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The Army turned over the north end of the island to the Navy and relocated to the south end of North Island, the location of the Rockwell Field Historic District. The Navy's first occupancy of North Island occurred on 8 September 1917, but Congress did not authorize the purchase of North Island, for $6,098,333, until July 1919.
The Navy started with a tent city known as "Camp Trouble". As its name suggests, things did not always go well in the early days. The Navy shared North Island with the Army's Signal Corps, Air Service, and Air Corp's Rockwell Field until 1937, when the Army left and the Navy expanded its operations to cover the whole of North Island. [citation ...
The Navy wanted the Army out of North Island in San Diego harbor as it needed to expand NAS San Diego as a training airfield for its growing number of aircraft carrier pilots. The Army resisted strongly, as Rockwell Field was a major training airfield for flight cadets, and had been using the field for flight training since 1912.
The Navy wanted the Army out of North Island as it needed to expand NAS San Diego as a training airfield for its growing number of aircraft carrier pilots. The Army resisted strongly, as Rockwell Field was a major training airfield for flight cadets, and had been using the field for flight training since 1912.
However, Chandler Field was closed in the summer of 1917 as inadequate, and its personnel and equipment transferred to the new Gerstner Field, Louisiana. [1] Flight Training at North Island (Later Rockwell Field), San Diego, California in December 1917.
Enlisted men had to bivouac in tents. Mather Field's first commander was 1st Lieutenant Sam P. Burman, who assumed command on 15 March 1918. The first unit stationed there was the 283d Aero Squadron, which was transferred from Rockwell Field, North Island, California. [3]
On 2–3 May 1923 with Kelly, Macready made the first non-stop coast-to-coast flight, from Roosevelt Field, formerly Mitchell Field, 2.3 miles south-east of Mineola, Long Island, New York to Rockwell Field, North Island, San Diego, California, with a total flight time of 26 hours, 50 minutes and 48 seconds. En route, he made the first in-flight ...
The origins of the unit date to 29 June 1913 when Lieutenant Harold Geiger, along with about 12 enlisted men and a civilian engine expert, George B. Purington, left the Army aerodrome at North Island (later Rockwell Field), San Diego, California to establish an air school in Hawaii.