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Grand Prairie Armed Forces Reserve Complex
The Grand Prairie Armed Forces Reserve Complex or Grand Prairie AFRC (formerly Naval Air Station Dallas or Hensley Field) is a former United States Navy Naval Air Station located on Mountain Creek Lake in southwest Dallas. The installation was established as an Army aviation center, and eventually became home to aviation assets from all the military services.
In December 1998, Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action decommissioned the naval air station; transferred Carswell AFB to the U.S. Navy and renamed it Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth / Carswell Field; and sent Grand Prairie's Naval Air Reserve, Marine Air Reserve and Texas Air National Guard flying units (wings, groups, squadrons) to Carswell.
The former NAS Dallas was later recommissioned as the Grand Prairie Armed Forces Reserve Complex, with the half that housed the aircraft-related facilities (such as the runway, hangars, etc.) going to the Texas Air National Guard, and the half with most non-aircraft related facilities going to the U.S. Army Reserve and a small area to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Vought Aircraft Industries operated a government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) plant next to Grand Prairie AFRC until 2014. In 2019 the site was redeveloped into a distribution center for The Home Depot, which opened in 2021.
Soon after the BRAC closure, ownership of 738 acres (299 ha) of the former base was transferred from the U.S. government to the city of Dallas, but plans to redevelop the land for other uses have been stalled since 2001 due to the U.S. Navy's failure to clean up environmental contamination that occurred while the site was used by the military.
The City of Dallas established Hensley Field in August 1929 as a training field for Reserve pilots of the then-U.S. Army Air Corps. The facility was named for Major William N. Hensley, a flying instructor located near Dallas in the 1920s and one of the few on board the first trans-Atlantic dirigible crossing in 1919.
The city leased the site to the United States Army for a dollar a year. The field became the Air Corps Reserve Base in the Eighth Corps Area. At the beginning of World War II, the Army extended their lease to 40 years. In March 1941, the U.S. Navy began maintaining operations at the base and shortly afterward established a Naval Air Reserve Base on 160 acres (0.7 km2) adjacent to Hensley Field.
In December 1941, Hensley Field became headquarters of the Midwest Area of the Air Corps Ferrying Command, after Major Thomas D. Ferguson, commander of the field, was made control officer for the Middle West Area of the United States. Hensley Field was the first base of operations for the 455th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Forces.
The installation became Naval Air Station Dallas on 1 January 1943. Its initial mission was to provide primary flight training for Naval Aviation Cadets destined for commissioned service as Naval Aviators in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. Enlisted personnel destined for aviation duty with the Fleet were also trained at NAS Dallas, and at one time a number of Free French aviators received flight training at the installation.
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Grand Prairie Armed Forces Reserve Complex
The Grand Prairie Armed Forces Reserve Complex or Grand Prairie AFRC (formerly Naval Air Station Dallas or Hensley Field) is a former United States Navy Naval Air Station located on Mountain Creek Lake in southwest Dallas. The installation was established as an Army aviation center, and eventually became home to aviation assets from all the military services.
In December 1998, Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action decommissioned the naval air station; transferred Carswell AFB to the U.S. Navy and renamed it Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth / Carswell Field; and sent Grand Prairie's Naval Air Reserve, Marine Air Reserve and Texas Air National Guard flying units (wings, groups, squadrons) to Carswell.
The former NAS Dallas was later recommissioned as the Grand Prairie Armed Forces Reserve Complex, with the half that housed the aircraft-related facilities (such as the runway, hangars, etc.) going to the Texas Air National Guard, and the half with most non-aircraft related facilities going to the U.S. Army Reserve and a small area to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Vought Aircraft Industries operated a government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) plant next to Grand Prairie AFRC until 2014. In 2019 the site was redeveloped into a distribution center for The Home Depot, which opened in 2021.
Soon after the BRAC closure, ownership of 738 acres (299 ha) of the former base was transferred from the U.S. government to the city of Dallas, but plans to redevelop the land for other uses have been stalled since 2001 due to the U.S. Navy's failure to clean up environmental contamination that occurred while the site was used by the military.
The City of Dallas established Hensley Field in August 1929 as a training field for Reserve pilots of the then-U.S. Army Air Corps. The facility was named for Major William N. Hensley, a flying instructor located near Dallas in the 1920s and one of the few on board the first trans-Atlantic dirigible crossing in 1919.
The city leased the site to the United States Army for a dollar a year. The field became the Air Corps Reserve Base in the Eighth Corps Area. At the beginning of World War II, the Army extended their lease to 40 years. In March 1941, the U.S. Navy began maintaining operations at the base and shortly afterward established a Naval Air Reserve Base on 160 acres (0.7 km2) adjacent to Hensley Field.
In December 1941, Hensley Field became headquarters of the Midwest Area of the Air Corps Ferrying Command, after Major Thomas D. Ferguson, commander of the field, was made control officer for the Middle West Area of the United States. Hensley Field was the first base of operations for the 455th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Forces.
The installation became Naval Air Station Dallas on 1 January 1943. Its initial mission was to provide primary flight training for Naval Aviation Cadets destined for commissioned service as Naval Aviators in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. Enlisted personnel destined for aviation duty with the Fleet were also trained at NAS Dallas, and at one time a number of Free French aviators received flight training at the installation.
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