Built 4 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor in a record 90 days, April to July of 1942. 330 housing units were built on 52 acres. A city within a city, with its own newspaper, it was the largest navigation school in the world. The base closed in August 1945, having trained 14,158 navigators. The base again trained pilots during the Korean Conflict, and finally turned over to the City of Hondo in 1958. Today, the site serves as the home of the South Texas Regional Training Center, with on-site and distance learning academic classes along with pre-college remedial courses offered by the Uvalde College.

Watch the following video to learn more about World War II airfields and pilot training in Texas. This video was produced for inclusion in the World War II on the Texas Home Front mobile tour found in our Texas Time Travel mobile app. Learn more about the tour and the app on the World War II theme page at the following link: http://texastimetravel.com/travel-themes/main-world-war-ii