DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. April 1917. The United States steps into the First World War, and here's the thing — the Aviation Section, Signal Corps, U.S.
Army, had exactly one hundred and twelve pilots. One hundred and twelve. For a war that was already tearing the sky apart over Europe.
The allies were counting on the U.S. to build the greatest aerial fleet the world had ever seen, and the U.S. had one hundred and twelve pilots to start with. Now, you want to talk about pressure. The country moved fast.
By August of that same year, somebody looked at a map, looked at the weather, looked at Wichita Falls, Texas, and said — there. Good winter weather. Room to fly.
That's the place. Six hundred and forty acres were leased through the efforts of local citizens, and the field was named for Lieutenant Loren H. Call, a pilot who had been killed on duty right here in Texas, back in 1913.
A young man's name on a young nation's airfield. That's a weight worth carrying. Construction broke ground September 4th, 1917.
They didn't dawdle. Fifty to sixty buildings went up north of this very spot on Call Field Road. South of the road, they laid the runways and raised twelve hangars.
The planes that would fill those hangars — the Standard JL and the Curtiss JN4 — were already on their way. Major John Brooks was the first commanding officer, a man who would go on to become Major General Brooks. He didn't arrive alone.
With him came fifteen enlisted men from the 6th Aero Squadron out of the Hawaiian Territory, and five flying cadets who'd come up from San Diego, California. You start with twenty men and an empty field and a deadline. That's the whole story, right there in miniature.
But Wichita Falls had a way of making things grow. Over time, more than three thousand officers, cadets, and enlisted men were based at Call Field. And before the field closed in July 1919, that school had granted commissions and wings to some five hundred men — and sent two aero squadrons overseas for combat duty.
Stand here long enough, and you start to wonder about all those men who learned to trust the sky on this patch of Texas ground. The buildings are mostly gone now. But Major Brooks's horse stable still stands, three hundred and sixty feet to the north — the last structure left from all of it.
One stable, out of fifty or sixty buildings, outlasting everything else. Sometimes the thing that survives isn't the one you'd expect.
What the marker says
When the United States entered World War I, April 1917, the Aviation Section, Signal Corps, U.S. Army, had only 112 pilots. Yet the allies, relying heavily on the U.S., planned the greatest of all aerial fleets, and the U.S. moved at once to meet the expectations. In August, Wichita Falls was chosen, because of good winter weather, as location for a new aviation field for pilot training programs. Through efforts of local citizens, this 640-acre site was leased and named for Lt. Loren H. Call, a pilot killed on duty in Texas, 1913. Construction began September 4, 1917, on primary flight training school; 50 to 60 buildings went up north of this spot on Call Field Road; runways and 12 hangars were situated south of the road. Planes used included the standard JL and Curtis JN4. Major John Brooks (later Major Gen. Brooks) was the first commanding officer. (His horse stable, 360 feet north, is only surviving Call Field building) with him came 15 enlisted men from 6th Aero Sqn., Hawaiian Terr., and five flying cadets from San Diego, California. In time, over 3,000 officers, cadets and enlisted men were based here. Before Call Field closed in July 1919; the school gave commissions and wings to some 500 men and sent two aero squadrons overseas for combat duty. (1973)