Coffeyville Army Air Field Coffeyville Army Airfield was a World War II training base of the United States Army Air Forces Central Flying Training Command ( CFTC ) . It was later used by Third Air Force . Today , it is the city - owned Coffeyville Municipal Airport , Kansas . History . Early in 1942 , the War Department decided to build a basic training field outside the town of Coffeyville , Kansas , one of eleven Army Air Forces bases the state would have before the end of World War II . The base was eagerly sought after by the town ' s community leaders . Many businessmen donated time and part of their expenses to get the base approved . Their efforts started in late 1941 , with several visits by key city officials in Washington to talk with different agencies of the War Department . By Thanksgiving 1941 , the Chamber of Commerce and the Airport Committee , received a commitment from the War Department for a site engineer to consider Coffeyville . The decision was made to build the base on May 8 , 1942 . The site was located seven miles north - east of Coffeyville , on a 1 , 456 - acre tract of land which had been purchased by the United States government . Construction , which was accomplished by contract under the supervision of the U . S . District Engineers , Tulsa , Oklahoma , commenced on 1 June 1942 . It had really started before when the county began to improve the road network around the new base to handle the increased truck traffic hauling construction material to the site . The weather didn ' t cooperate , as the latter part of 1942 was very wet , slowing construction ; however , most of the construction was accomplished over the next eight months . When finished , the " Army Air Forces Basic Flying School . Coffeyville Kansas " had four runways , each 150 feet wide . The shortest was 5 , 872 feet . Most of the buildings were Theater of Operations construction while some were of the Mobilization type . The Mobilization type buildings included the station hospital , theater , chapel , and Link training buildings . There were three hangars with a parking apron a mile long and 450 feet wide were constructed . ' Where before there had been only open farm land , this new city now contained 212 buildings , a water storage and distribution system , sewage system and treatment plant , electric transmission lines , a railway spur , and all the other things one could expect to find in a town of 5 , 000 people . Its effect upon the city of Coffeyville was dramatic . The base was the first of its type to be established in Kansas and would graduate the state ' s first class of cadets . In addition to the main base and airfield , there were four auxiliary fields also constructed for emergency and training use in the area along with the use of Coffeyville Municipal Airport It was normal for a new base , built under extreme time pressure , to have start up problems . Coffeyville was no exception . There was no running water , and no roads . Coffeyville AAF wasn ' t ready for personnel . The base housing facilities were not ready . Some men were living under a baseball stadium at Forest Park , a recreation area in the city of Coffeyville . Meals were also served there for a time before the base mess hall opened . The sewage system was not completed , and the water wasn ' t fit to drink because the pipes had not been cleaned . All drinking and cooking water had to be hauled from the city of Coffeyville in a street sprinkler . The electricity had been turned on and off intermittently during September , and came back on in the mess hall around 6 PM just as the troop train was backing into the siding . Due to a problem with the natural gas service , the first meal served at the base was barbecued wieners , instead of the originally planned roast beef . Dinner was about half finished when a cloudburst started . From then until January , 1943 , the place was a sea of mud . Lots of jobs needed to be finished before the cadets arrived . At the time , there was no water tower , so for fire protection , a fire truck was rented from the city of Coffeyville , and crewed by a driver and firefighter hired from the city . The post refrigeration units were not complete , meats and other perishables were stored in the Coffeyville Ice and Cold Storage company until facilities at the field were ready . Runways were not completed , nor were any of the maintenance buildings or shops in the sub - depot area . Most of the major construction would not be completed until January 1943 . Additionally , much remained to be built , i . e . , taxiways , fencing , a crash station , a cadet operations building , some streets , and a civilian mess hall , etc . The fourth runway was started in July , later in August , the rebuilding of the original runways with concrete began . Assigned units . The new base was placed under the jurisdiction of the 32d Flying Training Wing ( Basic ) , Perrin Army Airfield , Texas . During July 1942 detachments of the following units were organized at Coffeyville : Early in September following detachments of two other units , the 1038th Guard Squadron and the 857th Signal Service Company , Aviation , were organized . These were followed before the end of the year by medical and veterinary detachments and by the 23d Airways Communications Squadron The first large number of base support personnel , about 600 men , came to the field by train , arriving on September 18 Coming for the most part from Enid Army Airfield , Oklaholma . The bulk of the original military personnel arrived at Coffeyville during October and November 1942 . They included troops of the 366th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron , the 317th Army Air Forces Band , and the 820th , 821st , 822d , and 823d School Squadrons . From a total of 63 officers and 190 enlisted men on 1 October 1942 the permanent party strength increased to 283 officers and 2 , 369 enlisted men by 1 February 1943 Basic Flying School . The mission originally assigned to Coffeyville was the basic , or second - stage , training of aviation cadets . Hence the designation , Army Air Forces Basic Flying School , when it was activated on 17 June 1942 . As of 1 January 1943 it was re - designated the Coffeyville Army Air Field , although the mission was unchanged . From 6 August 1943 until 31 May 1944 the flying training unit at the field was known as Army Air Forces Pilot School ( Basic ) . The training of cadets at Coffeyville actually began on 14 November 1942 with Class 43 - C with 137 members from primary flying schools at Hatbox Field , Muskogee , Oklahoma . 116 graduated at the end of the course on 13 January 1943 . Meanwhile , the second class , 43 - D , with 156 cadets had begun training on December 1942 . It completed the course , with 129 individuals graduating on 15 February 1943 . This was about six months from the start of construction , and as was typical with most of the training bases , training began while the field was being completed . Training started on November 14 . While in basic flying school the student pilot learned to fly a more advanced aircraft than he soloed in primary flight training . At the time , Basic was a 10 - week course consisting of 70 hours flying , 94 hours in ground school , and 47 hours in military training . At the end of the basic training , the student moved on to advanced flight training at another base The trainer used at Coffeyville AAF was the Consolidated - Vultee BT - 13 Valiant . Coffeyville received its first BT - 13s on November 8 , just eight days before the start of flight training . Since construction of the maintenance hangars was still in progress , maintenance was done outside on the parking ramp . To make matters more interesting , the sub - depot supply warehouses weren ' t finished , so parts were kept , and the sub depot operated in the City of Coffeyville at the Ford dealership . At first , maintenance personnel had to make their own desks , tables , and work benches . Important maintenance equipment and aircraft parts were not available , so occasionally aircraft were cannibalized to keep the remainder flying . Maintenance went on day and night . Like flight training , maintenance procedures and organization were consistently reviewed and improved . Eventually , a base mechanics school was established . This along with the other improvements , led to about 96 percent of all aircraft being available for training by June 1943 . Early , only broad course objectives , requirements , and directives were received from higher headquarters . As time went by , these directives became more specific . As a result , the flight training program at Coffeyville continually changed . Additionally , training was hindered by lack of equipment , facilities , and trained personnel . Instrument training provides a good example of the continual evolution of training at Coffeyville At first , all instructors gave their students the appropriate instrument training . Later , this phase of training was delegated to a few instructors who specialized in this phase of the cadets training . During the winter of 1943 and 1944 , all instructors took additional training and became qualified to teach instrument flying . So , the centralized training for instruments was stopped . Many felt this was a positive move , because the student could stay with the same instructor throughout his training at Coffeyville Later as directives became more specific , some instructors would complain about the lack of flexibility . Students were now required to spend a specific amount of time on specified maneuvers . To help with instrument training fifteen Link Trainers were put into operation in mid - December 1942 with Class 43 - C . The course of instruction was 15 hours . One problem with the Link instructors was , they were trained at twelve different fields and so taught the course twelve different ways . Additionally , supplies were hard to get , and the training buildings were not suited for the task . A new building was built specifically for Link Training . By March 1944 , there were thirty - four link trainers . For a time , there were six training squadrons at the field , eventually this settled down to three , they were the 822nd , 823rd , and the 825th . Sometimes it was necessary to schedule Sunday flying when inclement weather prevented flying during the week . Normal flying periods were one hour , except cross - country flights . Usually cross - country flights took place between Coffeyville and Claremore , Oklahoma , and Neosho , Joplin , and Nevada , Missouri . Others were flown between Coffeyville , Chanute , and Fort Scott , Kansas . Flight training consisted of several subjects that included , takeoffs and landings , aerobatics , cross - country navigation , and night flying . Ground school involved navigation , meteorology , radio communications , and aircraft recognition . Normally ground school was given between flying lessons . Sometimes it was done in the very early AM or after the evening meal . Typically the day would start with Reveille at 6 : 15 AM , followed by breakfast at 6 : 30 . Flying would begin at 7 : 45 AM . If a student was not scheduled to fly he would be in ground school , drill , or involved in required athletics . By March 1943 , the field had three control towers with three radio frequencies to help control student flights . Life was not all work for the cadets . The first USO dance for enlisted men was held on March 4 , 1943 . The first formal social function for the cadets was a dance at Memorial Hall in Coffeyville . Also , a cadet club was opened in Coffeyville on West Eighth Street . A wives club was formed and involved itself in many projects , the most important being welfare and Red Cross activities . This included helping the wives settle among strange surroundings , visiting cadets in the hospital , and decorating the cadet recreational buildings . The club met weekly and published a small mimeographed paper . The city of Coffeyville allowed the cadets to use the high school swimming pool , and reserved it for their use during part of the day . In addition , there were USO shows from time to time , and dances attended by invited guests from Coffeyville and surrounding communities . The bowling alley was opened in May 1943 and had six lanes . The field had its own radio show that was arranged and written by the special service staff . Sometimes it broadcast from Coffeyville on station KGGF . Golf was also available at reduced rates at Coffeyville ' s Hillcrest Country Club . The post had a gymnasium and several athletic fields for softball , football , and volleyball . No base was complete without its obstacle course and Coffeyville was no exception . The last basic flight training class , 44 - G , held their graduation dance in Coffeyville ' s Memorial Auditorium on May 20 , 1944 . At this point in the war , there was no longer the need for the vast numbers of new pilots being produced by the many training fields , so Coffeyille received notice to close down . From beginning to end , approximately 4 , 840 cadets and aviation students began the basic flying course , in 16 separate classes , at Coffeyville . Incompletions , however , because of physical and flying deficiencies , serious accidents , and resignations were fairly numerous . As a result , only 3 , 881 successfully completed the course . Third Air Force . On 1 June 1944 Coffeyville Army Airfield was transferred to Third Air Force as pilot training was wound down . The field ' s new mission was to train photo reconnaissance pilots . When it took over the field Third Air Force organized there the Coffeyville Replacement Training Unit ( Photo Reconnaissance ) which was assigned to Headquarters Reconnaissance Training Wing ( Provisional ) . Three months later the unit was redesignated the Coffeyville Combat Crew Training Station ( Photo Reconnaissance ) , with some emphasis being placed upon the preparation of photo - reconnaissance pilots for overseas movement . In mid - September it was assigned to the III Tactical Air Command . The first group of photo reconnaissance pilots reported to Coffeyville for training on 12 June 1944 . Other groups followed in rapid succession . Operating at first on a 10 - weeks ' schedule , the students divided their time , roughly in the ratio of one to four , between ground school studies and flying training . In the beginning there were F - 10 Mitchell s being used . This was the photo - recon version of the B - 25 medium bomber . However , during the latter part of the period the aircraft used generally for this part of the work was the F - 5 Lightning , an unarmed photo recon version of the P - 38 . Commencing in January 1945 the students were required to complete four weeks of special instrument training before taking up their photo reconnaissance work . Because of limited facilities during the summer of 1945 , some classes which had completed the instrument training course at Coffeyville were shipped to Will Rogers Army Airfield , Oklahoma , for the photo - reconnaissance work . During the latter part of July , however , the instrument training program was transferred from Coffeyville to Will Rogers AAF , while the photo reconnaissance section at Will Rogers was transferred to Coffeyville . During the 12 - months ' period ending on 4 June 1945 over 460 photo reconnaissance pilots completed all their training requirements at Coffeyville , and were shipped to staging areas for processing and assignment to overseas shipments . In addition , more than 200 pilots received their instrument flying training at Coffeyville , and were shipped to Will Rogers AAF for training as photo reconnaissance pilots . There was no diminution in this indicated rate of training during the few remaining weeks of World War II . Inactivation . Finally on Tuesday morning , October 2 , 1945 , a telegram arrived from the War Department that said , " You are authorized to announce the temporary inactivation of Coffeyville Army Air Field , Coffeyville , Kansas on or about 1 October " . All training stopped . The only exception was the completion of training for several Chinese students . Early in the post - war period Coffeyville Army Air Field was earmarked for eventual inactivation . In a temporary inactive status it was transferred to the Tactical Air Command on 21 March 1946 . As soon thereafter as the necessary arrangements could be effected the Tactical Air Command transferred it to the Army ' s District Engineer , Seventh Service Command at Omaha , Nebraska who assumed jurisdiction over the field on 26 August 1946 , pending disposition . Some buildings were sold and moved into town as temporary housing , one even found use as a bar . Excess supplies were hauled off to other bases , with the excess aviation gas going down the road to the nearby Independence Army Airfield , at Independence , Kansas . Finally on July 21 , 1947 the War Assets Administration made a formal presentation of the deed to the City of Coffeyville . Current status . Today , Coffeyville ' s airfield remains in use and is the center of a growing industrial park . Most of the World War II buildings were sold off , torn down , although unlike some former World War II training fields , several original buildings remain in use , including the sub - depot and the three original squadron hangars . Many of the original streets remain . Two of the three runways are in - use today by Coffeyville Municipal Airport . The terminal building was constructed on the wartime parking apron , although much of the parking apron consists of deteriorating concrete pads in one form or another . The NW / SE runway and the eastern N / S runways are abandoned , with sections of concrete removed . The airfield can be reached by driving on U . S . Route 169 north from Coffeyville .