bombardier missions to targets throughout New Mexico with navigational missions. A month later, headquarters of the 38th Flying Training Wing relocated from Roswell Army Airfield, New Mexico to Kirtland Field. One of the wings under the Western Flying Training Command, the 38th held jurisdiction not only over Kirtland Field but also the Hobbs, Roswell, and Carlsbad Army Air Fields; Williams Field, Arizona; and Victorville Air Field, California. The wing relocated to Williams Field, Arizona, in February 1945 due to Kirtland Field's conversion to a Superfortress base under the Second Air Force. Kirtland Field served as a B-29 Superfortress base in support of the incendiary bombing raids on Japan. In March 1945, Kirtland Field was converted into a Superfortress base in a matter of only 45 days after its assignment to the Second Air Force. The Second Air Force, operating under the Continental Air Forces, concentrated on training for heavy and very heavy bombers during the war. Kirtland Field was one of six stations in the 16th Bombardment Operational Training Wing program. Other locations were Alamogordo Army Airfield and Clovis Army Airfield in New Mexico; Biggs Army Airfield and Pyote Army Airfield in Texas; and Davis-Monthan Army Airfield in Arizona. Manhattan Project Perhaps one of the most important functions Kirtland Field served during World War II was as a transportation center for the needs of scientists developing the atomic bomb in Los Alamos. The Manhattan Project personnel in Los Alamos first became aware of the value of the location of the air base during the process of converting the atomic bomb into a practical airborne weapon. Because Kirtland Field was the closest large airport, its runways and bombloading pit supported the atomic bomb program during 1944 and 1945. It also became an important staging ground for the ferrying of men and material to various field sites. From Kirtland Field, Manhattan Project scientists were flown back and forth to Wendover Army Air Base for testing in a disguised "Green Hornet" aircraft. Members of the USAAF made similar trips from Wendover through Albuquerque to Los Alamos. A special Manhattan Engineer District, Military Police unit was located at Kirtland Field to guard facilities used to load Los Alamos–assembled ordnance and test shapes on Silverplate aircraft. The loading pit constructed at Kirtland Field, although primitive and manually operated, operated until December 1945, when a hydraulic lift was installed. On 16 July 1945, at Kirtland Field,