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| Greensboro-High Point Army Air Field | |
|---|---|
| Name | Greensboro-High Point Army Air Field |
| Location | Guilford County, North Carolina |
| Coordinates | 36°04′N 79°49′W |
| Type | Army Air Field |
| Built | 1941 |
| Used | 1942–1946 |
| Controlledby | United States Army Air Forces |
| Garrison | Third Air Force, Air Technical Service Command |
Greensboro-High Point Army Air Field was a World War II-era United States Army Air Forces installation located near Greensboro, North Carolina and High Point, North Carolina in Guilford County, North Carolina. Established to support pilot training, logistics, and tactical operations, the field functioned under commands including the Third Air Force and units associated with Army Air Forces Training Command during the expansion of United States military aviation in the early 1940s. The installation interfaced with regional transport routes such as the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and interstate highways that linked to industrial centers including Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina.
The site originated amid mobilization following the Attack on Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entry into World War II (1939–1945), when the War Department accelerated construction of airfields across the Southeastern United States. Local acquisition involved coordination with Guilford County authorities and landowners near Jamestown, North Carolina and Friendship, North Carolina, reflecting patterns seen at contemporaneous fields like Chatham Army Airfield and Morris Field. Initial construction commenced in 1941 with runway grading, hangar erection, and support buildings built by contractors under contracts overseen by Army Corps of Engineers. During its wartime lifetime the air field hosted headquarters elements and transient units drawn from commands such as Air Transport Command and Air Service Command, mirroring the organizational flux of the USAAF through 1945. Following demobilization after the Surrender of Japan the installation saw drawdown orders consistent with the national postwar military reduction and shifting priorities toward peacetime aviation.
The air field featured multiple concrete runways, steel-frame hangars, maintenance shops, fuel storage, and a control tower similar to designs propagated by the Civil Aeronautics Administration and adapted for military use. Support infrastructure included barracks, a mess hall, a dispensary, and motor pools connected by an internal road network linked to U.S. Route 29 and regional rail spurs serving the Southern Railway. Technical facilities accommodated aircraft overhaul, engine testing, and ordnance handling consistent with standards of the Air Technical Service Command. Nearby municipal utilities in Greensboro, North Carolina and High Point, North Carolina provided electricity and water, while wartime housing pressures prompted cooperation with Guilford County and local contractors to erect temporary quarters and civilian worker housing.
Operational control rotated among numbered training units and support groups, with detachments from the 330th Bombardment Group, 81st Fighter Group, and other training organizations appearing for instructional deployments. The field supported ferrying flights linked to Air Transport Command routes, transient bomber and fighter groups transiting between Selfridge Field and Brookley Army Air Field, and tactical exercises coordinated with Third Air Force headquarters. Ground units included base engineering squadrons and service groups affiliated with the Army Air Forces Technical Training Command, while liaison with Civil Air Patrol elements and local American Red Cross chapters provided auxiliary services. Air traffic control procedures tied into regional training schedules overseen by Southeastern Training Center planners and forward-deployment directives from continental commands.
Pilot and aircrew instruction at the installation encompassed primary and advanced phases, with aircraft types ranging from training platforms like the North American T-6 Texan to combat types used for transition training, including the P-47 Thunderbolt, P-51 Mustang, B-25 Mitchell, and B-17 Flying Fortress during cross-country or instrument practice flights. Ground crews trained on Wright R-1820 and Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines in overhaul shops modeled after Air Depot curricula, while bombardier and navigation drills used linkages to range sites comparable to those near Dunn, North Carolina and Pinehurst, North Carolina. Flight syllabus elements aligned with Army Air Forces Training Command manuals, radio operator instruction used equipment similar to SCR-274-N transmitters, and gunnery practice utilized ranges and tow-target procedures employed across the Southeastern United States training complex.
During World War II (1939–1945), the field functioned as a training node and transient staging area supporting both tactical readiness and strategic movement of aircraft via Air Transport Command corridors. It contributed to pilot throughput feeding combat units deployed to the European Theater of Operations and the Pacific Theater of Operations, and served as a maintenance and reconditioning point for returning aircraft. After the Japanese Instrument of Surrender and the onset of demobilization, mission emphasis shifted toward equipment redistribution, personnel processing, and disposition activities under directives from War Assets Administration and Army Services Forces, culminating in the cessation of active flying operations as resources were consolidated at larger air depots like Kelly Field and Davis-Monthan Field.
Decommissioning followed a pattern common to many wartime airfields: official inactivation orders, property transfer actions with War Assets Administration, and eventual conveyance to civil authorities in Guilford County. Portions of the former airfield were repurposed for industrial parks, municipal airport expansion, and community projects similar to redevelopment efforts at Greenville Army Airfield and Morris Field Municipal Airport. Surviving hangars and taxiways influenced local economic redevelopment plans linking to Piedmont Triad International Airport growth corridors, while historical societies in Greensboro, North Carolina and High Point, North Carolina preserved archival materials and commemorated the site’s wartime role through exhibits and veterans’ organizations such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Category:Installations of the United States Army Air Forces in North Carolina