Rice Army Airfield - Wartime Use

Wartime Use

Rice AAF was acquired 29 September 1942 and was part of the World War II Desert Training Center in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. It apparently was a civil airfield before the war, known as "Rice Municipal Airport", its origins are unknown.

The mission of the training center was to prepare United States Army ground forces in preparation for Operation Torch — the invasion of North Africa. The center was commanded by then Brigadier General George Patton. The facility was assigned to United States Army Air Forces Fourth Air Force. The airfield consisted of two 5,000-foot runways with numerous dispersal pads extending off the runways to the south, and support facilities and barracks to house about 3,000 personnel.

Under the IV Air Support Command in 1942 and early 1943; the 71st Reconnaissance Group and the 85th Bombardment Group flew reconnaissance and dive bomber training missions with the Army ground forces in the DTC.

After most Army units had deployed to overseas theaters by mid-1943, Rice AAF became a Fourth Air Force group training facility for units deploying to combat commands overseas, training pilots and aircrew with a wide variety of tactical aircraft, from light observation planes to medium bombers. Known units assigned to Rice were:

• 312th Bombardment Group, 13 April – 15 August 1943
• 339th Fighter Group, September 1943 – March 1944

By May 1944, the airfield was assigned to the 15th Bombardment Wing at March Field as a sub-base. Military operations at Rice Army Air Field ended in August 1944, and the field was declared surplus in October. The facility was inactivated and turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers on 1 January 1946.