In late 1939, the US Army leased from the City of Albuquerque 2,000 acres adjacent to the municipal airport to house a small Air Corps detachment servicing transient Army and Navy aircraft.
On February 25, 1942, at the.
Starting as a B-17 training Base in the months prior to World War II, the airfield would contain a bombardier school, glider replacement center, and four-engine transition school.
From these humble beginnings, construction began on Albuquerque Army Air Base on January 7, 1941.
In late 1939, the US Army leased from the City of Albuquerque 2,000 acres adjacent to the municipal airport to house a small Air Corps detachment servicing transient Army and Navy aircraft