Barstow-Daggett Airport

Barstow-Daggett Airport played a substantial role in war mobilization during World War II. The location of the airport offered ample space for training as well as maintenance operations for the Army Air Corps. The Barstow-Daggett Airport is operated today by the county of San Bernardino and serves as a demonstration of the war's impact on the development of Southern California.

After Pearl Harbor, California, like much of the United States, transformed as the federal government built military installations while companies sought contracts to build equipment in support of the war effort. Prior to the beginning of the war, the United States government and President Roosevelt started the Protective Mobilization Plan and proclaim the PMP as a limited national emergency which enabled the United States to strengthen national defense (Morgan, 1994). Historian Thomas Morgan notes how the U.S. Armed forces prior to the war lacked soldiers, had obsolete military resources and ranked seventeenth among the armies of the world but President Roosevelt called for the strengthening in numbers of the armed forces and mass production of military resources such as aircraft. The Protective Mobilization Plan lasted until 1941 and full-scale mobilization went into effect after the Pearl Harbor attack. The aftermath of Pearl Harbor saw a massive war mobilization in the United States to support the war effort and in this effort emerged the need for locations that could aid in mass production and housing of aircraft, house military operations, and aid in the training of newly enlisted troops.

California could be considered an epicenter for military training with multiple airfields emerging or being transformed into U.S military training bases and one area that provided the U.S military forces grounds for training was the Barstow-Daggett Airport. Matt Bischoff notes the Barstow-Daggett Airport was chosen as a modification center by the U.S War Department which saw the airfield modify existing aircraft for special military needs and housed a training center for fighter pilots to receive advanced training. The Barstow-Daggett Airport was an ideal location due to the flying weather and the expansiveness of the airport that featured a headquarters, flight operation buildings, hangars, barracks, utilities, storage, and fuel operations (Hemmerlein, 2019). Today the Barstow-Daggett Airport is owned by San Bernardino County, but the airfield did not lose its Army presence completely as the location can still be utilized to operate U.S military aircraft in and out of the airport and even house U.S military-owned aircraft due to its proximity to Barstow and the Fort Irwin installation (Hemmerlein, 2019). Barstow-Daggett Airport was instrumental in supporting the war effort during World War II and is a demonstration of war mobilization in Southern California.

Bischoff, Matt. 1998. "Historic American Engineering Record Barstow-Daggett Airport". Militarymuseum.Org. http://www.militarymuseum.org/Barstow-Daggett-Airport-History.pdf.

Hemmerlein, Sandi. 2019. "Best Places To Explore The Hidden WWII History Of Socal". KCET. https://www.kcet.org/shows/socal-wanderer/best-places-to-explore-the-hidden-wwii-history-of-socal.

Morgan, Thomas D. 1994. "The Industrial Mobilization of World War II: America Goes to War." Army History, no. 30: 31-35. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26304207.