ceased to exist for government officials. Until 1921, the government leased Selfridge Field from Henry B. Joy. That year, Joy offered to sell the property for $190,000, a price government appraisers felt was too high. But when the National Aeronautics Advisory Committee pointed out the field's proximity to the mechanical and industrial centers of Detroit, the price was paid. The field sprang back to life on 1 July 1922, when the 1st Pursuit Group, which had gone from Kelly Field to Ellington Field outside Houston, Texas, in 1921, returned to make Selfridge its home for almost the next 20 years. In 1922, Selfridge was declared a permanent installation under command of Maj. Carl "Tooey" Spaatz, who later became Chief of Staff for the Air Force. Air races at Selfridge from 1922 through the 1930s included the first John Mitchell Trophy Race (named for John L. Mitchell and last held in 1936 at Selfridge), the Pulitzer Trophy Race, and the Curtiss Trophy Race and Boeing Trophy. Charles A. Lindbergh was assigned to Selfridge in 1927, returned in July 1927 (his transatlantic aircraft, Spirit of St. Louis, was escorted by 22 1st Pursuit Group planes) and returned again 10 November 1927, to become a member of the 1st Pursuit Group and complete his reserve training. In 1925, planes equipped with ice skids left Selfridge for Camp Skeel in Oscoda, Michigan, to determine the usefulness of airplanes in harsh winter. Squadron commander Thomas Lamphier declared the test a success and proclaimed that similarly planes could be used to in Arctic regions. The U.S. Navy came to Selfridge in 1927 when Torpedo Squadron 31 (VT-31) was briefly assigned to the base. The squadron had only one aircraft, a Consolidated NY-1, which was used for training the squadron's Naval Air Reserve pilots. The squadron left before the end of the year, moving to a hangar in downtown Detroit. Naval aviation would return to Selfridge in 1969 following the closing of Naval Air Station Grosse Ile and the establishment of Naval Air Facility Detroit. During the 1930s and 1940s, squadrons "from Selfridge [frequently] performed maneuvers over Detroit, [causing delight to] local citizens". In 1935, Selfridge became part of the top-level General Headquarters (GHO), Air Force, along with five other strategically located installations: Mitchel Field in New York, Langley Field in Virginia, Barksdale Field in Louisiana, March Field in California and Hamilton Field in California. A large