locations. In April 1918 these airfields were turned over to the Air Service, United States Army as training fields for American pilots. Hundreds of pilots learned their basic and primary flying skills at these airfields in the Fort Worth area during the war. They were closed in 1919 when the war ended. In 1940 the City of Fort Worth had filed an application with the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), asking for a primary pilot training airfield for the Army Air Corps. In May, General Jacob E. Fickel visited Fort Worth on an inspection visit. Fickel had learned to fly at Carruthers Field in 1918. At the same time, the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce was trying to convince aircraft manufacturers to build an aircraft assembly plant in the area. Consolidated Aircraft, wanting to build in the area, suggested to the Air Corps that they jointly build an airfield adjacent to the heavy bomber plant they wanted to build in Fort Worth. On 16 June 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved $1.75 million to construct an airfield next to the Consolidated manufacturing plant. The Army wanted to have the airfield ready quickly before the plant was put into production and construction of the "Lake Worth Bomber Plant Airport" began almost immediately. World War II However, after the Attack on Pearl Harbor, the Army changed its plans and instead of being an operational base, "Tarrant Field", as the facility was called, became a heavy bomber training school. The first unit assigned to the base was the Army Air Forces Training Command Combat Crew School on 1 July 1942. At the same time, the Consolidated plant began assembly of B-24D Liberator aircraft in May, with the first aircraft being assigned to the school in August. On 29 July, the base was again renamed as "Fort Worth Army Airfield". The Army Air Forces Combat Crew School (later re-designated Army Air Forces Pilot School, Specialized 4-Engine) took graduates of Training Command's advanced pilot training schools and experienced 2-engine pilots and trained them on flying the B-24 Liberator. The school was officially opened on 12 October 1942 and was under the jurisdiction of the 34th Flying Training Wing at San Angelo Army Airfield, Texas. The school was initially equipped with B-24Ds that were assembled across the runway at Consolidated, later it was upgraded to B-24Es that were manufactured at Consolidated's Willow Run Plant in Michigan, then