Graham Air Base was a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

base located in

Marianna, Florida Marianna is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Florida, United States, and it is home to Chipola College, part of the state's public system. The official nickname of Marianna is "The City of Southern Charm". The population was 6,24 ...

. After it was closed in 1960, it was reused as Marianna Municipal Airport.

History

Marianna Army Airfield

The federal government acquired the airport at the city of Marianna in 1942 and added additional in order to construct the Marianna Army Air Field for the

U.S. Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. The airfield opened on 8 August 1942 and eventually had six hard surface runways averaging in length and was a training base for the Southeast Army Air Force Training Command. In addition to the main airfield, Marianna AAF also had the following known sub-bases and auxiliaries * Ellis Auxiliary Field * Malone Auxiliary Field * Bascom Auxiliary Field * Alliance Auxiliary Field The Army Air Forces Pilot School (Advanced-Single Engine) was activated on 1 September 1942, with the 17th Single Engine Flying Training Group being the Operational Training Unit. Aircraft used during training were

P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter-bomber that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry ...

s and

AT-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft, which was used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Ro ...

s. Marianna AAF was transferred from the jurisdiction of Eastern Flying Training Command to

Third Air Force The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a Numbered Air Force, numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U ...

on 12 October 1944. The station came under the command of the 137th Army Air Forces Base Unit. With the reassignment to Third Air Force, the mission of the base was changed from the training of pilots for single-engine pursuit fighter aircraft to training of combat crews for the

A-26 Invader The Douglas A-26 Invader (designated B-26 between 1948 and 1965) is an American twin-engined light bomber and ground attack aircraft. Built by Douglas Aircraft Company during World War II, the Invader also saw service during several major Col ...

light bomber aircraft. After the war ended, the airfield was closed on 15 February 1946 and the Federal Government returned control of to the City of Marianna in 1947.

Graham Air Base

In 1953, the old Marianna Army Air Field was reactivated as a

installation under the

Air Training Command The Air Training Command (ATC) is a former United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command designation. It was headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, but was initially formed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. It was re-designated ...

(ATC) in response to increased demands for pilots as a result of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

and the associated increase in number of Air Force combat flying wings, especially within the

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...

. The facility was activated on 27 January 1953 and renamed Graham Air Base for William J. Graham, the school head and senior civilian instructor who provided flight training to pilots. Graham AB replaced Greenville Air Force Base,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

as a contract pilot training school as Greenville AFB became an ATC basic single engine and jet pilot training school. The 3300th Pilot Training Group (Contract Primary) and the 3300th Pilot Training Squadron was reassigned from Greenville AFB to Graham AB to support the mission, with predominantly civilian instructors providing training in USAF PA-18 Super Cub and AT-6 Texan, and subsequently

T-34 Mentor The Beechcraft T-34 Mentor is an American propeller-driven, single-engined, military trainer aircraft derived from the Beechcraft Bonanza, Beechcraft Model 35 Bonanza. The earlier versions of the T-34, dating from around the late 1940s to the ...

and

T-28 Trojan The North American Aviation T-28 Trojan is a radial-engine military trainer aircraft manufactured by North American Aviation and used by the United States Air Force and United States Navy beginning in the 1950s. Besides its use as a trainer, ...

aircraft, graduating a group of USAF student pilots from primary training every six weeks. Because its short runways could not readily accommodate the USAF jet trainers of the period, student pilots completing primary training were then assigned to other air force bases with longer runways for more advanced training in aircraft such as the

T-33 Shooting Star The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...

. Although its instructor cadre was primarily civilian, Graham AB was still an Air Force installation with an overall military cadre in command and operated under constant military supervision. Students were a combination of both commissioned USAF officers and non-commissioned USAF aviation cadets, the latter who would receive their commissions upon completion of flight training. New bachelor officer quarters, cadet barracks and other facilities were built. The air base employed 700 civilians in addition to assigned USAF military cadre and student personnel. Notable graduates of initial pilot training at Graham AB include former

Chief of the National Guard Bureau The chief of the National Guard Bureau (CNGB) is the highest-ranking officer of the National Guard and the head of the National Guard Bureau. The position is a statutory office (), held by a federally recognized commissioned officer who has ser ...

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Russell C. Davis and former Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force,

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Michael P. C. Carns, who was also a member of the first graduating class of the

USAF Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Air Force Academy, Colorado, Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. I ...

in 1959. In June 1958, the Air Force began replacing their prop-driven T-28s with the first

T-37 Tweet The Cessna T-37 Tweet (designated Model 318 by Cessna) is a small, economical twin-engine jet trainer aircraft. It was flown for decades as a primary trainer of the United States Air Force (USAF) as well as in the air forces of several other nati ...

jet trainers and, by 1960, the Air Force was fully committed to transitioning to the Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) concept at selected Air Training Command installations with longer runways which would eventually host

and

T-38 Talon The Northrop T-38 Talon is a two-seat, twinjet supersonic jet trainer designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Northrop Corporation. It was the world's first supersonic trainer as well as the most produced. The T-38 can be tra ...

jet trainers. Facilities like Graham AB, with civilian contractor instructors and short runways became obsolete and were eventually closed in the early 1960s. The Air Force closed Graham AB in late 1960, despite efforts of influential Florida Congressman Robert L. F. Sikes to keep it running. As the installation was being scaled down as a military facility, the industrial committee of the Junior Chamber of Commerce worked to adapt the air base into a combination industrial park and civilian airport. The 3300th Training Squadron was inactivated on 1 February 1961 and the base's air traffic control tower permanently closed. ATC wanted to close the base in March, but an Air Force imposed freeze on shipping property delayed its final closure. However, on 31 August 1961 the base was inactivated as a military installation and turned over to civil control.

Civil use

Today the airport is known as Marianna Municipal Airport. In addition to its civilian general aviation traffic, the airport continues to see significant use by military aircraft, with one third of the airport's daily operations normally consisting of transient military training flights, primarily Army helicopters from

Fort Novosel Fort Rucker is a United States Army post located primarily in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It was formerly named in honor of Chief Warrant Officer Michael J. Novosel, an Army aviator and Medal of Honor recipient. It was previously name ...

and Navy helicopters from

Naval Air Station Whiting Field Naval Air Station Whiting Field is a United States Navy base located near Milton, Florida, with some outlying fields near Navarre, Florida, in south and central Santa Rosa County, and is one of the Navy's two primary pilot training bases (the ...

References

;Other sources * * Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas * Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), ''Locating Air Force Base Sites, History’s Legacy'', Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC.

External links