March is one of the oldest airfields operated by the United States military, being established as Alessandro Flying Training Field in February 1918. It was
one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the United States entry into World War I in April 1917. The airfield was renamed March Field the following month in honor of 2nd Lieutenant
Peyton C. March, Jr., the recently deceased son of then-Army Chief of Staff
Peyton C. March, who was killed in an air crash in Texas just fifteen days after being commissioned.
World War I The establishment of March Air Force Base began in the early 20th century at a time when the United States was rushing to build up its military forces in anticipation of an entry into
World War I. In 1917, in response to news from the front lines, Congressional appropriations attempted to back the plans of
General George O. Squier, the Army's chief signal officer, to "put the Yankee punch into the war by building an army in the air". At the same time, the
War Department announced its intentions to build several new military installations. Efforts by
Frank Miller, then-owner of the
Mission Inn in
Riverside, California, Hiram Johnson and others, succeeded in gaining War Department approval to construct an airfield at Alessandro Field located near Riverside, an airstrip used by aviators from
Rockwell Field on cross country flights from
San Diego. • Post Headquarters, March Field, March 1918 – April 1923 • 68th Aero Squadron (II), June 1918 (transferred from Rockwell Field, California) : Re-designated as Squadron "A", July–November 1918 • 215th Aero Squadron, March 1918 (transferred from Rockwell Field, California) : Re-designated as Squadron "B", July–November 1918 • 289th Aero Squadron, August 1918 (transferred from Rockwell Field, California) : Re-designated as Squadron "C", July–November 1918 • 293d Aero Squadron, June 1918 : Re-designated as Squadron "D", July–November 1918 • 311th Aero Squadron, June 1918 : Re-designated as Squadron "E", July–November 1918 • Flying School Detachment (Consolidation of Squadrons A-E), November 1918 – November 1919
First accident On 2 August 1918,
Standard J-1,
AS-1918, crashed and was written off at March Field. "By
Associated Press to
The Sun Riverside, Aug. 2. – William L. Ash, flying cadet at March field [
sic], fell 1,000 feet in a
tail spin today and was seriously injured. He suffered a fractured leg and arm and puncture of the side. It is expected he will recover. Ash lived in
Pittsburg, Kansas. It was the first serious accident at March field. Ash was making his second solo flight when he fell."
Post-Armistice With the sudden end of World War I on 11 November 1918, the future operational status of March Field was uncertain. Many local officials speculated that the U.S. government would keep the field open because of the outstanding combat record established by March-trained pilots in Europe. Locals also pointed to the optimal weather conditions in the Riverside area for flight training. Cadets in flight training on 11 November 1918 were allowed to complete their training; however, no new cadets were assigned to the base. Furthermore, the separate training squadrons were consolidated into a single Flying School detachment, as many of the personnel assigned were being demobilized.
Inter-war years of the
17th Pursuit Group, 18 February 1935. Number
33–102 sits in the foreground. These aircraft were later sent to the 1st Pursuit Squadron/Group of the
Philippine Air Force in 1937. takeoff by an
ERCO Ercoupe fitted with a
GALCIT booster, performed at March Field in 1941. The signing of the
armistice in November 1918 did not halt training at March Field. Initially March was used by several Air Service squadrons that returned from France: However, by 1921, the decision had been made to phase down all activities at the base in accordance with sharply reduced military budgets. By the spring of 1923, March Field was deactivated as an active duty airfield, however, and a small caretaker unit was assigned to the facility for administrative reasons. It was used by the aerial forestry patrol. It also was used intermittently to support small military units. The completion of the first phase of permanent buildings in 1934 added to the scenic quality of the base. Throughout
World War II, many soon-to-be-famous bombardment groups performed their final training at March before embarking for duty in the Pacific. Known sub-bases and auxiliaries used for training were: •
Buffalo Springs Airport •
Needles Army Airfield •
Shavers Summit Army Airfield On a lighter note, entertainer
Bob Hope's first
USO show was held at March on 6 May 1941. He had been asked to do this show on location by his radio producer Albert Capstaff, whose brother was stationed there.
Jack Benny later originated his own radio program from March Field on 11 January 1942.
Post-Cold War era In July 1990, the 163d Tactical Fighter Group changed missions and was re-designated the 163rd Tactical Reconnaissance Group, equipped with
RF-4C Phantom II aircraft. The 22 ARW supported
F-117 deployments to
Saudi Arabia and contributed aircraft and personnel to logistics efforts in support of the liberation of
Kuwait from 1990 to 1991. On 1 June 1992, a major Air Force reorganization resulted in the disestablishment of the
Strategic Air Command. The 22d ARW was assigned to the new
Air Mobility Command, and from the end of 1992 to 1994, the wing flew
humanitarian airlift missions to
Somalia. It also provided air refueling in support of deployments to
Haiti in 1994. March is currently home to nine
C-17 Globemaster IIIs, which belong strictly to the Air Force Reserve Command, as well as twelve
KC-135R Stratotankers. The tankers were the first in the Air Force Reserve to convert to the Block 40 Pacer CRAG modernization upgrade. In 2007, the 163rd also saw a change in mission, transferring its KC-135R aircraft to other Air Force,
Air Force Reserve and
Air National Guard units, with the majority of its aircraft transferred to the 452 AMW at March. The unit was then redesignated as the
163d Reconnaissance Wing (163 RW), operating the
MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial system. With this change, the 163 RW also changed operational claiamncy from
Air Mobility Command (AMC) to
Air Combat Command (ACC). stationed at March In 2010, the
912th Air Refueling Squadron (912 ARS) was reactivated and assigned to March. An active duty squadron of the Regular Air Force and the
Air Mobility Command (AMC), the 912 ARS will be part of the 452 AMW under the "Active Associate" concept, working in tandem with the Air Force Reserve Command's
336th Air Refueling Squadron and 452nd Maintenance Group, while remaining under the administrative control of the
92nd Air Refueling Wing (92 ARW) at
Fairchild AFB, Washington. This is an example of Total Force Integration at work. On July 31, 2015, the
4th Combat Camera Squadron was inactivated due to defense budget cuts. The 4th Combat Camera Squadron stood up at March in 1996 as the only combat camera squadron in the Air Force Reserve. The squadron documented more than 350 worldwide combat, humanitarian, expeditionary and training missions with still photography and video, both on the ground and aerial missions. On January 20, 2017, the flight transporting Former President
Barack Obama and his family after he left office was diverted to March after a storm shut off access to Palm Springs International Airport. Later that year, the 1st Combat Camera Squadron Operating Location Charlie was established as an aerial combat camera unit to cover the PACAF area of responsibility. This active duty unit deployed to several locations during its time to include the CENTCOM AOR as well as AFRICOM AOR. This unit also provided video and photo coverage of the post battle damage assessment from the January 6th, 2020 attack from Al-Shabaab forces in Kenya. In September 30th, 2020, the unit was shut down and consolidated back to the 1st Combat Camera Squadron in South Carolina. In early 2020, the base was used to screen 210 individuals who had been evacuated from China due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2022, March was proposed to get 12
KC-46 Pegasus refueling jets for the
US Air Force Reserve, however, these will also be shared with at least one active duty unit, according to
Rep. Ken Calvert, (
R-
Calif). "March is expected to begin operating the new aircraft in 2025 and the unit will be fully operational by 2027," according to
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, (
D-
Calif.)
Major commands to which assigned •
United States Army Air Service, 6 March 1918 – April 1923 •
United States Army Air Corps, March 1927 – 1 March 1935 • General Headquarters (GHQ) Air Force, 1 March 1935 – 31 March 1941 •
Fourth Air Force, 31 March 1941 – 13 April 1945 • Continental Air Forces, 13 April 1945 – 21 March 1946 •
Strategic Air Command, 21 March 1946 – 1 April 1946 •
Tactical Air Command, 1 April 1946 – 1 December 1948 •
Continental Air Command, 1 December 1948 – 1 May 1949 •
Strategic Air Command, 1 May 1949 – 1 June 1992 •
Air Combat Command, 1 June 1992 – 30 June 1996 •
Air Force Reserve Command, 1 July 1996–present
Major historical units assigned As and
Martin B-10s on the flightline of the
20th Pursuit Group, 7 November 1939
United States Army Air Service (1918–1923) • Det, 818th Aero Sq, 1 March 1918 – 22 July 1919 •
9th Aero Squadron, 22 July – 11 December 1919 •
23d Aero Squadron, 1 October 1921 – 21 March 1922 •
19th Aero Squadron, 1 October 1921 – 29 June 1922
United States Army Air Corps (1927–1941) •
11th Bomb Squadron, 3 June – 31 July 1927 • 95th Pursuit Squadron (
95th Reconnaissance Squadron), 7 June – 31 July 1927 • 44th Observation Squadron, 25 June – 31 July 1927 • 13th School Group, 31 July 1927 – 30 April 1931 •
7th Bombardment Group, 29 October 1931 – 4 December 1934 •
17th Pursuit (Later Bombardment) Group, 15 July 1931 – 24 June 1940 •
19th Bombardment Group, 25 October 1935 – 4 June 1941 •
30th Bombardment Group, 15 January – 20 May 1941 • 41st Bombardment Group, 15 January – 20 May 1941 •
14th Pursuit Group, 10 June 1941 – 7 February 1942 •
51st Pursuit Group, 10 June 1941 – 7 February 1942 •
32nd Bombardment Squadron By November 2008, severe competition and a weakening global economy forced DHL to announce that it would close its March GlobalPort facility by early 2009 due to low profitability. This was part of a greater DHL business model which entailed completely shutting down all domestic shipping within the US. A new commercial tenant for the March GlobalPort facility has yet to be determined. Additional proposals to convert March Air Reserve Base into a joint civil-military public use airport have also been a topic of discussion. However, multiple issues have continued to draw this proposal into question. An original plan had the March Joint Powers Authority signing an agreement to convert March into a joint-use civil-military airport, sharing facilities between the military,
DHL and the public. However, DHL's recent retrenchment from their facility at March significantly impacted the viability of such a proposal. Conversion of March into a joint civil-military facility for
general aviation beyond the USAF-operated March Aero Club, as well as possible regional airline operations, has also been the subject of public protest and debate due to the potential increase in noise pollution, interference with military operations and the lack of a definitive funding stream for expanded civilian flight operations at March ARB, to include ground traffic/transportation infrastructure and requisite
TSA security enhancements. It ceased operations in May 2025. ==March Inland Port Airport==