Dover Air Force Base

Immediately after the U.S. entered WW II in 1941, the newly-completed Dover Municipal Airfield was leased to the U.S. Army Air Corps and assigned to the Eastern Defense Command as a coastal patrol base. By Christmas of that year, the 112th Observation Squadron, a federalized Ohio National Guard unit, flew the first missions from the field. During the next 55 years, a variety of flying organizations would call Dover home. Eventually, the base became home to the only all-C-5 wing in Air Mobility Command and the largest, busiest airport facility on the U.S. east coast.

Early in 1942, a construction program began extending the runway and making the airfield suitable for the operation of heavy aircraft. In April, the 39th Bombardment Squadron equipped with B-25 "Mitchell" medium bombers, conducted anti-submarine patrols. In February 1943, the 39th Bombardment Squadron moved to Fort Dix Army Field, New Jersey, and Dover closed to air traffic until completion of runway construction. The 7,000 foot runway and 29,000 square yards of paved apron would be completed in August 1943 when the airfield reopened. The Army Air Forces used Dover as a training base for hundreds of P-47 Thunderbolt fighter pilots. These pilots earned their wings under the watchful eyes of live combat instructors.