George Field was authorized by the
United States Army Air Corps in April 1942 as part of the expansion of pilot training bases by the Air Corps Flying Training Command as part of the 70,000 Pilot Training Program. It was one of many air fields created in the country's interior during the war. Construction of the facility began in June. The airfield consisted of four main 5,200 ft concrete and asphalt runways, aligned 01/19; 05/23; 09/27 and 13/31. In addition to the main airfield, four axillary fields were constructed to support the training mission. Those were located as follows • George Field Auxiliary #1 (Presbyterian Field, Mount Carmel IL) • George Field Auxiliary #2 (Emison Field, Vincennes, IN) • George Field Auxiliary #3 (St. Thomas, IN) •
George Field Auxiliary#4 (Palestine, IL) Additional airfields used by George Field for training were
Atterbury Army Air Field, Indiana, and
Sturgis Army Air Field, Kentucky, beginning in 1944 for combat troop carrier training. General George had joined the
Air Service, United States Army in 1917, and flew with the
139th Aero Squadron on the
Western Front in France. In combat, he was credited with five aerial victories. The school was opened on 10 August 1942 under the USAAF Eastern Flying Training Command, its mission to provide advanced (3d phase) pilot training in twin-engined aircraft. Training was conducted by the 30th Two Engine Flying Training Group using the
Beechcraft AT-10 Wichita. Planes from George Field were fuselage-coded "GE". Until the summer of 1944, George Field received cadets that had graduated from advanced flying training schools, primarily in the southeast and provided them upgrade training to twin engine aircraft. These pilots would go on to fly primarily medium bombers and transport planes after completing their training. By the summer of 1944, the need for
C-47 Skytrain transport pilots was critical and Training Command transferred George Field to
I Troop Carrier Command. A change of mission was made and George Field was placed under the 805th Army Air Force Base Unit. Its training squadrons began training pilots for paratrooper drops and towing gliders. It also trained crews in combat re-supply and casualty evacuation procedures from rough forward airfields in the combat areas to hospitals in rear areas. In February 1945, training was changed from the C-47 to
C-46 Commando transports. With the end of World War II, training ended at George Field on 1 September 1945. and the field was placed on standby status. It was turned over to
Air Technical Service Command (ATSC). ATSC's mission was to remove all usable military equipment from the property and dispose of items which no longer had a useful need. Like many other surplus airfields around the country, public sales were held to offer the material to the public. It was declared excess by the Army in 1946. George Field was conveyed though the
War Assets Administration (WAA) to the City of Lawrenceville, Illinois on 16 November 1948 to establish a municipal airport. ==Current status==