Graham Air Base was a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

base located in

Marianna, Florida Marianna is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Florida, Jackson County, Florida, United States, and it is home to Chipola College. The population was 6,102 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. In 2018 the estimated populati ...

. After it was closed in 1960, it was reused as

Marianna Municipal Airport Marianna Municipal Airport is an airport in Marianna, Jackson County, Florida, northeast of Downtown Marianna. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)'s National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2009–2013 categorized it as a general ...

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 Ellis Auxiliary Army Airfield is a closed military airfield. It was located 9.7 miles north of Marianna, Florida, United States. History Originally constructed by the United States Army Air Forces in 1942 as one of four auxiliary airfields for ...

Malone Auxiliary Field Malone Auxiliary Army Airfield is a closed military airfield. It was located 15.7 miles north-northeast of Marianna, Florida. History Originally constructed by the United States Army Air Forces in 1942 as one of four auxiliary airfields for th ...

Bascom Auxiliary Field North American Farms Airport is a private airport, located 5.6 miles east of Malone, Florida. Overview Opened in March 1992, the airport is used for crop dusting operations and the owner's private use. History Originally constructed by the Un ...

Alliance Auxiliary Field Alliance Auxiliary Army Airfield is a closed military airfield. It was located 14 miles southeast of Marianna, Florida. History Originally constructed by the United States Army Air Forces in 1943 as one of four auxiliary airfields for the pil ...

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 and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time an ...

s and

AT-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces ...

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 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.S. air forces in E ...

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 C ...

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 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 as A ...

(ATC) in response to increased demands for pilots as a result of the Cold War and the associated increase in number of Air Force combat flying wings, especially within the

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both 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 c ...

. 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 state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...

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 ...

. 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 air 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 three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) 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 ...

Russell C. Davis and former

Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force The vice chief of staff of the Air Force (VCSAF) is the second highest-ranking military officer in the United States Air Force. If the chief of staff of the Air Force (CSAF) is absent or is unable to perform his duties, then the VCSAF assumes t ...

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Michael P. C. Carns Michael Patrick Chamberlain Carns (June 23, 1937 – October 11, 2023) was a four-star general in the United States Air Force (USAF). He served as the Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force from 1991 to 1994. Early life Carns was ...

, 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 academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Unit ...

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-engined jet trainer type which flew for decades as a primary trainer for the United States Air Force (USAF) and in the air forces of several other nations. The T ...

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. It was the world's first, and the most produced, supersonic trainer. The T-38 remains in service in several air forces. The United States Air Force (USAF) operates the mos ...

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 Robert Lee Fulton Sikes (June 3, 1906September 28, 1994) was an American politician of the Democratic Party who represented the Florida Panhandle in the United States House of Representatives from 1941 to 1979, with a brief break in 1944 and 1945 ...

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

. 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 Rucker Fort Rucker is a U.S. Army post located primarily in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It was named for a Civil War officer, Confederate General Edmund Rucker. The post is the primary flight training installation for U.S. Army Aviators an ...

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 ot ...

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