Carswell AFB is located in Ft Worth, Tx (Tarrant Co), and was one of the first Strategic Air Command bases, hosting B-29, B-36, B-58 and B-52 bombers from the 7th Bomb Wing, which maintained a longstanding vigil during the Cold War. Carswell AFB along with MacDill AFB were the sites of the James Stewart classic movie Strategic Air Command.
Now known as Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base Carswell Field, Carswell AFB was originally known as Tarrant Field Airdrome which was established as a military installation in 1942 for flight training and heavy bomber operations. In 1946, the Strategic Air Command (SAC) assumed control of the installation, and the base became headquarters for the 8th Air Force. The base was renamed Carswell Air Force Base (AFB) in 1948 in honor of a Fort Worth native, Major Horace S. Carswell. While returning from a bombing strike against a Japanese convoy, the 1939 graduate of Texas Christian University continued to fly his severely damaged B-24, enabling his crew to jump from the bomber. This unselfish act cost Carswell his life. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for this extraordinary act of heroism.
Headquarters, 19th Air Division, was located at Carswell AFB from 1951 to 1988.
