U.S. Naval Auxiliary Air Station - Kingsville

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about a piece of South Texas sky and the men and women who learned to rule it. Before the United States ever stepped into World War II, Congress was already reading the weather. The Naval Expansion Act of 1940 funded the growth of a two-ocean navy and authorized the expansion of new naval air stations across the country.

Now, somebody in Kingsville, Texas was paying close attention to that. City officials saw the potential sitting right outside their front door, and they made their case: abundant air space, year-round flying weather, available acreage, and terrain flat as a billiard table as far as the eye could see. They promoted all of it, and the Navy listened.

On July 4, 1942, the U.S. Navy commissioned U.S. Naval Auxiliary Air Station Kingsville, Texas.

Independence Day. You could not have scripted that better if you tried. The original layout of that Advanced Pilot Training School came with a north field and a south field, two independent sets of runways, because one set was never going to be enough for what they had planned.

NAAS Kingsville operated as part of the Intermediate Training Complex out of Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, and what it accepted were male cadets taking their first step toward becoming carrier pilots. Now think about what that means. Carrier pilot.

Landing a screaming aircraft on a moving deck in the middle of an ocean. You do not just hand somebody a plane and wish them luck. It started in the classroom.

Then the flight simulator. Then, finally, the sky over South Texas, where cadets practiced touch-and-go landings on small area landing strips built to simulate the length of aircraft carrier decks. The same short, unforgiving distance they would face for real in the Pacific or the Atlantic.

They also flew bombing runs over area target sites and on targets at Padre Island, sharpening the edge that combat was going to demand of them. And while those cadets were in the air, a unit of Navy W.A.V.E.S., Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, was serving right here on the ground in various professions, holding the whole operation together. NAAS Kingsville played a significant role in training naval aviators for combat in both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters of operation.

Beyond that, the selection of Kingsville had a positive economic impact on the development of both the city and Kleberg County. The war ended, as wars do, and the U.S. began reducing its military inventory. On April 1, 1951, NAAS Kingsville was officially decommissioned as a jet transitional training facility.

But the story did not end there. In August 1968, the Navy upgraded Naval Auxiliary Air Station Kingsville to Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas. That flat South Texas ground, those wide open skies, that year-round flying weather the city fathers once had to sell to a skeptical government?

Turns out they were right all along.

What the marker says

Prior to U.S. involvement in World War II, the Naval Expansion Act of 1940 funded the growth of a two-ocean navy and authorized the expansion of new naval air stations. City of Kingsville officials saw the potential benefits of the creation of a military installation near the city and promoted the area's abundant air space, year-round flying weather, available acreage and flat terrain. Their efforts proved successful when the U.S. Navy commissioned U.S. Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS), Kingsville, Texas on July 4, 1942. The original layout of the Advanced Pilot Training School has a north field and south field with two independent sets of runways. As part of the Intermediate Training Complex out of Naval Air Station Corpus Christ, NAAS Kingsville accepted male cadetys for the intial step in carrier pilot training. Following classroom sessions and flight simulator instruction cadets took to the air practicing touch-and-go landings on small area landing strips, built to simulate the length of aircraft carrier decks. Cadets also flew "bombing" runs over area target sites and on targets at Padre Island. During the war, a unit of Navy W.A.V.E.S. (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) served here in various professions. NAAS Kingsville played a significant role in training naval aviators for combat in both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters of operation. In addition, the selection of Kingsville has a positive economic impact on the development of both the city and Kleberg County. Following the war, the U.S. began reducing its military inventory and NAAS Kingsville was officially decommissioned on April 1, 1951, as a jet transitional training facility. In August 1968, the Navy upgraded Naval Auxiliary Air Station Kingsville to Naval Air Station Kingsville. Texas in World War II - 2008