Matagorda Island Air Force Base is a closed military airfield on the north end of Matagorda Island, northeast of Corpus Christi, Texas. It was closed by the United States Air Force in 1975.HistoryWorld War IIThe original airfield was built in 1942 as Matagorda Island General Bombing and Gunnery Range. It supported the USAAF Gulf Coast Training Center pilot training in the southeast United States. The airfield originally had three runways, with a large "L" shaped concrete parking apron. It was under the control of Foster Field, Victoria, TX, as a sub base. The range had four squadrons (856th, 857th, 858th, 859th) Single-Engine Gunnery Squadrons assigned, flying the North American T-6 Texan, under the control of the 62d Single Engined Flying Training Group, 79th Flying Training Wing (Flexible Gunnery). Also planes from other training schools used the airfield. The range was supported by the Matagorda Peninsula Army Airfield, a separate facility north of the range. During the war, an additional three runways were built to accommodate the large number of landings and takeoffs.The facility was closed on 3 February 1945, and placed in a standby status.Strategic Air CommandDuring the Cold War, in 1949, the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command reactivated the range and refurbished the runways. Runway 03/21 was extended to 8,000' to accommodate jet fighters, along with SAC B-29 and B-50 Superfortress bombers. The Air Force renamed the facility Matagorda Island Air Force Base. It built a dock, a large number of roads and buildings on the base to accommodate personnel to support the gunnery and bombing range.
