Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport - Brownsville Army Airfield

Brownsville Army Airfield

During World War II the airport was used by the United States Army Air Forces, although the Air Corps had signed a contract with Pan American Airways in 1940 for the training of aircraft mechanics at the airport. Shortly after the Pearl Harbor Attack on 7 December 1941, both Army and Navy observation aircraft began operations from the airport flying antisubmarine missions over the Gulf of Mexico.

For the first year of the United States' involvement in combat of the war, Pan American continued to operate the airport, providing training to Ferrying Command pilots and ground mechanics assigned to the 18th Transport Transition Training Detachment. With the realignment of Ferrying Command to Air Transport Command on 1 July 1942, plans were made by the Army to assume jurisdiction of the airport. On 28 July 1943 the USAAF 568th AAF Base Unit, Air Transport Command was assigned to the newly-designated Brownsville Army Airfield. The mission of the 4th Fighter Operational Training Unit at the airfield was the training of pilots to ferry pursuit planes to the various theaters of war. Training was carried out by AAF instructor pilots, however Pan American Airways retained operations at the airfield flying larger 2 and 4 engine transports to the airport as an overhaul facility. In May 1944, a new mission was developed to train multi-engined pilots at the base. The school began operations in June, and the pilots began to ferry ferry large numbers of aircraft to Panama for subsequent shipment by sealift to Australia.

Achievements of note during World War II at Brownsville AAF were:

• Civilian Pilot Training program initiated to train military and commercial pilots.
• The first American jet engine flight was tested at Brownsville Army Air Field.
• B-29 bombers were renovated on the site.
• The airport had one of the largest overhaul facilities in the country. By the end of the war Pan American had overhauled nearly 6,000 engines.

With the end of the Pacific War in August 1945, operations at Brownsville AAF were dramatically reduced. Flight operations continued at a reduced level for the balance of 1945, however in early January the base was declared surplus and was inactivated on 5 March 1946 and returned to full civil control.