation . Work started in early 1952 . Harlingen was reactivated on 17 March 1952 by the United States Air Force and placed under the auspices of the Air Training Command ( ATC ) , who renamed it Harlingen Air Force Base and placed it under the operational control of the 3610th Observer Training Wing ( ATC ) as part of its observer training program . Training was conducted primarily with Convair T - 29 aircraft . On 1 September 1953 , ATC also established a multi - engine pilot training school at Harlingen and realigned its observer training program by converting primary observer training into a primary - basic course and by providing advanced instruction in the basic course . Under the new program , every graduate of primary - basic training would be a qualified aircraft navigator . Effective 15 November 1956 , HQ USAF directed the term navigator be substituted in all cases for observer or aircraft observer . That directive resulted in the re - designation of the 3610th Observer Training Wing to 3610th Navigator Training Wing . In October 1959 , ATC directed Mather AFB , California to move its primary - basic navigator training to Harlingen AFB by early 1962 . This training had to be relocated so that Mather could take over Keesler AFB ' s electronic warfare officer ( EWO ) training by early 1963 . Early in 1960 , the Air Force authorized ATC to discontinue pilot and navigator preflight courses at Lackland AFB , Texas . Pilot preflight training became the responsibility of the primary training bases , and navigator preflight moved to the navigator schools . New navigator preflight training programs went into effect at Harlingen on 6 April . In March 1961 , during his budget message to Congress , President John F . Kennedy announced that the Department of Defense would close 73 military installations ( 70 stateside ) , including Harlingen AFB , Texas , the only ATC base on the list . Harlingen entered its last group of students into navigator training on 9 August . From that point on , James Connally AFB , Texas , provided all undergraduate navigator training . In March 1962 , the dining halls were consolidated as base staffing diminished , and the base hospital announced its change to dispensary status . The base hosted its last conference , a corrosion control meeting , in April as the gym , library , and military clothing sales store closed their doors . Undergraduate Navigator Training at Harlingen AFB ended on 6 June 1962 with the graduation of Class 62 - 22N . The 3610th Navigator Training Wing and subordinate units were discontinued on 1 July . At the same time , Air Training Command placed Harlingen AFB on inactive status . Current uses . It took several years before permanent uses were found for the Harlingen Air Force Base facilities . First to make major use of the base ’ s support facilities was the Marine Military Academy ( MMA ) , a nonprofit educational institution incorporated in April 1963 . Its first classes commenced September 1965 . It offers a college preparatory course , grades eight through 12 , with elements traditional to the U . S . Marine Corps . Enrollment has grown to over 400 . While initially occupying the vacant barracks and other base support buildings , the school over the years has upgraded and modernized nearly all the old structures and erected numerous new ones . It is the site of a full - size replica of the renowned Iwo Jima Memorial portraying Marines and a Navy corpsman raising the American flag over Mt . Suribachi . Nearby is the Iwo Jima Memorial Museum . In 1968 the Confederate Air Force , now called the Commemorative Air Force , moved from the Mid - Valley Airport near Mercedes , Texas to the northwest side of the field and called this area " Rebel Field " . There it maintained its headquarters , museum and World War II aircraft collection in three large buildings and several small ones . It conducted well - attended annual air shows for many years at the field . In 1991 the CAF relocated to the former World War II airfield at Midland International Airport , near Midland , Texas . Before commercial aviation came to the site , the field was given the name Harlingen Industrial Airport . In late 1970 , the field became the Rio Grande Valley International Airport and later was renamed the Valley International Airport . The city ’ s airport , Harvey Richards Field at what is now Palm Valley , was subsequently closed . The Valley International Airport has long handled more passenger traffic than any other Valley airport . It new passenger terminal sits between former military hangars 41 and 38 . Part of the southwest portion of the Harlingen Air Force Base was used by the city to establish the Rio Grande Valley Regional Museum . The Valley International Airport is the field ’ s major user and has the area ’ s highest passenger boarding total . One of the numerous major current occupants of the field is United Launch Alliance , formerly part of Lockheed Martin , fabricating among other things sections of the Atlas V rocket . FedEx Freight and United Parcel Service utilize the airport as a gateway to the Valley . Today , the airport has been almost completely redeveloped , with only a few Air Force hangars remaining on the large , World - War II - era parking ramp . The World War II street network of the former training base is also evident in aerial photographs , with modern , newer buildings having been constructed along them . On March 6 , 2005 , a Texas Historical Commission Events Marker was dedicated in the front of the Harlingen Arts and Heritage Museum , once the site of the base swimming pool and also its stockade . The marker commemorates both the Harlingen Army Air Field and the Harlingen Air Force Base .