Langley Field: Creating An Air Force

In Dec. 1916, the U.S. Army purchased land four miles north of here to build an airfield to use jointly with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. During World War I, the Army trained aircrews and tested aircraft there. In 1921, Brig. Gen. William "Billy" Mitchell led bombing trials from Langley to demonstrate that air power could destroy battleships. On 1 March 1935, Air Corps combat units were realigned nationwide under the GHQ Air Force. Led from Langley by Maj. Gen. Frank Andrews, that combat air command was the forerunner of the Army Air Forces of World War II and marked the first real step toward the U.S. Air Force.