In the spring of 1941 Grayson county leaders began to discuss the possibilities of a US Army Air Corps basic flying school to be built in Grayson County, with the cooperation of the US Army Air corps expansion program. In March 1941 Grayson County Judge, Jake J. Loy of Sherman went to Washington DC to further the project idea. After his visit to Washington DC, Judge Loy returned to Sherman and began to work on the project with County commissioners. A tract of land was selected that was suitable for a flying field. In
early April 1941, Major CR. Storrie, A.C. Assistant Director of Training
for the Air Corps schools, flew to Sherman from Randolph Field, Texas,
to look over the site with county officials. On April 16th, 1941, Judge
Loy sent a report to Major Storrie that included real estate, meteorological,
and agriculture data, along with information about Sherman and Denison,
highway maps, and a resolution showing the commitments that the county
was prepared to assume. Acres to be leased to the U.S. government. On June 16, 1941, the Office of the Chief of the Air Corps in Washington, D.C. drew up a program for construction. A tentative authorized strength of 199 officers, 422 cadets, 1730 enlisted men, and funds in the amount of $3,966,833.00 were ordered and set aside for the construction of the airfield. The lease was signed by the United States Government and by Grayson County on July 1st, 1941, and that same week the Army Corps of Engineers started construction on the newly established Grayson Basic Flying school. On August 9, 1941, Major Robert J Warren was the first person to report to duty at the partially constructed airfield. He assumed the duties as project officer and temporary Commanding officer. Ten days later, five enlisted men arrived from Angelo, TX) to assist Major Warren in the development of the airstrip, hangars, barracks, and field headquarters building. The field was knee deep in mud, buildings half erected, and piles of lumber everywhere. Construction crews were busy at work as well. On August 21st 1941, the first aircraft, a BT-14, and Army Air Force personnel arrived at the newly constructed Grayson Basic Flying School. Personnel continued to arrive during September and October, and by mid October ten officers had been assigned to the airfield, including a director of training, a signal officer, flight surgeon, post surgeon, dental surgeon, and three quartermaster officers. Quarters were not yet available for these early arrivals so they lived in near by Sherman and Denison, driving to the base on the new, muddy, unpaved roads. Boxcar loads of supplies arrived at a nearby railroad station in Pottsboro, Texas. Officers, Sergeants, and privates all rolled up their sleeves and loaded the boxes and other supplies onto the Army trucks heading for the airfield. As more military personnel arrived at the airfield, they found that mess tables, packing crates, typewriter boxes, and nail kegs served as office furniture. The first Civilian employees arrived at the airfield on November 3, 1941 that included a secretary for the commanding officer and two telephone operators. A total of 17 officers and 6 enlisted men had been assigned to the base. On November 8, 1941, twenty-four more officers arrived at the base. Four days later three cooks arrived to the base to begin preparations of the general mess hall for the arrival of 180 enlisted men from the 85th Air Base Group, Goodfellow Field, scheduled for November 14. On November 12, 1941, Lt. Colonel Donald G. Stitt was assigned to the airfield and assumed command on November 19, 1941. Major Warren stayed on as project officer. Lt. Colonel Stitt was, in effect, the first commander of the field. The finance department was activated on November 27, 1941, utilizing the barracks as field headquarters. Four days later they handled the first payroll, making payments directly to the enlisted men. On November 28, three BT-13 aircraft arrived with pilot instructors. Men started arriving for aircraft maintenance, training, medical services, weather and communications, food service and quartermaster duties. By December the hospital building, officers quarters and club, warehouses, general mess, operations building, runways, sewage disposal plant, various administrative buildings, cadet mess, and fourteen cadet barracks, were in a usable state. Post headquarters, and hangars were still under construction. Roads were half paved, and the water tower had just been completed. On December 2, 1941, 300 men came to Perrin with the transfer of the 508th, 509th, 510th and 511th school squadrons for aircraft maintenance, training, medical, weather, and communications detachments, all from Goodfellow Field. In the next few days, smaller groups arrived, including a quartermaster detachment. The Medical Department was activated on December 4, 1941. By early December 7, 1941, the strength of the airfield stood at 90 officers and 545 enlisted men. The first class of cadets were expected by the end of December. However, with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, training programs were immediately sped up, and the cadets were to arrive within two weeks. The first class of eighty-one cadets arrived on December 16, 1941, from Corsicana Texas, and the first dance at the base was held on December 19. On December 22, their formal program of instruction began. On February 20, 1942, the first fatal crash occurred at Perrin, taking the lives of instructor Cyril T. Van Valkenburg and student, Quinto O. Perkins. In spite of the difficulties with training facilities and the ongoing construction, the pioneering class of cadets graduated on schedule, February 23, 1942, and left Perrin for advanced flight training. This was also the occasion for the official dedication of this new basic flying school. Perrin Field had been named in January 1942, in memory of the late Lt. Col. Elmer D Perrin, a native Texan, who had been killed in a plane crash on June 21, 1941, during an acceptance test of a bomber near the Glenn L Martin aircraft plant in Baltimore, Maryland. Less than 6 months after the initial construction had started, Perrin's population was over 2500, with over 135 structures completed, including three control towers, two hangars, and miles of concrete runways. A continuing stream of officers and enlisted men arrived at Perrin with the strength leaping from 600 to over 4000 by December 1942. The abnormal strength of the base was due to special training programs at Perrin, such as basic training for aircrew trainees and recruits, and activation of new squadrons to be sent to newly established flying training schools around the country. In August 1942, Perrin sent 5 newly activated squadrons to the newly established Majors Field in nearby Greenville, Texas, and in December 1942, Perrin sent ten squadrons to the basic flying school in Independence, Kansas. Perrin also sent out recruiting teams all over north Texas and southern Oklahoma, to enlist technicians, who would attend basic training at Perrin and then be assigned duty there. The
strength dropped to normal in early 1943 to about 2500 enlisted men and
300 officers. Buses ran hourly from the base to nearby cities, Sherman
and Denison, and the MKT. Railroad furnished rail transportation from
nearby Pottsboro, Texas. Training aircraft used at Perrin Field included
approximately 250 BT-13's and AT-6's, with approximately 550 maintenance
personnel working 24 hours shifts. Pilot cadet classes numbered between
300 and 400 students. The field started adjusting itself to the vast expansion
necessitated by the country's entrance into W.W.II. Perrin Field was initially
assigned to the Central flying training command. Perrin Field was upgraded
from a secondary school to primary classification. This eliminated the
need for an advanced training school. When a cadet graduated from Perrin,
he was immediately commissioned. In July 1943, Perrin Field was reassigned
to the newly established Training Command with its headquarters in Fort
Worth, Texas. Perrin Field hosted the 32nd Flying Training Wing from September
1943, to October 1945. Perrin Field trained approximately 2500 basic pilot
students annually during W.W.II, graduating over 10,000 student pilots,
including cadets from Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, Philippines and Ecuador.
The airfield also had a branch prisoner of war camp holding about 200
German POWs. POST W.W.II in February 1946, basic pilot training was discontinued
at the base. Beginning
in 1951 Allied National students began pilot training at Perrin, which
continued until 1962. On July 17, 1952, Perrin was designated a permanent
Air Force installation and the name was officially changed to Perrin Air
Force Base. Perrin was also transformed to the Crew Training Air Force,
which involved the In July 1962 Perrin was transferred to the Air Defense Command, and the 4780th Air Defense Training Wing absorbed the 3555th Training Wing. A new jet arrived, the F102 Delta (Dagger) wing. From 1962 to 1971 Perrin had the largest fleet of F102's in the US Air Force. Perrin AFB became the only F102 training base within the Air Defense Command. The 4780th trained already jet-qualified pilots to operate interceptor-type aircraft as combat weapons. Perrin graduates of the F-102 were assigned to active duty units or went on for further instruction in the F-101, F-106 or B-58 operations. In October 1962 during the Cuban missile crises a number of Perrin pilots and aircraft went on special alert, some flying missions to Florida. Under the 4780th there were two flying squadrons, the 4781st and 4782nd CCTS. The 4780th was under the command jurisdiction of 14th Air Force, 73rd Air Division until April 1966. In July 1968, the 10th Air Force assumed command control of the 4780th. In 1964 the 4780th Air Defense Wing was chosen to host the Air Defense Command Life Support School at the nearby Lake Texoma. The school was initiated to give life support and ejection training to aircrews flying ADC aircraft and to Air National Guard units that supported the ADC mission. Prior to the school's establishment, the ADC had a twenty-two percent fatality rate, but after the first year it fell to five percent. The school trained and graduated over 11,000 aircrew members including forty-nine United States astronauts. Perrin utilized the HH-43B helicopters for rescue and fire fighting. In July, 1968, seventeen United States astronauts, including Allan Sheppard, Neal Armstrong, David Scott, James McDivott, Charles Conrad, L. Gordon Cooper, Richard F Gordon, William Andrews, Frank Borman, James Lovell, Harrison Schmidt, Joseph Algranti, Jerry Cobb, Harold Ream, Kenneth Thompson, Robert Leet, and John Proban arrived at Perrin AFB, to attend a two-day survival training school at the PAFB support school at nearby Lake Texoma. In April 1967 Perrin assumed the added training mission with the activation of the 3251st Flying Training Wing that trained already qualified pilots as instructors in the Air Training Commands undergraduate pilot program, flying the T-37 (Tweetie bird). In 1969 the 4780th won many honors for their accomplishments, which included three outstanding unit awards and the United States Air Force Flying Safety Plaque for flying 38,551 hours without a major accident. Since its inception, pilots from Perrin trained in the BT-14, BT-13A, AT-6, T-28 trainers, B-25, B-26 bomber, T-33 & T-37 jet trainers, F-86D & F-86L Sabre jets and F102 & TF102 delta wing jet. Pilots trained at Perrin served in W.W.II, Korea, and the Vietnam wars. Perrin trained dozens of aces and forty-nine United States astronauts. On March 3, 1971, it was announced that Perrin would close. On May 13, 1971, the last graduating class flew its F102's in formation over Sherman and Denison as a farewell to its two host cities. A few days later the last of the F-102 Delta Daggers left the base, and the 4780th Air Defense Wing was deactivated. For thirty years Perrin trained pilots, who participated in three wars: The closing of Perrin on June 30, 1971, was due mainly to the change of the pilot training requirements and the crowded airways from the opening of the new Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The base that then consisted of over 1875 acres was given to the Grayson County Community College and to the County of Grayson. The name of the field was changed to Grayson County Airport and is home to a small industrial park and civilian flight operations. Since the base's closure, a small group of local Sherman and Denison citizens have held the memory of Perrin together, hosting nine Perrin Field reunions since the early 1980's. The Perrin AFB Research Foundation was established in 1998.
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