A wartime flight school rose east of Pampa in 1942

Pampa leaders went looking for a wartime air base. Mayor Fred Thompson and a Chamber of Commerce group traveled to Washington, D.C., and the Army chose a site about 11 miles east of town. Army officials cited the terrain, climate record, available land, and community response. Construction began in June 1942 under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The city recruited the project; the Army built and ran it.

Before the field was ready, temporary offices occupied the Rose Motor Company and Culberson-Smalling buildings downtown. After Col. Daniel S. Campbell took command in September, planes and aviation cadets arrived within two months. The field provided advanced twin-engine training in AT-10 aircraft. Mechanics learned the work needed to keep military planes flying, and AT-9s, B-25s, and AT-17s were stationed there too. The base became known as the Eagles' Nest of the High Plains.

Pampa Army Air Field graduated 6,292 cadets and trained 3,500 mechanics before closing on September 30, 1945. The whole chapter lasted about three years, from borrowed downtown offices to thousands of trained airmen.