Ladd Army Airfield is the military airfield located at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska. It was originally called Fairbanks Air Base, but was renamed Ladd Field on 1 December 1939, in honor of Major Arthur K. Ladd, a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps who died in a plane crash near Dale, South Carolina on 13 December 1935.
Ladd Army Airfield, about 1943
Emblem of the 5001st Air Base Group, Ladd AFB 1947-1959
Ladd AFB organizational chart, 1952
Fort Wainwright is a United States Army installation in Fairbanks, Alaska. Fort Wainwright is part of the Fairbanks North Star Borough and the coterminous Fairbanks Metropolitan Statistical Area. The installation is managed by U.S. Army Garrison Alaska and the senior command is 11th Airborne Division. Fort Wainwright was formerly known as Ladd Field (1939–1945) and Ladd Air Force Base (1947–1961); it was renamed Fort Wainwright in honor of General Jonathan M. Wainwright, a Medal of Honor recipient for his courageous leadership as commander of U.S. forces during the fall of the Philippines in World War II. Ladd Field was designated as a National Historic Landmark (NHL) on 4 February 1985 and Ladd Air Force Base was designated as Ladd Air Force Base Cold War District and was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on the same day. With over 1.6 million acres of land spanning across the Fairbanks North Star Borough and Southeast Fairbanks, Fort Wainwright is the largest U.S. military installation by area outside the contiguous United States.
Cold weather test of flight clothes Ladd Field, 1941
Lend-Lease program final check, 1942
WAC Review Ladd Field, 1945
B-29 with dog team at Ladd AFB (USAF)