Records of the Army Air Forces [AAF]
(Record Group 18)
1903-64 (bulk 1917-47)
Table of Contents
- 18.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY
- 18.2 GENERAL RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SIGNAL OFFICER 1914-18
- 18.2.1 General records
- 18.2.2 Records of the Planning Section of the Equipment Division
- 18.2.3 Records of the Balloon Section of the Air Division
- 18.3 RECORDS OF THE DIVISION OF MILITARY AERONAUTICS
1914-19
13 lin. ft.
- 18.3.1 General records
- 18.3.2 Records of the Information Section
- 18.3.3 Records of the Radio Branch of the Training Section
- 18.4 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF AIRCRAFT PRODUCTION
1917-21
342 lin. ft.
- 18.4.1 Records of the Administration Division
- 18.4.2 Records of the Production Division
- 18.4.3 Records of the Spruce Production Division (SPD)
- 18.4.4 Records of the Airplane Engineering Division
- 18.4.5 Records of the Aircraft Board
- 18.5 RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF THE AIR SERVICE AND
THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF THE AIR CORPS
1917-44
2,410 lin. ft.
- 18.5.1 Records of the Administrative Group (Air Service) and the
Administrative Division (Air Corps)
- 18.5.2 Records of the Information Group (Air Service) and the
Information Division (Air Service, Air Corps)
- 18.5.3 Records of the Supply Group (Air Service) and the Material
Division (Air Corps)
- 18.5.4 Records of the Training and Operations Group (Air Service)
and the Training and Operations Division (Air Corps)
- 18.5.5 Records of the Training and War Plans Division (Air
Service) and the Plans Division (Air Corps)
- 18.5.6 Records of miscellaneous Air Service boards
- 18.5.7 Records relating to the Air Corps mail operations
- 18.6 RECORDS OF GENERAL HEADQUARTERS AIR FORCE AND THE AIR FORCE
COMBAT COMMAND
1935-42
207 lin. ft.
- 18.6.1 Records of the Office of the Commanding General
- 18.6.2 Records of the General Staff
- 18.6.3 Records of the Special Staff
- 18.7 RECORDS OF HEADQUARTERS ARMY AIR FORCES (AAF)
1917-49
7,472 lin. ft. and 651 rolls of microfilm
- 18.7.1 Records of the Office of the Commanding General
- 18.7.2 Records of the Office of the Assistant Chief of the Air
Staff, A-1 (Personnel)
- 18.7.3 Records of the Office of the Assistant Chief of the Air
Staff, A-2 (Intelligence)
- 18.7.4 Records of the Office of the Assistant Chief of the Air
Staff, A-4 (Materiel and Services)
- 18.7.5 Records of the Office of the Assistant Chief of the Air
Staff, Plans
- 18.7.6 Records of the Budget Office
- 18.7.7 Records of the Office of the Air Judge Advocate
- 18.7.8 Records of the Director of Aircraft Production
- 18.7.9 Records of the U.S. Spruce Production Corporation
- 18.7.10 Records of Headquarters, Twentieth Air Force
- 18.7.11 Records of AAF participation in boards and committees
- 18.8 OFFICE FILES OF AIR CORPS AND ARMY AIR FORCES OFFICERS
1922-47
27 lin. ft.
- 18.9 RECORDS OF COMMANDS, ACTIVITIES, AND ORGANIZATIONS
1917-45
950 lin. ft.
- 18.9.1 Records of air fields and air bases
- 18.9.2 Records of aviation schools
- 18.9.3 Records of air depots
- 18.9.4 Records of aviation examining boards
- 18.9.5 Records of Headquarters, I Concentration Command, Luken
Field, Cincinnati, OH
- 18.9.6 Records of Air Service and Air Corps units
- 18.10 CARTOGRAPHIC RECORDS (GENERAL)
1917-47
6,657 items
- 18.11 MOTION PICTURES (GENERAL)
1912-49
6,059 reels
- 18.12 SOUND RECORDINGS (GENERAL)
1945
91 items
- 18.13 STILL PICTURES (GENERAL)
1903-64
118,680 images and 1 item
Established: In the War Department, to consist of the Air Force Combat Command (AFCC) and the Air Corps, by revision of Army Regulation 95-5, June 20, 1941.
Predecessor Agencies:
In the Office of the Chief Signal Officer (OCSO), War Department:
- Aeronautical Division (1907-14)
- Aviation Section (1914-15)
- Aeronautical Division (1915-17)
- Air Division/Air Service Division (1917-18)
- Division of Military Aeronautics (1918)
- Bureau of Aircraft Production (1918)
- Division of Military Aeronautics (1918-19)
- Bureau of Aircraft Production (1918-19)
- Air Service (1919-26)
- Air Corps (1926-41)
- General Headquarters Air Force (GHQAF, 1935-41)
- Air Force Combat Command (AFCC, 1941)
Abolished: By Transfer Order 1, Office of the Secretary of Defense, September 26, 1947, implementing reorganization provisions of the National Security Act of 1947 (61 Stat. 495), July 26, 1947.
Successor Agencies: U.S. Air Force (USAF) under the newly created Department of the Air Force, pursuant to provisions of the National Security Act of 1947 (61 Stat. 502), July 26, 1947.
Finding Aids: Kathleen E. Riley, comp., "Preliminary Inventory of the Records of Headquarters Army Air Forces," NM 6 (1962); Maizie H. Johnson, comp., "Preliminary Inventory of the Textual Records of the Army Air Forces," NM 53 (1965); Maizie H. Johnson and Sarah Powell, comps., "Supplement to Preliminary Inventory No. NM-53, Textual Records of the Army Air Forces," NM 90 (Oct. 1967).
Security-Classified Records: This record group may include material that is security-classified.
Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Army Air
Forces in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.
Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, RG 340.
Records of Headquarters U.S. Air Force (Air Staff), RG 341.
Records of U.S. Air Force Commands, Activities, and
Organizations, RG 342.
Records of the U.S. Air Force Academy, RG 461.
18.2 GENERAL RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SIGNAL OFFICER
1914-18.
History: Aeronautical Division established in Office of the Chief Signal Officer by OCSO Memorandum 6, August 1, 1907, with responsibility for all aspects of military aviation. Recognized in law as the Aviation Section by an act of July 18, 1914 (38 Stat. 514). Aviation Section organized as the Aeronautical Division, November 4, 1915.
Under provisions of the National Defense Act (39 Stat. 174), June 3, 1916, and the Aviation Act (40 Stat. 243), July 24, 1917, aviation support functions were gradually transferred from the Aeronautical Division to newly established OCSO organizations: Procurement and distribution of aviation supplies to Engineering Division, April 6, 1917; later designated Finance and Supply Division; and redesignated Engineering Division, August 2, 1917. Air field construction and maintenance to Construction Division, May 21, 1917; redesignated Supply Division, October 1, 1917, with added responsibility for procurement and distribution of aviation supplies transferred from Engineering Division and vested in subordinate Materiel Section, organized January 24, 1918. Research and design to Aircraft Engineering Division, May 24, 1917; redesignated Science and Research Division, October 22, 1917. Airplane lumber contracts to Wood Section, August 1917; expanded and redesignated Spruce Production Division (SEE 18.4.3), November 15, 1917.
Aeronautical Division redesignated Air Division (also known as Air Service Division), with functions limited to operation, training, and personnel, October 1, 1917. Air Division abolished by order of Secretary of War, April 24, 1918, and OCSO aviation functions realigned to create Division of Military Aeronautics (SEE 18.3), with responsibility for general oversight of military aviation; and Bureau of Aircraft Production (SEE 18.4), which had charge of design and production of aircraft and equipment.
Textual Records: Extracts of letters, telegrams, and memorandums of War Department offices, relating to regulations and authorities for U.S. flying schools, 1917-18. Reports, drawings, photographs, blueprints, and other records relating to airplanes and airplane performance, 1914-18.
Related Records: For aviation correspondence of the Chief Signal Officer, 1917-18, SEE 18.5.1.
18.2.2 Records of the Planning Section of the Equipment Division
Textual Records: Charts, reports, and correspondence relating to the organization and duties of the section and to a program of airplane production, 1917-18.
18.2.3 Records of the Balloon Section of the Air Division
Textual Records: Correspondence relating to balloon instruction, 1917-18.
18.3 RECORDS OF THE DIVISION OF MILITARY AERONAUTICS
1914-19
History: Established as part of reorganization of OCSO aviation functions, April 24, 1918. Separated from OCSO as an autonomous unit within the War Department by EO 2862, May 20, 1918. Responsible for all aviation functions except aircraft production. Consolidated with Bureau of Aircraft Production (SEE 18.4) to form Air Service by EO 3066, March 19, 1919. SEE 18.5.
Textual Records: Letters and memorandums relating to the establishment of the Division of Military Aeronautics, 1916-18. Orders and memorandums relating to policies and procedures governing military aviation, 1918. Balloon bulletins, 1914-18.
Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Division of Military Aeronautics in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.
18.3.2 Records of the Information Section
Textual Records: Correspondence and other records relating to foreign and domestic air services, airplane construction and equipment, flight training, and schools of military aeronautics, 1917-19.
18.3.3 Records of the Radio Branch of the Training Section
Textual Records: Reports and other records relating to radio development and the training of radio officers, 1918-19.
18.4 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF AIRCRAFT PRODUCTION
1917-21
History: Established as part of reorganization of OCSO aviation functions, April 24, 1918. Separated from OCSO as an autonomous unit within the War Department by EO 2862, May 20, 1918. Responsible for aircraft production. Consolidated with Division of Military Aeronautics (SEE 18.3) to form Air Service by EO 3066, March 19, 1919. SEE 18.5.
18.4.1 Records of the Administration Division
Textual Records: General correspondence, 1917-19, and issuances, 1918-19, of the Executive Department, including correspondence of the Executive Department of the Signal Corps Equipment Division and of the Director and Assistant Director of Aircraft Production. General correspondence of the Program and Statistics Department, 1917-18.
18.4.2 Records of the Production Division
Textual Records: General correspondence, 1917-18. Organizational histories of the Production Division, its subdivisions, and its field units, 1917-19. Diaries of the Detroit district office, 1918 (in Chicago).
18.4.3 Records of the Spruce Production Division (SPD)
History: Established in OCSO, November 15, 1917, from predecessor Wood Section (August 1917), with headquarters in Portland, OR, to increase the output of timber for airplane construction. Transferred to the Bureau of Aircraft Production (BAP), May 20, 1918. Functions and properties of the SPD passed to the U.S. Spruce Production Corporation (SEE 18.7.9), November 1, 1918, with formal demobilization of SPD, August 31, 1919. Spruce Production Section, originally the Washington, DC, office of the SPD, functioned until 1921.
Textual Records (in Seattle): Issuances, 1917-19. Organizational history, 1917-18. Medical records, 1917-19, including records of camp hospitals and infirmaries of Spruce Squadrons 9-150. General correspondence of the Spruce Production Section, 1917-21. Correspondence, issuances, and other records of Spruce Production Districts headquartered at Clatsop, 1918; Coos Bay, 1918; Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay, 1918; Puget Sound, 1918-19; Vancouver Barracks, 1918; and Yaquina Bay, 1918-19. Records of Spruce Production units, including 1st-4th Provisional Regiments, 1918- 19; Casual Detachment, 1918-19; and 1st-98th and 100th-150th Spruce Squadrons, 1917-19.
18.4.4 Records of the Airplane Engineering Division
Textual Records: Correspondence, reports, and other records of the Chemistry Section, Science and Research Department, relating to chemical products used in aircraft production, 1917-18.
18.4.5 Records of the Aircraft Board
Textual Records: Minutes of the board and its predecessor, the Aircraft Production Board, May 1917-April 1919. General correspondence, 1917-18. Resolutions of the board, 1917-18.
18.5 RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF THE AIR SERVICE AND
THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF THE AIR CORPS
1917-44
History: Air Service established by EO 3066, March 19, 1919, consolidating Division of Military Aeronautics and Bureau of Aircraft Production. Confirmed as a combat arm by the National Defense Act (41 Stat. 759), June 4, 1920. Name changed to Air Corps by the Air Corps Act (44 Stat. 780), July 2, 1926. Responsibility for unit training and tactical air employment transferred to General Headquarters Air Force, established March 1935. GHQAF renamed Air Force Combat Command and placed with Air Corps under newly established Army Air Forces by revision to Army Regulation 95-5, June 20, 1941. AFCC and Office of the Chief of the Air Corps abolished in the general reorganization of the army, effective March 9, 1942, by Circular 59, War Department, March 2, 1942, implementing EO 9082, February 28, 1942. Air Corps formally abolished by transfer of functions to newly established United States Air Force pursuant to the National Security Act of 1947 (61 Stat. 502), July 26, 1947. SEE 18.1.
Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Office of the Chief of the Air Service in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.
18.5.1 Records of the Administrative Group (Air Service) and the
Administrative Division (Air Corps)
Textual Records: General correspondence of the Office of the Chief of the Air Corps and the Office of Chief of the Air Service, and their predecessors, including the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, 1917-38 (624 ft.). Project files for correspondence relating to airfields (666 ft.), camps, forts, corps areas, territorial departments, districts, aviation schools, National Guard units, and aviation examining boards, 1917-38; aero squadrons, 1917-22; balloon schools, 1919-22; and district offices of the BAP and Air Service, 1918-21. Document collection of the Air Corps Library, 1917-38 (341 ft.), with related indexes and card catalogs, 1917-44. Annual reports, 1925- 40. Issuances, 1924-42.
18.5.2 Records of the Information Group (Air Service) and the
Information Division (Air Service, Air Corps)
Textual Records: Correspondence, 1917-23, 1929-39. Histories, reports, and studies of the Air Service, American Expeditionary Forces, 1917-19. Historical files relating to the activities of the Division of Military Aeronautics and the BAP in World War I, 1917-21.
18.5.3 Records of the Supply Group (Air Service) and the Material
Division (Air Corps)
Textual Records: General correspondence, 1919-21. Records relating to airplane programs and production, 1939-41. Proceedings and related correspondence of the Procurement Planning Board, 1925-36. Catalogs and inventories of aircraft and spare parts, 1921. Claims files of the Material Disposal and Salvage Division, Supply Group, 1919-20. General correspondence, 1919-26, and correspondence relating to stock liquidation, 1919- 24, of the Procurement Section, Supply Division, Supply Group.
18.5.4 Records of the Training and Operations Group (Air Service)
and the Training and Operations Division (Air Corps)
Textual Records: Correspondence and reports relating to cross- country flights, training, and exhibition flights, 1918-21. Correspondence relating to the 1920 Alaskan Flying Expedition, 1920, and to the sinking of USS Alabama ("Project B"), 1919. Correspondence and other records relating to balloon companies and balloon training, 1918-21. Monthly reports from training fields and centers, 1921-39.
18.5.5 Records of the Training and War Plans Division (Air
Service) and the Plans Division (Air Corps)
Textual Records: Correspondence, reports, and maps relating to defense and mobilization plans, 1919-35. Correspondence, reports, and other records relating to lighter-than-air craft and to helium, 1919-26, including records of the 1924 Round-the-World Flight. General correspondence and correspondence of the Airways Section relating to commercial aviation, 1921-26. General correspondence and other records of the Photographic Section, 1918-25.
18.5.6 Records of miscellaneous Air Service boards
Textual Records: Correspondence and reports of the Air Service Advisory Board, 1919-21. Minutes of meetings, 1918-19, and miscellaneous records, 1918-21, of the Air Service Claims Board. Correspondence of the Air Service Control Board, 1918-19.
18.5.7 Records relating to the Air Corps mail operations
Textual Records: Correspondence relating to handling of mail by the Air Corps, February-May 1934, including records of Headquarters of the Eastern, Central, and Western Zones.
18.6 RECORDS OF GENERAL HEADQUARTERS AIR FORCE AND THE AIR FORCE
COMBAT COMMAND
1935-42
History: GHQAF established March 1, 1935, by instructions from Headquarters Air Corps, February 19, 1935, in compliance with recommendations of the War Department Special Committee on the Army Air Corps (Baker Board), as approved by the Secretary of War, July 18, 1934, with responsibility, transferred from Air Corps, for unit training and tactical air employment. Renamed AFCC and assigned with Air Corps to newly created Army Air Forces by Army Regulation 95-5 (revised), June 20, 1941. Formally abolished in the reorganization of the AAF, effective March 9, 1942, by Circular 59, War Department, March 2, 1942, implementing provisions of EO 9082, February 28, 1942. SEE 18.1.
18.6.1 Records of the Office of the Commanding General
Textual Records: General correspondence, 1939-42 (115 ft). Declassified correspondence, 1936-42. Declassified reports relating to intelligence and training, 1935-42. Issuances, 1936- 40.
18.6.2 Records of the General Staff
Textual Records: Records of G-2 (Intelligence), consisting of general correspondence, 1935-42; security-classified correspondence and reports from army and navy intelligence units relating to foreign aviation, 1939-41; security-classified military intelligence instructional material, 1936-41; and security-classified meteorological and climatological studies, 1941. Office file of the section chief, G-3 (Operations), 1941- 42. Security-classified G-4 (Supply) airplane and engine specifications, 1936-42.
18.6.3 Records of the Special Staff
Textual Records: Correspondence, 1941-42; and security-classified correspondence and reports, 1938-42, of the Air Defense Section, including security-classified correspondence and reports relating to the Aircraft Warning Service, 1941-42. Records of the Signal Section, including general correspondence, 1935-42; correspondence relating to codes and ciphers, 1936-42; message file, 1939-42; security-classified air maneuver files, 1935-41; radio equipment and systems files, 1936-42; and issuances, 1935- 42.
18.7 RECORDS OF HEADQUARTERS ARMY AIR FORCES (AAF)
1917-49
18.7.1 Records of the Office of the Commanding General
Textual Records: General correspondence, 1939-48 (2,268 ft.), with cross- reference sheets to correspondence with air force officers, 1942-44, and a microfilm copy of cross-reference sheets to correspondence with federal agencies and members of Congress, 1939-42 (20 rolls). Security-classified general correspondence, 1939-48 (1,624 ft.). Separate project files for correspondence relating to airfields (300 ft.), camps and forts, corps areas, territorial departments, and foreign bases and air forces, 1939- 42. Security-classified project file relating to foreign countries, 1942-44. Unclassified, confidential, and secret incoming and outgoing messages, 1941-47, with microfilm copy, 1941-45 (631 rolls). Top secret incoming and outgoing messages, 1941-47. AAF World War II combat operations records ("Mission Reports"), consisting of narrative and statistical summaries, intelligence reports, field orders, loading lists, and other records, arranged by unit, 1941-46 (1,855 ft.). Statistical summaries and other papers relating to World War II combat operations of the various air forces, 1942-45. Eighth Bomber Command "Day Raid" reports, 1942-43. Eighth Air Force tactical mission reports, 1943-45. General correspondence, 1939-42; and AAF policy letters, 1946-47, of the Air Adjutant General. Security-classified document collection of the Air Corps and AAF Library, 1939-49, with indexes.
Microfilm Publications: M1065.
Related Records: For additional records of the Air Corps Library, SEE 18.5.1.
18.7.2 Records of the Office of the Assistant Chief of the Air
Staff, A-1 (Personnel)
Textual Records: Personnel correspondence, 1939-46. Correspondence and other records relating to ground safety programs, 1943-48.
18.7.3 Records of the Office of the Assistant Chief of the Air
Staff, A-2 (Intelligence)
Textual Records: Records relating to German, French, and Austrian industrial installations, 1940-45.
18.7.4 Records of the Office of the Assistant Chief of the Air
Staff, A-4 (Materiel and Services)
Textual Records: Records relating to the Congressional investigation of the wartime activities of Maj. Gen. Bennett E. Myers, Director of Aircraft Production, 1942-47. Research and development records, 1941-46. Records of the Office of the Air Engineer relating to overseas air base construction, 1943-46, and construction in the European and Mediterranean Theaters of Operations, 1942-45. Correspondence and other records of the International Branch of the Supply Division, including minutes of the Munitions Assignment Committee and Joint Munitions Assignment Committee, relating to allocations of aircraft, engines, and spare parts under the Lend-Lease Act, 1941-48.
18.7.5 Records of the Office of the Assistant Chief of the Air
Staff, Plans
Textual Records: General correspondence, 1942-45. Correspondence relating to aircraft procurement, production, and program requirements, 1941-46. Correspondence of the Operational Plans Division relating to AAF strategic planning, 1944-45.
18.7.6 Records of the Budget Office
Textual Records: Budget estimates of the Division of Military Aeronautics, BAP, Air Service, and Air Corps, 1918-42.
18.7.7 Records of the Office of the Air Judge Advocate
Textual Records: General correspondence, 1943. Records of the Patent Branch, including security-classified records relating to patent applications ("Inventors File"), 1918-45; and correspondence and other records concerning disclosures on inventions furnished through the Office of Scientific Research and Development college programs, 1941-46.
18.7.8 Records of the Director of Aircraft Production
Textual Records: General correspondence and other records, 1941- 44.
18.7.9 Records of the U.S. Spruce Production Corporation
History: Established August 20, 1918, as a corporation under the laws of the State of Washington by the Director of Aircraft Production pursuant to an act authorizing the creation of marketing corporations (40 Stat. 888), July 9, 1918, to facilitate business activities of lumber production and sale of timber products to Allied governments and airplane factories, with Brig. Gen. Brice P. Disque, director of the Spruce Production Division (SEE 18.4.3), serving as corporation president. Acquired functions and properties of Spruce Production Division, November 1, 1918. Last meeting held November 1946, at which time provision was made for liquidation.
Textual Records (in Seattle): General correspondence, 1918-46, with name and subject card indexes. Minutes of meetings of corporation stockholders, 1918- 46. Progress reports, 1918-19. Field survey notebooks, 1917-23. Contracts, 1917-43. Miscellaneous financial reports, vouchers, and records, 1918-46.
18.7.10 Records of Headquarters, Twentieth Air Force
Textual Records: Correspondence relating to the use of B-29's in the Pacific; incoming and outgoing messages; and mission reports of the 20th and 21st Bomber Commands, 1944-45.
18.7.11 Records of AAF participation in boards and committees
Textual Records: Report of the Reprogramming Committee of the Air Board relating to the long-range AAF program, February 1947. Records accumulated by Theodore Von Karman, Director of the AAF Scientific Advisory Board and its predecessor, the AAF Scientific Advisory Group, relating to the long-range AAF science research and development program, 1941-47.
18.8 OFFICE FILES OF AIR CORPS AND ARMY AIR FORCES OFFICERS
1922-47
Textual Records: Briefs of incoming and outgoing messages of primary interest to Gen. Henry Harley ("Hap") Arnold, Commanding General, AAF ("General Arnold's Logs"), 1942-45. Issuances, reports, messages, and other documents concerning the assignments and activities of Lt. Col. Frank Andrews, 1932; Lt. Gen. Ira C. Eaker, 1945-47; Maj. Gen. James R. Fechet, 1925-30; Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Giles, 1945-46; Maj. Gen. Millard F. Harmon, 1939-45; Lt. Gen. Harold A. McGinnis, 1944-45; Maj. Gen. Mason M. Patrick, 1922-27; Gen. Carl A. Spaatz, 1946-47; Lt. Gen. George E. Stratemeyer, 1942; and Brig. Gen. Lyman P. Whitten, 1941-46.
18.9 RECORDS OF COMMANDS, ACTIVITIES, AND ORGANIZATIONS
1917-45
18.9.1 Records of air fields and air bases
Note: Additional records described below are candidates for transfer to regional archives. Please consult the National Archives to determine current locations.
Textual Records: Records of Albrook Field, Balboa, CZ, 1932-39; Barksdale Field, Shreveport, LA, 1933-39; Barron Field, Everman, TX, 1917-21; Bolling Field, Washington, DC, 1918-39; Brindley Field, Commack, Long Island, NY, 1918; Brook Field, San Antonio, TX, 1918-22, 1929-39; Call Field, Wichita Falls, TX, 1917-19; Carlstrom Field, Arcadia, FL, 1918-21 (in Atlanta); Carruthers Field, Benbrook, TX, 1918-19; Chandler Field, Essington, PA, 1917- 19; Chanute Field, Rantoul, IL, 1917-39 (in Chicago); Chapman Field, Miami, FL, 1918-19 (in Atlanta); Crissy Field, Presidio of San Francisco, CA, 1922- 23 (in San Francisco); Henry J. Damm Field, Babylon, Long Island, NY, 1918; Dorr Field, Arcadia, FL, 1918-19 (in Atlanta); Duncan Field, San Antonio, TX, 1926-27, 1930-39; Eberts Field, Lonoke, AR, 1917-20; Ellington Field, Houston, TX, 1917-22; Flying Field, Park Place, Houston, TX, 1918-19; Gerstner Field, Lake Charles, LA, 1917-19; Hamilton Field, San Rafael, CA, 1929-40 (in San Francisco); Hazelhurst Field, Mineola, Long Island, NY, 1918-19; Hickam Field, Honolulu, HI, 1939 (in San Francisco); Kelly Field, San Antonio, TX, 1917- 39; Langley Field, Hampton, VA, 1917-39; Lindbergh Field, San Diego, CA, 1925-41; Love Field, Dallas, TX, 1917-21; Lowry Field, Denver, CO, 1937-39 (in Denver); Lufbery Field, Mineola, Long Island, NY, 1918; Luke Field, Ford's Island, HI, 1931-38 (in San Francisco); McCook Field, Dayton, OH, 1918-20 (in Chicago); March Field, Riverside, CA, 1918-39; Mather Field, Sacramento, CA, 1918-23; Maxwell Field, Montgomery, AL, 1925-40 (in Atlanta); Mitchel Field, Garden City, Long Island, NY, 1917-39; Offut Field, Fort Crook, NE, 1936-39 (in Kansas City); Park Field, Millington, TN, 1917-20 (in Atlanta); Patterson Field, Fairfield, OH, 1920-39 (in Chicago); Payne Field, West Point, MS, 1918-19 (in Atlanta); Pope Field, Fayettville, NC, 1918-1919 (in Atlanta); Post Field, Fort Sill, OK, 1918-19 (in Atlanta); Randolph Field, San Antonio, TX, 1920-39; Rich Field, Waco, TX, 1918-19; Rockwell Field, Coronado, CA, 1917-35; Roosevelt Field, Mineola, Long Island, NY, 1918; Ross Field, Arcadia, CA, 1918-29; Scott Field, Belleville, IL, 1917-39 (in Chicago); Selfridge Field, Mt. Clemens, MI, 1917-37 (in Chicago); Souther Field, Americus, GA, 1918-20 (in Atlanta); Taliaferro Field, Hicks, TX, 1917-20; Taylor Field, Montgomery, AL, 1918-19; Wilbur Wright Field, Fairfield, OH, 1917-19 (in Chicago); and Wright Field, Dayton, OH, 1920-39 (in Chicago).
18.9.2 Records of aviation schools
Note: Additional records described below are candidates for transfer to regional archives. Please consult the National Archives to determine current locations.
Textual Records: Records of the School of Military Cinematography, Columbia University, New York, NY, 1917-18; Aerial Photography School, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1918; Aerial Photography School, Rochester, NY, 1918; Collegiate Balloon School, Macon, GA, 1918 (in Atlanta); U.S. Army Balloon School, Fort Crook, NE, 1918-19 (in Kansas City); U.S. Army Balloon School, Fort Omaha, NE, 1918-21 (in Kansas City); U.S. Army Balloon School, Lee Hall, VA, 1918-20; School of Military Aeronautics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1917-19; School of Military Aeronautics, Georgia School of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 1917-18 (in Atlanta); School of Military Aeronautics, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 1917-19 (in Chicago); School of Military Aeronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 1917-18 (in Boston); School of Military Aeronautics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 1917-18 (in Chicago); School of Military Aeronautics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 1917- 18; School of Military Aeronautics, Texas University, Austin, TX, 1917-19; Aviation Mechanics Training School, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, 1918; Aviation Mechanics Training School, St. Paul, MN, 1918-19 (in Chicago); Signal Corps Detachment, David Rankin School of Mechanical Arts, St. Louis, MO, 1918 (in Kansas City); Air Service Radio School, Columbia University, New York, NY, 1918-19; Air Service School for Radio Operators, University of Texas, Austin, TX, 1918-19; School for Radio Mechanics, Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, PA, 1918-19; and Officers School, Vancouver Barracks, WA, 1918-19 (in Seattle).
Note: Additional records described below are candidates for transfer to regional archives. Please consult the National Archives to determine current locations.
Textual Records: Records of the Americus Air Intermediate Depot, Americus, GA, 1921-22 (in Atlanta); Buffalo Aviation General Supply Depot and Acceptance Park, NY, 1918-19; Fairfield Air Intermediate Depot, Fairfield, OH, 1921-31 (in Chicago); Garden City Air Service Depot, Garden City, Long Island, NY, 1917-19; Hawaiian Air Depot, Honolulu, HI, 1936-39 (in San Francisco); Little Rock Aviation General Supply Depot, Little Rock, AR, 1918- 21; Long Island Air Reserve Depot, Long Island City, NY, 1919-23; Middletown Air Depot, Middletown, PA, 1917-39; Panama Air Depot, France Field, Canal Zone, 1927-40; Rockwell Air Depot, Coronado, CA, 1920-39; Sacramento Air Depot, Sacramento, CA, 1938-39 (in San Francisco); Sam Houston Aviation Supply Depot, Houston, TX, 1918; San Antonio Air Depot, Duncan Field, TX, 1918-39; Speedway Aviation Repair Depot, Indianapolis, IN, 1918-21 (in Chicago); and Wilbur Wright Field Aviation General Supply Depot, Fairfield, OH, 1917-19 (in Chicago).
18.9.4 Records of aviation examining boards
Note: Additional records described below are candidates for transfer to regional archives. Please consult the National Archives to determine current locations.
Textual Records: Records of the Aviation Examining Board, Chicago, IL, 1917- 18 (in Chicago); Aviation Examining Board, Cincinnati, OH, 1917-18 (in Chicago); Aviation Examining Board, Cleveland, OH, 1917-18 (in Chicago); Aviation Examining Board, Dallas, TX, 1918; Aviation Examining Board, Denver, CO, 1917-18 (in Denver); Aviation Examining Board, Detroit, MI, 1918 (in Chicago); Aviation Examining Board, Fort Sam Houston, TX, 1917- 18; Aviation Examining Board, Indianapolis, IN, 1917-18 (in Chicago); and Aviation Examining Board, Kansas City, MO, 1917-18 (in Kansas City).
18.9.5 Records of Headquarters, I Concentration Command, Luken
Field, Cincinnati, OH
Textual Records: General records, 1941-42. Records of the Chief of Staff, 1942. Records of A-1 Section (Personnel) and A-2 Section (Intelligence), General Staff, 1942. Records of the Communications Section and Medical Section, Special Staff, 1942. Records of Baer Field Detachment, Fort Wayne, IN, 1942.
18.9.6 Records of Air Service and Air Corps units
Textual Records: Records of the 1st, 2d, 3d, and 18th Wings, 1934-41; 3d, 17th, and 90th Attack Groups, 1920-37; Headquarters, Balloon Group, VI Army Corps, 1918-19; 2d, 5th, 7th, and 20th Bombardment Groups, 1917-39; IV Army Corps Observation Group, 1918-19; 1st, 8th, 17th, 18th, and 20th Pursuit Groups, 1918-45; 1st-1111th Aero Squadrons, 1917-19; 37th Attack Squadron, 1933- 38; 11th, 14th, 23d, 72d, and 96th Bombardment Squadrons, 1918- 39; 808th and 816th Depot Aero Squadrons, 1918-22; 1st, 4th, 12th, 15th, 16th, 21st, 44th, 50th, 82d, and 99th Observation Squadrons, 1918-40; 95th Pursuit Squadron, 1920-27; 58th, 59th, and 69th Service Squadrons, 1922-36; 31st, 32d, 33d, 35th, 40th, and 42d Air Intelligence Sections, 1921-24; 1st-30th, 32d, 35th, 37th, 44th, 46th, 50th, 52d, 55th-57th, 62d, 63d, 65th, 67th-72d, 74th, 76th, 101st-105th, and 107th-109th Photographic Sections, 1918-37; 1st-20th and 22d-39th Aero Construction Companies, 1918- 19; and 1st-10th, 12th-41st, 43d-81st, 91st-99th, 101st, and 102d Balloon and Airship Companies, 1917-30.
18.10 CARTOGRAPHIC RECORDS (GENERAL)
1917-47
Maps (6,084 items): Airfields in Texas, collected by the Aviation Section, OCSO, 1917-18 (5 items). Maps prepared by the Air Service showing landing fields and other military activities in the United States, plus experimental air navigation "strip" maps, 1918-25 (19 items). Army Air Corps "strip" maps, 1929-36 (24 items). Weather maps and climatic atlases compiled by the Weather Division, 1942-46 (434 items). Sets of published aeronautical charts at various scales prepared by the Aeronautical Chart Service, including World Aeronautical, World Outline, Regional Aeronautical, Pilotage, and Approach series, with index charts, 1939-47 (4,902 items). World War II aeronautical and target charts created by the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff, A-2 (Intelligence) and several of the AAF Commands, including 13th and 14th Army Air Forces, 20th and 21st Bomber Commands, and U.S. Army Air Forces Pacific Ocean Areas-Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CINCPOA), 1942-45 (700 items).
Aerial Photographs (573 items): Mosaic negatives and prints prepared by the 15th Photographic Section, Crissy Field, CA, and 15th Observation Squadron, Scott Field, IL, covering military reservations and airfields in several states, 1922-39.
18.11 MOTION PICTURES (GENERAL)
1912-49
Training in swimming through burning oil and surf, U.S. Coast Guard, n.d. (3 reels). Last Rites of the Battleship Maine, Selig Corporation, 1912 (2 reels). Development and use of lighter-than- air craft, 1925-35 (5 reels). Arkansas flood, Air Corps, 1938 (1 reel).
World War II training films illustrating the coordination of operational units of the U.S. Eighth Air Force in preparing and completing a bombing mission, and containing instructions in flight and gunnery and the maintenance and use of aircraft and equipment, 1942-44 (124 reels).
Air Transport Command briefing films, consisting of aerial and ground views of terrain and flight routes and landing facilities worldwide; and animation for the briefing films, showing particular flight routes, locations of landing strips, radio beams, and the principal geographic configuration of specific areas, 1943-45 (743 reels).
World War II combat films and postwar films of prisoner-of-war and internee camps, concentration camps, Axis atrocities, operations in Europe filmed for the documentary Thunderbolt, V-E and V-J Days, the occupation of Germany and Japan, atomic scientists, the atomic bomb blast over Nagasaki, and damage to Nagasaki and Hiroshima, 1942-49 (5,181 reels).
Information films discussing aspects of Army Air Force personnel's daily life at home and abroad, including interaction with surrounding communities, sports activities, air operations and equipment, and relevant current events, 1943-55 (99 reels).
18.12 SOUND RECORDINGS (GENERAL)
1945
91 items
Radio programs in The Fighting AAF and Your AAF series, which include air combat accounts obtained by radio reporters and other eyewitness accounts of combat, 1945.
18.13 STILL PICTURES (GENERAL)
1903-64
Photographs (75,455 images): Foreign and domestic aircraft, 1903- 39 (WP, 13,800 images). U.S. Army balloon and airship facilities and school, 1908-20 (MA, 250 images). Early aircraft developed by Glenn H. Curtiss and Glenn L. Martin; activities and personnel at the Army-Navy Aviation School, Rockwell Field, CA; and prominent individuals, photographed by H.A. Erickson and Harold A. Taylor, 1914-18 (HE, 1,230 images). Aviation activities during World War I, including aerial photographs, taken by the Photographic Division, Signal Corps, and the Photo Section, Air Service, American Expeditionary Forces, under the direction of Maj. Edward Steichen, 1918-19 (E, 6,335 images). Logging and other activities of the Spruce Production Corporation, 1918-20 (SPCA, SPCB, SPCC, SPCD; 500 images). Important figures in history of aviation, 1918-45 (HP, 500 images). Flight personnel identification photographs, 1911-41 (P, PU; 50,177 images). History and activities at Scott Field, IL; and landscapes of nearby areas, including military and civilian structures, in IL, KY, MI, MO, IN, FL, and WI, 1923-39 (SF, 1,500 images). In-flight refueling operations, 1923 (HER, 10 images). Civil and military installations in various states and DC, including a photograph of the airship Graf Zeppelin over Oakland, CA, 1929, and the damage to Santa Barbara, CA, by a 1925 earthquake, 1925-47 (LMU, 430 images). Tuskeegee, AL, Training Field graduates, 1943-46 (T, 723 images).
Aerial and Ground Photographs (41,025 images): Airscapes of population centers, landmarks, national parks, geographical features, and the aftermath of natural disasters, 1917-64 (AA, AN; 14,750 images). Activities at Air Transport Command facilities and bases, and topographical features for guiding pilots along military air routes around the world, 1943-45 (AG, AM, AO, ATC, ZC; 26,275 images).
Lantern Slides (2,200 images): History of military aviation, including persons significant in aviation history, 1903-27 (AH).
Filmstrip (1 item): "Round the World Flight," about aviators Gatty and Wiley Post and their Lockheed-Vega monoplane, 1931 (LMU).
Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. Compiled by Robert B. Matchette et al. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1995.
3 volumes, 2428 pages.
This Web version is updated from time to time to include records processed since 1995.
Blogs
Facebook
Flickr
RSS Feeds
Twitter
YouTube