Dateland Air Force Auxiliary Field

Dateland Air Force Auxiliary Field is an abandoned military airfield located in Dateland, Arizona, 40 miles east of Yuma, Arizona. Its last known military use was in 1957.Military useWorld War IIThe airfield was established on 1 January 1943 as a United States Army Air Forces training airfield, being under the command of the 3037th Army Air Force Base Unit, AAF Western Flying Training Command. Dateland was a sub-Post of Yuma Army Airfield, Arizona. Colfred, Stovall and Welton Gunnery rangers were also established nearby. Dateland was originally designed for single engine aircraft gunnery training, but was converted to twin engine gunnery school in September 1943 because single-engine gunnery was no longer an important part of the training program.The site was chosen due to the availability of water and the adjacent location of the Yuma Gunnery Range. Construction was completed on 1 June 1943, and the facility was first garrisoned on 8 July 1943. Facilities constructed at the site between 1943-1946 were 95 buildings, 3 runways, 4 taxiways, a gasoline station, water system, electrical distribution system, sewage disposal system and perimeter fences.Construction of four skeet ranges was authorized at the Dateland AAF however, in a letter dated November 27, 1942, two of the skeet ranges were removed from the construction plans. In addition, a request to construct a target butt range at the site was approved on December 17, 1942. The target butt range was originally planned for construction at the Advanced Single Engine School in Yuma AAF Arizona; however, the decision was made to conduct all gunnery training and related functions at Dateland. According to the INPR Supplement, the target butt and double skeet ranges first appear on a January 1943 map of the site. Construction of the target butt range was scheduled for completion in April 1943 and the double skeet range was scheduled to be completed in June 1943. A Field Progress Report for Dateland, period ending June 30, 1943, indicates that both the target butt range and double skeet range were complete.