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Mark Bane His 499 Park Field “Aviation Is Fine As a Sport

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Mark Bane His 499 Park Field “Aviation Is Fine As a Sport Mark Bane His 499 Park Field “Aviation is fine as a sport. But as an instrument of war, it is worthless.”1 General Ferdinand Foch, the professor of strategy at the Ecole Superieure de Guerre, was quoted as having said this to a student during a lecture. General Foch was wildly wrong in his assumption and with the emergence of military aviation, aviation would soon come to Tennessee. Park Field was initially established in May, 1917 in order to facilitate the training of new army aviators for World War One. Park Field would remain open and operation under Army Aviation until November 11, 1918 when World War One would end. From there Park Field would be used to serve as a base for Airmail routes through Tennessee where it was eventually abandoned in January, 1922.2 This would serve as the end of Aviation for Park Field until the Department of the Navy took over the area in February of 1942. Lieutenant Joseph D. Park graduated from West Point in 1905 with a commission in to the United States Army Air Corps where he initially served as an officer for the Twenty-fourth Infantry, but a few months later he was transferred to the fourth cavalry. In July 1911, he was promoted to a First Lieutenant and was transferred to the Fourth Cavalry. On Jan 15, 1913, Lt. Park was sent to the Aviation school at Hammondsport, N.Y. where he qualified for an aviator’s license on February 15th.3 This put LT Park as one of the first 25 rated USAS military aviators 1 Foch, “Air Power.” 2 “National Archives.” 3 “ARMY AIRMAN DIES IN 15-FOOT PLUNGE; Lieut. Joseph D. Park Crushed to Death When Biplane Hits Tree in California.” and was last serving with the 1st Aero squadron in North Island, California in 19134 when he had an unexpected accident. On May 9, 1913 Lt. Park was flying from San Diego to Los Angeles when his military biplane “plunged its nose into a gulley, turned a somersault and crashed against a tree, at Olive, thirty-nine miles south-east of here. The aviator fell only fifteen feet, but the radiator crushed his head, and then fell upon his body.”5 This would mark 1Lt. Park as the ninth army aviator to lose his life during service to his country and as the seventh commissioned officer to lose his life as a Military Aviator. 1LT Park was flying a Curtiss Model D which was designated as Signal Corps No. 2. This plane had crashed two times prior to 1LT Park flying the plane. The first crash of this aircraft was on May 2, 1911 when Captain Paul Beck crashed the plane in to a field when the engine failed at 300 ft. After repairs, the plane was assigned to 2LT George Kelly, who then crashed it on May 10, 1911 when he crashed trying to land in gusty winds. 2LT Kelly was killed in the crash making 1LT Park the second Aviator to be killed while flying this aircraft.6 The aircraft would be repaired again and flown until it was retired in 1914. Park Field in Memphis, TN was named in his honor and would remain open until February 1942. The Aviation section of the Signal Corps was created on July 18, 1914 as part of public law 143 with the 63rd congress in session.7 With the anticipation of U.S. entry in to World War One, Congress passed the National Defense Act of June 3, 1916 which authorized the president to determine the size of the aviation section of the signal corps and allowed him to establish the first reserve components for the signal corps, a reserve component of 297 officers and 2,000 enlisted men.8 The aviation corps never expanded to its full strength until August 29 when 4 “Togetherweserved.com.” 5 “ARMY AIRMAN DIES IN 15-FOOT PLUNGE; Lieut. Joseph D. Park Crushed to Death When Biplane Hits Tree in California.” 6 Hennessy, “The United States Army Air Arm, April 1861 to April 1917.” Pg. 88 7 Hennessy, “The United States Army Air Arm, April 1861 to April 1917.” 8 Mooney and Layman, Organization of Military Aeronautics, 1907-1935. Pg 113 Congress appropriated a bill that gave the signal corps thirteen million dollars in the active component and the reserve component. By December 7, 1916, the force of the aviation corps had only expanded to 503 personnel. Aircraft of the Aviation service had been deemed to be inferior in all aspects with the aviation experience in Mexico compared to equivalent aircraft in Europe. In response to this, congress appropriated 640,000,000 for military expansion of the military air arm in order to expand to fight a modern war.9 Today that would cost 11,891,900,000 in order to match the same appropriation that was put aside in 1916. It is almost double the entire budget for the United States Government for FY 2016. With military expansion, the House Committee on Military Affairs would increase the size of the aviation section to thirteen aero squadrons. There would be four land-based squadrons in the United States, three seaplane squadrons overseas, and six reserve squadrons for the defense of the coast. By the time the United States entered World War One, only three squadrons had been organized and were in service.10 There were still ten more squadrons that had yet to be organized or receive any personnel. With this sudden expansion of aviation personnel and squadrons, multiple training schools were established to provide the pilots needed. Park field was one of those training schools established within the parameters of the National Defense Act of 1916. Park Field was initially established when the Department of War sent a group of Army officers to the Memphis, Tennessee area to reconnaissance an area for a new aviation training site. On August 24th, 1917 “the directors of the Memphis Chamber of Commerce authorized the president, W.C. Johnson, and the secretary, John M. Tuther, to sign the bond required by the government to guarantee the performance of the lease and contract as executed in the matter of 9 “Records of the Army Air Force, Record Group 18.” 10 Hennessy, “The United States Army Air Arm, April 1861 to April 1917.” Pg 188, 193, 195-198 the Millington Aviation Site.”11 The Memphis Chamber of Commerce and the United States of America government agreed on the sum of 88,010.50 which was the purchase price for the land. It would cost 1,635,322 dollars in order to secure the land in today’s economy due to inflation. On August 31, 1917, the president of the Memphis chamber of commerce called a meeting to secure the funds in order to pay the tenants of the land for their crops and so forth of an agreed 50,000 dollars (929,000 dollars in today’s economy) to be paid in two 25,000 promissory notes, that become payable on November 1, 1917. 12 Park field covered an area of 700 acres and could accommodate personnel of 1,000 with Officers living in hard shell structures while the enlisted had to bivouac. Park Field served as a base for flight training which instructed primary flight training only. Primary flight training was eight weeks in length and consisted of learning basic flight mechanics and skills. After basic flight training, cadets were sent to another aviation base where they were given their advanced training. Park Field was not the only training site established at that time in order to train the large number of aviators needed. Park field was one of twelve aviation sites for military aviators in World War One. Pre- Flight training was conducted at Princeton University, the University of Texas, Cornell University, the University of California, the University of Illinois, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgia School of Technology, and Ohio State University where cadets underwent ground training focused on the mechanics and science of the aircraft and basic flying principles.13 Once they graduated from their respective universities, the cadets were then sent to one of the primary training facilities where they would undertake their basic flight training. The basic training fields were Barron Field in Everman Texas, Carruthers field in Benbrock Texas, 11 “Chamber Secures Airfield for U.S. Government in Millington.” 12 “Chamber Secures Airfield for U.S. Government in Millington.” 13 Cameron, Training to Fly: Military Flight Training 1907-1945. Kelly fields one and two in San Antonio Texas, Rich field in Waco Texas, Eberts field in Lonoke Arkansas, Taylor field in Montgomery Alabama, March field in Riverside California, Mather field in Sacramento California, Payne field in West Point Mississippi, Love field in Dallas Texas, Souther field in Americus Georgia, and Park field in Millington Tennessee.14 Barron field was established in 1917 as a training field for American and Canadian pilots until 1921 when military use ended. The field was then dismantled and returned to the local government which returned it to farmland.15 Carruthers field was established in October 1917 as an aerial gunnery school. It was shut down and dismantled in 1919 where the land was purchased and turned in to a dairy. Kelly field was established in March 1917 as a hub for cadets and enlisted to undergo training in order to be put in to their respective groups and schools based on performance. Kelly field is still open today as a permanent military site known as Kelly Field Annex. Rich field was established in 1917 and shut down in May 1919.
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