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Lubbock Army Air Field

Advanced Flying School

L.A.A.F. - Lubbock, TX
April 1944 - June 1944

Advanced flying school was to prepare a cadet for the kind of airplane he was to fly in combat, either single or multi-engine.

Those who went to single-engine school flew AT-6s for the first 70 hours during a nine week period, learning aerial gunnery and combat maneuvers and incresing their skills in navigation, formation, and instrument flying.

Cadets assigned to twin-engine school received the same number of flying hours but did not practice combat aerobatics or gunnery. Using the AT-9, AT-10, or AT-17, they directed their efforts toward increasing their ability to fly on instruments, at night, and in formation after first having mastered the art of flying a plane having more than one engine.

Construction began in July, 1941, and the Lubbock Army Air Field was in operation by the end of that year, with cadets starting training in early 1942. In the 1930s, Lubbock encountered difficulty in securing a military airfield because of the War Department’s policy of locating aviation schools at elevations no greater than 2000 feet above sea level and the region’s reputation as part of the "dust bowl". However, on June 13, 1941, the War Department announced Lubbock as the site for an advanced twin engine training school. Located ten miles west of the city, Lubbock Army Flying School welcomed its first class of seventy-four cadets in February 1942, and in April, the base was formally dedicated before a cheering crowd of 35,000. In 1943, the installation’s name changed to Lubbock Army Air Field. The field was closed December 31, 1945, after 7008 bomber, fighter, and transport pilots had been trained as cadets.

For the next four years the field was used as a housing area for veterans and their families, and as a meeting place for National Guard, Air Force Reserve, and Naval units.

The field was reactivated on August 1, 1949, renamed Reese Air Force Base on November 5, 1949. Named in honor of 1st Lt Augustus F. Reese, Jr., of Shallowater, Texas, who lived about ten miles north of the base. He was killed in action at Cagliari, Sardinia, May 14, 1943, while flying a P-38 on a voluntary mission to destroy a railroad supply train. Lieutenant Reese was honored when his name was selected for the base at the suggestion of a committee of Lubbock residents.

Wings Aloft

Our long road of hard work, worry and honest prayer has ended only to begin again this time with other lives as well as our own at stake. We go forth now to destroy the thing that seeks to destroy our country and all that it stands for. Many who started on that road are not with us today. Some have had their hopes smashed with the realization they could not fly. Others have paid with their sives so that we and thousands more may achieve that final goal. . . .VICTORY. . . . Therefore to ALL of 44-F we dedicate this book. . .

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James R. Prichard

Between WWII and Korea Dad and Jim had both moved to St. Clair, Mo. Where they realized that they'd been together at Strother and Lubbock. (Jim went on to fly 24s in the Pacific.) Jim's wife, Mary, became Dad's secretary after Dad came back from Korea. Jenifer, Jim's oldest, and my sister became friends and Larry, his oldest son, while a grade ahead of me, and I became the best of friends. Nobody was for sure if I lived with the Prichards or Larry lived with the Johnmeyers.

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YOU TOO CAN BE AN AVIATION CADET	WE OPEN PROMPTLY AT 1 P. M. ?
BEAUTY AND THE BOBCAT	L.A.A.F. HAS ITS GOOD POINTS TOO
A SERGEANT'S LIFE FOR ME
AH! SAFE FOR ANOTHER WEEK	CHECKING ONE OF THOSE POWERFUL JACOBS
WHERE'S THE BASE LEG NOW?	THIS AIN'T L.A.A.F.
BEHIND THE SCENE	NO TIME FOR SIGHT SEEING

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Pilot Flight Record

And Log Book

22 Apr to 8 May 1944 click image to enlarge

9 May to 23 May 1944 click image to enlarge

24 May to 7 Jun 1944 click image to enlarge

8 Jun to 22 Jun 1944 click image to enlarge

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R E S T R I C T E D
PERSONNEL ORDERS )                  : NO.           17 )	HEADQUARTERS ARMY AIR FORCES CENTRAL FLYING TRAINING COMMAND     dr   Randolph Field, Texas, 10 June 1944
E X T R A C T
33. The following-named 2d Lts, AC, flight officers, AC, and student officers, Class 44-F, having completed the required course of instruction at AAFPS (Adv 2-Eng), Lubbock AA Fld, Lubbock, Tex, are, under the provisions of AR 95-60, 20 Aug 42, and AAF Regulation 50-7, 26 Jul 43, rated Pilot, effective 27 Jun 44:
2D LTS, AC   SOUTHWORTH, JOHN B. 02063544 JOHNMEYER, HILLARD E. 02063636

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PERSONNEL ORDERS NO. 17 dd 10 June 1944 click image to enlarge	SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 174 dd 26 June 1944 click image to enlarge
Honorable Discharge click image to enlarge click image to enlarge (front)	Honorable Discharge ENLISTED RECORD click image to enlarge click image to enlarge (back)
SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 175 dd 27 June 1944 click image to enlarge	SO #175 (Par 5, Con't) click image to enlarge

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