Laredo Air Force Base, Laredo Texas

Laredo Army Air Field was a World War II-era United States Army Air Forces base located near Laredo, Texas. Established in 1942, it served as a major pilot training center during the war and later became a key facility in U.S. Air Force flight and gunnery training programs.

Constructed during the rapid wartime expansion of the U.S. Army Air Forces, Laredo Army Air Field specialized in flexible gunnery training for bomber crews. Trainees practiced using aircraft such as the AT-6 Texan and B-17 Flying Fortress. The field contributed significantly to the preparation of airmen deployed to the European and Pacific theaters.

After briefly closing at the end of the war, the facility was reactivated in 1952 as Laredo Air Force Base under the new U.S. Air Force. It became part of the Air Training Command, hosting the 3640th Pilot Training Wing. The base trained jet pilots on aircraft including the T-33 Shooting Star and T-37 Tweet during the height of the Cold War.

The base was decommissioned in 1973 as part of nationwide defense reductions. Its property was subsequently transferred to the city of Laredo and converted into Laredo International Airport. Today, remnants of the wartime and Air Force eras remain visible in the airport's layout and a few surviving structures