Ainsworth Army Airfield

Infobox Airport
name = Ainsworth Regional Airport
nativename =
nativename-a =
nativename-r =


image-width =
caption =
IATA = ANW
ICAO = KANW
type = Civilian
owner =
operator =
city-served =
location =
elevation-f = 2589
elevation-m = 789
coordinates = Coord|42|34|45|N|99|59|34|W
website =
metric-elev =
metric-rwy =
r1-number = 17/35
r1-length-f = 6,824
r1-length-m = 2,080
r1-surface = Asphalt
r2-number = 12/30
r2-length-f = 5,501
r2-length-m = 1,677
r2-surface = Asphalt
stat-year =
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footnotes =

Ainsworth Army Airfield was located in Brown County on Highway 20, 6 miles NW of Ainsworth, Nebraska. The airfield was activated on 30 November 1942.

History

It was one of eleven United States Army Air Force training bases in Nebraska during World War II. The base was under the command of the 353d Army Air Force Base Unit of the Second Air Force, based at Colorado Springs AAF Colorado. The 4315th Army Air Force Base Unit commanded the support elements at Ainsworth as part of Air Technical Service Command. Ainsworth also was a satellite field of Rapid City AAF, South Dakota.

The 2,496-acre field included three 7,300 x 150-foot concrete runways, a hangar, warehouse, repair and machine shops, link and bomb trainers, Norden bombsite vaults, and barracks for over 600 officers and enlisted men. The base's primary mission was to provide pilots proficiency training using Bell P-39 Airacobra and Republic P-47 Thunderbolts. In addition training with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was also provided. Aircraft camouflage experiments were also conducted on the site.

Known units that trained at Ainsworth were:

* 364th Fighter Squadron (7 October - 9 November 1943)
Part of the 357th Fighter Group
Trained with P-39s, flew North American P-51 Mustangs in England under 8th Air Force
* 53d Fighter Squadron (November 1943 - March 1944)
Part of the 36th Fighter Group
Trained with P-47s, Transferred to England under 9th Air Force
* 540th & 543d Bombardment Squadrons (April 1944 - August 1944)
Were B-17 replacement training units based at Ainsworth.
Deactivated and reactivated as Boeing B-29 Superfortress squadrons as part of the 383d Bomb Group at Dalhart AAF Texas.

The base closed on 31 December 1945. In 1946 the city of Ainsworth received a U.S. Government revocable license for commercial aircraft operations on the field. In 1948 the War Assets Administration declared the property surplus, and the city of Ainsworth received title to the airfield for use as a municipal airport.

Today the airfield is known as Ainsworth Regional Airport (ANW).

See also

* Second Air Force
* United States Army Air Force
* Nebraska World War II Army Airfields

References

* [http://armyairforces.com ArmyAirForces.Com]
* Maurer Maurer, "Air Force Combat Units Of World War II", Office of Air Force History, 1983

External links

* [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Ainsworth,+NE&ie=UTF8&z=13&ll=42.572551,-99.991379&spn=0.054358,0.167198&t=k&om=1 Satellite image of Ainsworth Airport on Google Maps]
* [http://www.airnav.com/airport/ANW Ainsworth Regional Airport at www.airnav.com]