La Chorrera Army Airfield | |
|---|---|
| Part of Sixth Air Force | |
| Located in Panama | |
  La Chorrera AAF | |
| Coordinates | 08°52′30.57″N079°47′15.09″W / 8.8751583°N 79.7875250°W Coordinates: 08°52′30.57″N079°47′15.09″W / 8.8751583°N 79.7875250°W |
| Type | Military airfield |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | United States Army Air Forces |
La Chorrera Army Airfield is a former United States Army Air Forces World War II air base on Panama. It was a sub-base of Albrook Field and later Howard Field which used for dispersal and overflow units as part of the defense of the Panama Canal.
The United States Army Air Forces, informally known as the Air Force,or United States Army Air Force, was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army during and immediately after World War II (1939/41–1945), successor to the previous United States Army Air Corps and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force of today, one of the five uniformed military services. The AAF was a component of the United States Army, which in 1942 was divided functionally by executive order into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the Services of Supply, and the Army Air Forces. Each of these forces had a commanding general who reported directly to the Army Chief of Staff.
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Central America, bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The capital and largest city is Panama City, whose metropolitan area is home to nearly half the country's 4 million people.
Units assigned to the field were:
- 30th Pursuit (later Fighter) Squadron (37th Fighter Group), 24 November 1941 – 3 January 1943 (P-40 Warhawk)
- 31st Pursuit (later Fighter) Squadron (37th Fighter Group), 9–23 December 1941; 3 February-19 May 1942 (P-40 Warhawk)
- 24th Fighter Squadron (16th Fighter Group), 15 March–September 1942; 10Jan-28 May 1943 (P-39 Airacobra)
- 28th Fighter Squadron (37th Fighter Group),26 March-2 May 1942 (P-40 Warhawk)
- 15th Fighter Squadron (53d Fighter Group), 2 January-10 November 1942 (P-39 Airacobra)
- 53d Fighter Squadron (32d Fighter Group), 7 January-8 June 1943 (P-40 Warhawk)
- 43d Fighter Squadron (XXVI Fighter Command), 6 April-29 August 1944 (P-39 Airacobra)
The 30th Fighter-Bomber Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 37th Fighter-Bomber Wing, based at Clovis Army Airfield, New Mexico. It was inactivated on 25 June 1953.
The 37th Training Wing is a unit of the United States Air Force assigned to the 2nd Air Force and the Air Education and Training Command. As the host unit to Lackland Air Force Base, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, the 37th TRW is the predominate unit on the installation and is the largest training wing in the USAF. Known as the "Gateway to the Air Force", the 37th Training Wing's replaced the Lackland Training Center as the single basic military training for the USAF.
The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production and operational service. The Warhawk was used by most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in frontline service until the end of the war. It was the third most-produced American fighter of World War II, after the P-51 and P-47; by November 1944, when production of the P-40 ceased, 13,738 had been built, all at Curtiss-Wright Corporation's main production facilities at Buffalo, New York.
