Carswell Air Force Base - now part of Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas
Longitude: -97.4415
Origin of current name: Named in honor of Maj Horace Seaver Carswell Jr (1916-1944), Medal of Honor winner. Returning from an attack on enemy shipping in the Sorth China Sea on October 26th 1944, Major Carswell attempted to save a crewmember whose parachute had been destroyed by flak. He remained at the controls of his crippled bomber and died while crashlanding the B-24 near Tungchen, China.
Date current name was assigned to base: January 29, 1948
Previous Names: AAF Combat Crew School, Tarrant Field (aka Tarrant Field and Tarrant Field Airdrome), July 1st 1942; Fort Worth Army Airfield, July 29th 1942; Griffiss Air Force Base, January 13th 1948.
Changes in Capability: Transition training in medium and heavy bombers 1942-1945; N-S 8,200-foot extra heavy-duty runway completed August 1946; 600 Wherry off-base housing units completed spring 1951; apron warm-up pad and extension of runway and taxiway constructed January 1952; new operations building and control tower completed October 1956; new facilities enabled start of B-52 training and operations January 1958, and of B-58 operations March 1958; major flightline and runway repair project completed December 1963; facilities adapted to accommodate KC-135s 1964-1965, and FB-111s during 1968-1971; Wherry housing project remodeled September 1978; consolidated aircraft maintenance hangar completed April 1980; construction of civil engineering shop complex underway October 1980.
Base was Decommissioned on September 30, 1993
Official Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth Website: cnic.navy.mil/fortworth
History:
Carswell AFB was selected for closure under the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 during Round II Base Closure Commission deliberations. As part of the Department of Defense's 1991 consolidation efforts, the decision was made to relocate the 7th Bomb Wing from Carswell AFB. During a 1992 Air Force-wide reorganization, the famed Strategic Air Command was officially disestablished. First-stage closure activities were initiated in 1992; all aircraft were relocated to Barksdale AFB by January 1993. The B-52 Stratofortress was the last bomber to leave Naval Air Station JRB Fort Worth (then Carswell AFB) in 1993. The base ceased operations on September 30, 1993, and was transferred to the Air Force Base Conversion Agency (AFBCA) for property distribution and reuse. On October 1, 1993, the Air Force Reserve 301st Fighter Wing assumed base responsibilities, establishing Carswell as an Air Reserve Base. In 1993, Congress directed the establishment of the nation's first joint reserve base under the Base Realignment and Closure authority. The base was realigned and renamed the Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Carswell Field (NAS Fort Worth JRB) on October 1, 1994, when the U.S. Navy assumed control of the property.The installation began as Tarrant Field Airdrome in 1941 to support the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft plant producing B-24 Liberators. Following the U.S. entry into World War II, it became Fort Worth Army Air Field (1942) and served as a key training and production hub for heavy bombers.
Renamed Carswell Air Force Base in 1948, the facility became one of the first bases in the Strategic Air Command (SAC). It hosted B-29, B-36, B-58, and later B-52 bomber units, maintaining nuclear deterrence readiness through the Cold War. The 7th Bomb Wing was stationed here for decades, and the base also featured Air Force Plant 4, now operated by Lockheed Martin for fighter aircraft production.
As part of the 1991 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process, Carswell AFB was slated for closure. The base officially shut down in 1993, and the U.S. Navy took over the property the following year, reopening it as Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth-the first installation to combine multiple reserve components under one command.
