training mission of Orlando AAB. Two bomb squadrons of the 9th Bombardment Group at Orlando AAB, the 5th, equipped with B-24 Liberators and the 99th, with B-25 Mitchells, B-26 Marauders and B-17 Flying Fortresses, operated from Pinecastle during the war. The squadrons had the mission of training future combat aircrews for a wide variety of bombing missions in advanced combat techniques. In addition to the training mission, beginning in 1943, Pinecastle AAF was used as the AAFSAT Technical Center, operating an Air Force General Maintenance and Supply Depot facility. On 1 June 1944, the 901st Army Air Forces Base Unit (Heavy Bombardment), took over the bomber training mission with two squadrons, "G" and "H". Records indicate that aircraft from Pinecastle AAF performed test bombing of chemical munitions at one of Pinecastle's numerous bombing and gunnery ranges. It is uncertain whether the chemical warfare materials used in these tests were stored at Pinecastle Army Airfield or transported from the Orlando Toxic Gas and Decontamination Yard at Orlando AAB a few hours before a practice bombing run. With the drawdown and closure of wartime airfields after the German capitulation in May 1945, units from other bases in Florida were consolidated at Pinecastle AAF. On 1 July 1945, jurisdiction of the field was transferred to Air Proving Ground Command at Eglin Field, Florida. The 901st AAFBU was inactivated and replaced by the 621st Base Unit. Postwar years In August 1945, under the Proving Ground Command (PGC), the base was used for testing of the B-32 Dominator bomber, although operations in 1945 at the field were severely curtailed due to personnel shortages caused by post-war demobilization. Weapons tests of the VB-6 Felix infrared heat seeking and VB-3 Razon radio-controlled gliding bombs were also carried out. Beginning in January 1946, Bell Aircraft Corporation's chief test pilot Jack Woolams tested the X-1 supersonic aircraft, originally designated the XS-1, at the airfield because of the area's then-remote location and 10,000-foot runway. In March 1946, the X-1 program was relocated to Muroc AAF, California. The move was a logistics issue as much as anything, as Pinecastle was deemed not suitable for the X-1 project. A move to the remote California desert ensured the X-1 project team could maintain secrecy, an important issue considering the project was highly classified at the time. In addition, Muroc had an expansive landing area, thanks to the surrounding dry lakebeds, and better visibility.