(25 MILES EAST OF PHOENIX)
The first class of bombardier cadets, 42-12, entered the gates of Williams Field on 13 June 1942. They graduated on 5 September 1942 as Second Lieutenants. Attesting to the quality of training implemented and overseen by then Lt. Col. Louis M. Gregory, not one of the 55 cadets washed out of schooling! This was a record not known to have been equaled in all of bombardier training! This school graduated 653 Bombardiers in a total of nine classes. The last class, 43-3, received their wings on 13 February 1943. By that date the entire bombardier school, was packed and moved to Deming, New Mexico.

From "World War II Sites in the United States - A Tour
Guide & Directory" by Richard E Osborne.

Williams Field was located 25 miles SE of Phoenix sandwiched in between the Salt River Indian Reservation to the north and the Gila River Reservation to the south. The field was built by the AAF in the summer of 1941 as a part of the 30,000 Pilot Training Program to train U.S. and foreign airmen. It was first named Mesa Military Airport but a few months later was renamed Highley Field and in February 1942 renamed again as Williams Field. From then on it was affectionately called "Willie". Its first mission during the war was to train twin-engine bomber rews and bombardiers. This was changed in late 1943 and training in single-engine planes began.

In 1944-45 its mission changed again and four-engine bomber crews were trained. In late 1945 single-engine fighter pilots were again being trained here as well as radar observers. In 1948 the base was taken over by the U.S. Air Force and named Williams Air Force Base. Throughout the Cold War the base operated as a training facility and was closed in the 1990s. Williams' WW II auxiliary fields were:

Aux #1 Gilbert Airport, 5 miles NW of Chandler

Aux #2 Rittenhouse Airport, 3 miles SE of Chandler

Aux #3 Coolidge Airport, 7 miles SW of Florence

Aug #4 Casa Grande Airport, 6 miles NW of Casa Grande

Aug #5 Goodyear Airport, 5 miles east of Goodyear