Williams Air Force Base Williams Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force ( USAF ) base , located in Mesa , Arizona , and about southeast of Phoenix . It is a designated Superfund site due to a number of soil and groundwater contaminants . It was active as a training base for both the United States Army Air Forces , as well as the USAF from 1941 until its closure in 1993 . Williams was the leading pilot training facility of the USAF , supplying 25 % of all pilots . Current status . Since its closure most of the base has since been annexed as part of Mesa . Some property was retained by the US government while other portions were conveyed and converted into the civilian Williams Gateway Airport which was later renamed Phoenix - Mesa Gateway Airport and an educational campus anchored by Arizona State University Polytechnic Campus and Chandler - Gilbert Community College . History . During March 1941 , some citizens of Mesa , Arizona were actively working on obtaining an Air Corps facility located near their city . One of the sites seriously considered for the new airfield was on the Gila River Indian Reservation located near Chandler , Arizona . At the time , the land on which Williams would eventually be built was vacant and not used for agriculture due to a lack of irrigation . It had no homes or farms and was essentially desert with a few Indian ruins scattered on it . On their own initiative , the city of Mesa began to acquire rights to the property that was divided among 33 different owners . Agreements were made for a railroad spur line , along with the appropriate electric , water , telephone and gas services . The hard work paid off with the announcement in June 1941 that the War Department had approved the site for an Army Air Corps base . Construction of the new base started on 16 July 1941 , and initial construction was completed in December , making the base operational . As of 10 December , the airfield had no name and a debate ensued on what to call the new base . It was initially named Mesa Military Airport . the name was changed October 1941 to Higley Field , the base being in the proximity of the town of Higley , Arizona . In February 1942 , the growing military airfield ' s name was changed to Williams Field in honor of Arizona native 1st Lt Charles Linton Williams ( 1898 – 1927 ) . Lieutenant Williams died on 6 July 1927 when his Boeing PW - 9A pursuit aircraft crashed near Fort DeRussy , Hawaii . As a flying school , numerous runways and auxiliary airfields were constructed . The main airfield consisted of three concrete 6000 ' runways aligned NE / SW , ENE / WSW and NE / SW . A blacktop landing area 5500 ' x1430 ' was aligned E / W to the south of the main field and a 4100 ' x 1350 ' blacktop landing area was aligned E / W to the south of the main field . Known auxiliary airfields were : World War II . During World War II , Williams Field was under the command of the 89th Army Air Force Base Unit , AAF West Coast Training Center . The flying organization was the 38th ( Bombardier and Specialized Twin - and 4 - Engine ) Flying Training Wing . Twin - engine training would ultimately turn out thousands of P - 38 Lightning pilots , however they learned their twin - engine flying skills flying the Beech AT - 10 Wichita at Williams . By July 1942 , there were 79 AT - 10s assigned to the field , however the hot , dry climate of Arizona tended to dry out the wood and glue of the wooden AT - 10s , causing at least 10 flying cadets to lose their lives in crashes . Training with the AT - 10 was stopped and the aircraft were flown to more humid locations . They were replaced by the Cessna AT - 17 Bobcat twin engine trainers , however the AT - 17 was seen as " too easy to fly " and were replaced by the more demanding Curtiss - Wright AT - 9 . By January 1943 , almost 200 AT - 9s were at the airfield . The RP - 322 training version of the P - 38 began to arrive also in early 1944 , and by May , the flying school was involved in four courses of instruction . By far , the largest course was a single - engine advanced course where cadets received instruction on the AT - 6 Texan . Graduates advanced to the twin - engine AT - 9 , then on to the RP - 322 . This training was intended to prepare pilots for photo - reconnaissance missions . Another course was given to experienced pilots who were transitioning to twin - engine aircraft , also in the RP - 322 . Later , a night fighter training program was established for pilots on the RP - 322 for later transition to the P - 61 Black Widow at Hammer Field , California . By late 1944 , there was an ample supply of twin - engine pilots in training and by late 1944 , the single - engine T - 6 training was discontinued . Williams then began to offer four - engine training with B - 17 Flying Fortress bombers in December . Its students would be experienced pilots who were transitioning to the large four - engine bomber . The B - 17 pilot training ended in April 1945 , graduating 608 officers for the Flying Fortress program . The training mission of the base also conducted flexible gunnery training , and radar observer training . After the United States entered the war , the Army Air Forces also developed a pilot training program for the Chinese Air Force . The Air Corps conducted most of the training for the Chinese at Luke , Williams , and Thunderbird Fields in Arizona . Training the Chinese presented some special challenges . Because of their small stature some students could not reach all the controls . That problem was usually solved through the use of extra cushions and occasionally by switching them to another type of airplane . A bigger problem was the language barrier . It took all the interpreters the Air Force could muster to support the training programs for the Chinese . In the end , 3 , 553 Chinese received flying and technical training , including 866 pilots . Postwar era . After the end of the war in September 1945 , most of the temporary training bases were put on inactive status and eventually closed . This was particularly true for bases like Williams that had sprung up overnight and were built with temporary wooden structures . However , Williams was an exception and remained open after World War II . In early 1945 , the first P - 80 Shooting Star jet pilot school was opened at Williams . Army Air Forces Training Command was re - designated as Air Training Command , and in 1946 all flight instruction was integrated into a new consolidated program The P - 80 jet fighter pilot transition and fighter gunnery schools at Williams Field remained ; however , the gunnery school existed only to fulfill research obligations . Fighter gunnery training was reestablished in early 1947 . The new program studied the use of fighter gunnery , bombing , and rocketry equipment . Students flew P - 51 Mustang s , P - 47 Thunderbolt s , and beginning at midyear , P - 80 Shooting Star s . The gunnery school , however was again discontinued on 1 June 1948 and moved to Las Vegas AFB , Nevada . By early 1947 the AAF had sped up its conversion to jet aircraft . However , the training program was handicapped by the fact that no twin - seat jet aircraft trainers yet existed . Putting untrained jet pilots into a single - seat fighter endangered personnel and expensive equipment . To overcome this problem , Air Training Command decided to use a newly developed " captivair " training device . It was received and installed at Williams in early 1947 . In 1949 , T - 33 Shooting Star jet trainer derivative of the F - 80 began to arrive . 3525th Pilot Training Wing . With the establishment of the United States Air Force in September 1947 , Williams Army Airfield was re - designated Williams Air Force Base on 13 January 1948 . In addition the 89th AAFBU was discontinued , and established the 3525th Pilot Training Wing ( Advanced Single - Engine ) as the host unit at the new Air Force Base . Training squadrons under the 3525th Pilot Training Group were : Through the Mutual Defense Assistance Program began in 1952 , international students received flying or technical training at various ATC bases . Students from Taiwan began to arrive at Williams , and training of Taiwanese pilots continued until the closure of the base in 1993 . Air Training Command redesignated the 3525th Pilot Training Wing ( Basic Single - Engine ) at Williams on 1 January 1956 . It became the 3525th Combat Crew Training Wing ( Fighter ) . A month later , on 1 February 1956 , ATC reassigned the 3525th from its Flying Training Air Force to Crew Training Air Force . It also discontinued the single engine basic pilot school ( T - 28 Trojan ) at Williams and replaced it with an advanced fighter school with T - 33s exclusively . ( Williams had transferred its single - engine training responsibilities to Laughlin AFB , Texas in September 1955 . ) In 1958 , Air Training Command transferred its combat pilot training to Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) and Tactical Air Command ( TAC ) . ATC would concentrate on Primary and Basic flying training . As a result , jurisdiction of Williams was passed to TAC on 1 July . This was a brief transfer , as on 1 October 1960 , TAC transferred Williams AFB back to ATC . Williams would become part of ATC ' s new consolidated pilot training program . On the same date , Tactical Air Command reassigned its 4530th Combat Crew Training Wing ( Tactical Fighter ) and subordinate units at Williams to ATC and ATC discontinued the wing . Concurrently , Air Training Command used assets from the 4530th to organize and establish the 3525th Pilot Training Wing . Pilot training continued throughout the 1960s . The T - 33s began to be phased out in 1962 , being replaced by the T - 38 Talon as the primary jet training aircraft . T - 38s were used until the closure of Williams in 1993 along with the Cessna T - 37 " Tweet " Both trainers were two - seat , dual - engine jet aircraft , the T - 38 being capable of supersonic flight . Students began with academic classroom and simulator instruction . After initial training in a Cessna T - 41 at an offsite location ( e . g . , Eloy , AZ was used in the late 1960s ) , the first jet flight was largely a ' demo ' flight in the T - 37 aircraft with the instructor orienting the student to the aircraft , the local training area , and some basic flight maneuvers . The undergraduate flight training program lasted just less than one full year and involved classroom , simulator , and aircraft training activities . Graduates were selected to remain as instructors , after an intensive training course , or went on to train in their primary weapon system aircraft . F - 5 Freedom Fighter . In 1963 , Williams was selected to support the Military Assistance Program F - 5A / B Freedom Fighter sales by providing pilots and maintenance training personnel to nations purchased the fighter under the MAP program . The F - 5 was a lightweight fighter designed for allied nations , and was not programmed for USAF use . Initial deliveries , beginning in April 1964 , were to the 4441st Combat Crew Training Squadron , which was activated to run the F - 5 school . The first overseas order for F - 5As was from Norway , which ordered 64 aircraft plus four attrition replacements on 28 February 1964 . Other nations whose pilots trained at Williams were South Vietnam , Iran , South Korea , Greece , Philippines , Taiwan , Turkey , Morocco , Pakistan , Ethiopia , Libya , Joran and Yemen . Skoshi Tiger Program . Although all F - 5A / B production was intended for MAP , the USAF actually requested at least 200 F - 5s for use in the Vietnam War . This sudden request on the part of the USAF which had previously perceived no need for a lightweight fighter , was a result of heavier than expected attrition in Southeast Asia and because the F - 5 promised to be available with a relatively short lead time . The USAF request for combat evaluation in Southeast Asia was approved by the DoD in July 1965 , and the evaluation was initiated on 26 July 1965 . The program was given the code name * Skoshi Tiger * , which was a corruption of " Sukoshi Tiger " ( Japanese for " Little Tiger " ) . In October 1965 , the USAF " borrowed " 12 combat - ready F - 5As from MAP supplies ( 5 F - 5A - 15s and seven F - 5A - 20s ) and activated the 4503rd Tactical Fighter Wing ( Provisional ) at Williams for operational service trials . The 4503rd TFS ( Provisional ) was formed on 29 July 1965 to conduct the evaluation , and their pilots underwent training at Williams AFB while Northrop modified the aircraft for duty in Southeast Asia . The aircraft left Williams AFB on 20 October 1965 for Southeast Asia , arriving at Bien Hoa Air Base on 23 October . They flew their first combat mission the same afternoon . Although the Freedom Fighter was judged to be a technical success in Vietnam , the Skoshi Tiger program was essentially a political project , designed to appease those few Air Force officers who believed in the aircraft . The Freedom Fighter was destined to have a relatively brief operational career with the USAF , and the DoD turned down a second request for F - 5s , deciding instead to look at other types such as the Navy A - 7 Corsair II . The surviving F - 5s were turned over to the South Vietnamese in March 1966 . After the Skoshi Tiger program , substantial numbers of Freedom Fighters were supplied to the Republic of Vietnam Air Force . The Air Force directed ATC to initiate immediately a training program for South Vietnamese F - 5 pilot replacements . The 4441st CCTS at Williams began this training on 15 April , although the base ' s training facilities were already saturated by the school ' s undergraduate program . The first Vietnamese crews left for Williams AFB for training in August 1966 . The 4441st CCTS was transferred to Tactical Air Command and re - designated as the 425th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron on 15 October 1969 . It was placed under the 58th Tactical Fighter Training Wing at Luke AFB , Arizona , although the squadron physically remained at Williams AFB as a Geographically Separated Unit ( GSU ) . Training of South Vietnamese pilots on the F - 5 continued until the collapse of the South Vietnamese government in April 1975 , with some pilots being at Williams at the time of the fall of Saigon . F - 5E / F Tiger II . On 4 April 1973 , the first upgraded F - 5 Tiger II reached the 425th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron . This squadron was assigned the task of training for crews that had acquired the F - 5E under MAP . Pilots from over 20 nations trained at Williams throughout the 1970s and 1980s on the F - 5E . The F - 5E / Fs assigned to the 425th for training carried USAF serial numbers and were procured through normal aircraft procurement procedures and channels . Initially carried tail code " LZ " . Aircraft were re - coded to the common wing " LA " in 1974 . Although the USAF never did adopt the F - 5E as a front - line combat aircraft , it did adopt the F - 5E as a specialized aircraft for dissimilar air combat training ( DACT ) . Beginning in 1975 , some 70 F - 5Es were turned over to the 64th and 65th Fighter Weapons Squadron s of the 57th Tactical Fighter Wing at Nellis AFB , Nevada . F - 5Es were allocated to two more units that were created overseas . the 527th Aggressor Squadron of the 10th TRW in the UK at RAF Alconbury and the 26th Aggressor Squadron , 3rd TFW in the Philippines at Clark AB . The 425th TFTS was reassigned to the 405th Tactical Training Wing as of 29 August 1979 when the 58th TTW was re - designated at Luke AFB . The last two F - 5Es off the production line were delivered to Bahrain on January 16 , 1987 . However , a few more were assembled from spares , the last ones being delivered on June 29 , 1989 . That month the squadron ' s F - 5 training program terminated after having produced 1 , 499 graduates , and the 425th was inactivated 1 September 1989 82d Flying Training Wing . In 1973 ATC inactivated its four digit flying wings and replaced them with two - digit wings . All of the newly activated units then had a combat lineage . At Williams the 3525th PTW was re - designated the 82d Flying Training Wing on 1 February . Squadrons were re - designated as follows : In 1988 each UPT wing had two flying training squadrons one for T - 37s and the other for T - 38s , plus a student squadron . Air Training Command wanted to find out whether training could be conducted more effectively if student squadrons were eliminated . Instead , all training and administrative duties would be placed in the wings ’ two T - 37 and two T - 38 flying training squadrons . Officials at ATC chose the 82d Flying Training Wing at Williams as the test unit . Air Training Command activated two additional squadrons at Williams the 98th Flying Training Squadron ( T - 37 ) and 99th Flying Training Squadron ( T - 38 ) on 1 June 1988 . That gave the 82d a total of four flying training squadrons . However , by year ' s end , the test had shown that a fifth squadron was needed to provide operational support . The 82d became the first ATC wing to have five flying training squadrons when , on 1 September 1989 , the command activated the 100th Flying Training Squadron ( T - 37 ) . However , it didn ' t last long . In December 1990 ATC implemented the objective wing organization . The command ' s UPT wings kept four flying training squadrons each , two for T - 37s and two for T - 38s . The fifth squadron was redesignated as an operations support squadron , but fulfilled essentially the same functions as the old student squadron . Modern era and closure . With the end of the Cold War in 1989 and the success of Operation Desert Storm , Global Reach - Global Power became the blueprint to organize , train , and equip the Air Force to confront the challenges of a fast - changing world . Organization was the first page of the blueprint , and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force declared 1991 the " Year of Organization . " By the end of the year , the Air Force had implemented the objective wing — a new wing structure that included an operations group and a support group . Besides the extensive organizational changes , ATC also faced the daunting task of closing four of its training bases as a result of the BRAC of 1991 . Chanute AFB and Mather AFB were chosen to close in round one and Lowry AFB and Williams were selected in round two . Air Education and Training Command , the 1992 replacement for ATC , inactivated the host unit , the 82d Training Wing , on 31 March 1993 , leaving the now independent 82d Operations Group to close the base . The command inactivated the operations group on 30 September 1993 , and the approximately base was closed 30 September 1993 . It is interesting to note that at the official closing ceremony , two men , who as Boy Scouts in 1941 that had raised the first flag at Williams Field when it was first officially opened , were there to officially lower the flag at its closing , after fifty years of military service . Today , Williams continues the serve the Phoenix area as a growing industrial park and as a commercial airport . Historic sites . Historic resources of the Williams Air Force Base were identified in a 1995 study . Seven separate objects or buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 19 , 1995 . These are :