Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth (abbreviated NAS JRB Fort Worth) includes Carswell Field, a military airbase located west of the central business district of Fort Worth, in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. This military airfield is operated by the United States Navy Reserve. It is located in the cities of Fort Worth, Westworth Village, and White Settlement in the western part of the Fort Worth urban area.

NAS Fort Worth JRB is the successor to the former Naval Air Station Dallas and incorporates other Reserve commands and activities, primarily those of the Air Force Reserve, that were present on site when the installation was known as Carswell Air Force Base, a former Strategic Air Command (SAC) facility later transferred to the Air Combat Command (ACC).

Several United States Navy headquarters and operational units are based at NAS Fort Worth JRB, including Naval Air Reserve air wings and aviation squadrons, intelligence commands and Seabees.

The Air Force Reserve Command's Tenth Air Force (10 AF) headquarters and the 301st Fighter Wing and its flying squadron the 457th Fighter Squadron continue to be based at the installation. The Wing is currently (2024) converting to the F-35 Lightning II after operating the F-16 for 32 years. The 136th Airlift Wing of the Texas Air National Guard and its flying component, the 181st Airlift Squadron, fly new stretch versions of the C-130J airlifter. MAG-41, a Marine Aircraft Group, with VMFA-112 (F-18C), VMGR-234 (KC-130J), VMR-1 (C-40A), and various ground units are also located at NAS Fort Worth JRB. VR-59 flies the C-40A personnel and cargo transport.

Aircraft types initially based at NAS Fort Worth JRB were the F-14 Tomcat, F/A-18 Hornet, C-9B Skytrain II, C-130 Hercules and KC-130 Hercules that relocated from the former NAS Dallas, joining extant F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft that were previously located at the installation while it was known as Carswell Air Force Base and later as Carswell Air Reserve Station.

Currently based aircraft are Navy C-40 Clipper transports of the Naval Air Reserve, Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters of the Air Force Reserve Command, C-130 Hercules airlift aircraft of the Texas Air National Guard, Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters and KC-130 Hercules aerial refueling and transport aircraft of the Marine Corps Reserve. The U.S. Army Reserve also has D Co, 6/52AVN flying UC-35 and C-12 aircraft on VIP transportation duties.

Origins

thumb|Major Horace S. Carswell, Jr. (1916–1944)

Carswell Air Force Base was named after Medal of Honor recipient Major Horace S. Carswell, Jr., USAAF (1916–1944). Major Carswell was returning from an attack on Japanese shipping in the South China Sea on 26 October 1944 when he attempted to save a crewmember whose parachute had been destroyed by flak. He remained at the controls of his crippled bomber and died while crash-landing the B-24 Liberator near Tungchen, China. The base was renamed in his honor on 29 January 1948.

Carswell's origins date back to the early years of aviation. After the United States' entry into World War I in April 1917, General John J. "Blackjack" Pershing invited the British Royal Flying Corps (RFC) to establish training fields in the southern United States where the warmer weather would be more conducive for flying year-round. In June, the War Department inspected 6 sites around Fort Worth, Texas which had been offered by the Chamber of Commerce. In August the War Department signed leases with the RFC on 3 sites around Fort Worth. Knows as the Flying Triangle, these sites were Hicks Field (#1), Barron Field (#2), and Benbrook (later Carruthers) Field (#3) based on their locations. In April 1918 these airfield were turned over to the Air Service, United States Army as training fields for American pilots. Hundreds of pilots learned their basic and primary flying skills at these airfields in the Fort Worth area during the war. They were closed in 1919 when the war ended.

In 1940 the City of Fort Worth had filed an application with the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), asking for a primary pilot training airfield for the Army Air Corps. In May, General Jacob E. Fickel visited Fort Worth on an inspection visit. Fickel had learned to fly at Carruthers Field in 1918. At the same time, the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce was trying to convince aircraft manufacturers to build an aircraft assembly plant in the area. Consolidated Aircraft, wanting to build in the area, suggested to the Air Corps that they jointly build an airfield adjacent to the heavy bomber plant they wanted to build in Fort Worth. On 16 June 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved $1.75 million to construct an airfield next to the Consolidated manufacturing plant. The Army wanted to have the airfield ready quickly before the plant was put into production and construction of the Lake Worth Bomber Plant Airport began almost immediately. with the first aircraft being assigned to the school in August. On 29 July, the base was again renamed, this time as Fort Worth Army Air Field. The school was initially equipped with B-24Ds that were assembled across the runway at Consolidated; later it was upgraded to B-24Es that were manufactured at Consolidated's Willow Run Plant in Michigan, then flown to the Fort Worth plant for final modifications. The first B-32 arrived at Fort Worth in September 1944, however it was in the modification plant until January before it was released to the training school. By the end of 1944, only five production aircraft had been delivered by Consolidated; by comparison the B-29 had been flown in combat for nearly six months. The Army was quite unhappy about the Dominator and the production problems it was experiencing. With its activation, the 7th became part of the Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF), headquartered at Colorado Springs, Colorado.

On 12 September, the group deployed 30 B-29s to Giebelstadt Army Airfield, near Würzburg, West Germany. This flight was the largest bomber formation flown from Fort Worth AAF overseas to date, landing in Germany on 13 September. During their ten-day stay, the group bombers participated in training operations over Europe, as well as a show-of-force display by the United States in the early part of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The flight redeployed from Germany on 23 September. As part of the new organization both the 7th and 11th Bombardment Groups became its operational components.

Upon becoming its own service, the USAF renamed many former Army Air Fields as memorials to deceased airmen. On 1 January 1948, Fort Worth Airfield was renamed Griffiss Air Force Base as a memorial to Lt. Col. Townsend Griffiss (1900–1942), a Buffalo native and 1922 West Point graduate who, in 1942, became the first U.S. airman to be killed in the line of duty in the European Theatre of World War II when his Consolidated B-24 Liberator was shot down by friendly fire over the English Channel. On 27 February, the base's name was changed again to memorialize native son and Medal of Honor winner, Major Horace S. Carswell, Jr., who gave his life while attempting to crash land his crippled B-24 over China.

thumb|left|Arrival of the first B-36A at Carswell AFB, "City of Fort Worth" (AF Serial No. 44-92015), in June 1948

Since 1942, the XB-36 Peacemaker long range bomber had been under development by Consolidated, and work on it was shifted from Consolidated's San Diego, California plant to its government-leased plant in Fort Worth. By 1947 the initial production version B-36A was ready, and, in June 1948 the first Convair B-36A Peacemaker was delivered to the Air Force. The first B-36A was designated the "City of Fort Worth" (AF Serial No. 44-92015) and was assigned to the 492d Bomb Squadron. B-36s continued to roll out from the production plant throughout 1948 while being assigned to the 7th Bomb Group. The group's last B-29 was transferred out on 6 December to the 97th Bombardment Group at Biggs Air Force Base in El Paso, Texas. For 10 years, Carswell's "Peacemaker" fleet cast a large shadow on the Soviet Iron Curtain and served as the United States' major deterrent weapons system.

In January 1951, the 7th Bombardment Group took part in a special training mission to the United Kingdom. The purpose of the mission was to evaluate the updated B-36D under simulated war-plan conditions and further evaluate the equivalent airspeed and compression tactics for heavy bombardment aircraft. The aircraft, staging through Limestone AFB, Maine, would land at RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom, following a night radar-bombing attack on Heligoland, West Germany. From there the bombers would conduct a simulated bomb run on the Heston Bomb Plot, London, finally landing at RAF Lakenheath.

B-36 Peacemaker Era

The wing's mission was to prepare for global strategic bombardment in the event of hostilities. Under various designations, the 7th Bombardment Wing flew a wide variety of aircraft at the base until its inactivation in 1993.

On 1 September 1952, what was then thought to be a tornado rolled across the Carswell flight line, with winds over 90 miles per hour recorded at the control tower. By the time it had passed "the flight line was a tangle of airplanes, equipment and pieces of buildings."

In 1954, Carswell was prominently featured and used as a filming location in the James Stewart and June Allyson film Strategic Air Command. 11th Bomb Group B-36s appeared with James Stewart who was also attached to the unit in the 1950s as a unit commander in his then-rank of Colonel in the Air Force Reserve.

On 13 April 1965, the 7th Bomb Wing deployed its forces to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam to bomb the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Most of the wing's bombers and tankers, along with aircrews and some support personnel, were deployed. At Andersen, the wing flew more than 1,300 missions over Vietnam, and returned to Carswell in December 1965.

B-52 crews were sent through an intensive two-week course on the B-52D, making them eligible for duty in Southeast Asia. B-52s assigned to combat duty in Vietnam were painted in a modified camouflage scheme with the undersides, lower fuselage, and both sides of the vertical fin being painted in a glossy black. The USAF serial number was painted in black on the fin over a horizontal red stripe across the length of the fin.

From then until the close of 1969, the wing served as one of two SAC B-58 wings with a strategic-bombardment mission.

One of the last things the wing did while at Carswell AFB took place on 28 March 1964, the day after a major earthquake devastated Alaska. Headquarters USAF tasked the 43rd to provide it with photographs of the region hit by the quake. Members of the 43rd flew two B-58s the to Alaska and back, processed the film, and then delivered the pictures to Washington DC 14.5 hours after the wing received the request. Six months later the 43rd Bomb Wing moved to Little Rock AFB, Arkansas.

Beginning in 1972, the 301st Fighter Wing (under various designations) has trained at Carswell as an Air Force Reserve (AFRES) and Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) unit, training for tactical air missions, including counter-air, interdiction, and close air support. Originally gained by the former Tactical Air Command (TAC), the unit is now operationally gained by Air Combat Command (ACC).

The 301st replaced the Air Force Reserve's 916th Military Airlift Group (916 MAG), which was inactivated.

Inactivation

In 1991, the Round II Base Closure Commission (BRAC 91) under the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 decided to close Carswell AFB, move the 7th Bomb Wing from Carswell to Dyess AFB, Texas, and switch it from the B-52 to the B-1 Lancer jet bomber.

When SAC was disestablished on 1 June 1992 as part of the Air Force's larger reorganization, Carswell and the 7th Bomb Wing were assigned to the new Air Combat Command (ACC); the wing's B-52Hs received the ACC tail code "CW".

NAS Fort Worth JRB units schedule a variety of airspace. The key area for fighter operations is the Brownwood Military Operations Area (Brownwood MOA). This MOA, originally developed to serve Commander, Naval Air Force Reserve (COMNAVAIRRESFOR) and 4th Marine Aircraft Wing (4th MAW) fighter and fighter/attack squadrons stationed at the former Naval Air Station Dallas, now serves as the primary airspace resource for all fighter/attack units assigned to NAS Fort Worth JRB. It is scheduled by the NAS Fort Worth Operations Department; consolidated scheduling was evaluated for a period of time and the decision made to return this area to the Navy for scheduling. Nevertheless, user comments indicate that access to the area is allocated to its several users on a fair and equitable basis.

The recent decision to join the Brady and Brownwood MOAs will provide additional maneuver airspace for Air Intercept Control/Air Combat Maneuvering (AIC/ACM) training. When scheduled concurrently, these areas enable numerous aircraft from several units to participate in joint fighter/bomber training exercises. Brownwood MOA is the subject of an innovative test to improve the dissemination of SUA status information to non-participating aircraft. This test, conducted to address action items in meeting Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Free Flight planning commitments, will use a combination of recently deployed airspace scheduling and reporting systems, including the FAA's Special-Use Airspace Management System (SAMS) and the Department of Defense Military Airspace Management System (MAMS). The intent of the trial is to provide more accurate "near real-time" area status via the internet to civilian users, especially to regional air carriers particularly affected by required rerouting around Brownwood MOA. Should the test and the technology prove successful and cost-effective, the result could address long-standing civilian dissatisfaction with the quality and timeliness of FAA-distributed special use airspace status information. In particular, such functionality may be appropriate for incorporation into the next generation of Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) modernization equipment.

The base's runway is also used by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, as their large Fort Worth assembly facility (where the F-35 Lightning II is built) is located adjacent to the base.

The base has an Army and Air Force Exchange Service post exchange and a Commissary.

The current (13th) Commanding Officer of NAS Fort Worth JRB is Captain Mark McLean, USN.

Federal Medical Center, Carswell, a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility, is located in the northeast corner of NAS Fort Worth JRB, utilizing the facility that was formerly the USAF Hospital for Carswell AFB. Its address is Building 3000 along J Street.

Tenant commands

United States Navy Reserve

  • Headquarters, NAS Fort Worth JRB
  • Commander, Fleet Logistics Support Wing (COMFLELOGSUPWING, or CFLSW)
  • Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 59 (VR-59) C-40A Clipper
  • Commander Tactical Support Wing (CTSW)
  • Branch Health & Dental Clinic, Detachment Fort Worth
  • Commander Naval Reserve Intelligence Command
  • Reserve Intelligence Area Southeast (RIASE)
  • NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center JAX Detachment Fort Worth
  • Fleet Readiness Center Reserve Mid-West (FRCRMW)
  • Fleet Readiness Center Reserve Mid-West, Detachment Fort Worth (FRCRMW Det Fort Worth)
  • Maritime Expeditionary Security Detachment 1 Detachment D (MSRON 1 Det D)
  • Naval Air Technical Data And Engineering Service Command Detachment
  • Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Detachment
  • Navy Operations Support Center, Fort Worth (NOSC)
  • NCTAMS Lant Detachment BCO
  • Navy Region Southeast, Reserve Component Command-Fort Worth
  • Expeditionary Medical Facility Dallas One (EMF Dallas One)

United States Marine Corps Reserve

  • Marine Aircraft Group 41 (MAG-41)
  • Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 112 (VMFA-112)
  • Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 234 (VMGR-234)
  • Marine Transport Squadron 1 (VMR-1)
  • 14th Marine Regiment
  • Marine Air Control Squadron 24 (MACS-24)

United States Marine Corps Recruiting Command

  • Headquarters, 8th Marine Corps Recruiting District (HQ, 8MCD)

United States Air Force Reserve

  • Headquarters, Tenth Air Force (10 AF)
  • 301st Fighter Wing (301 FW) F-16C/D Block 30
  • 457th Fighter Squadron (Reserve)

United States Army Reserve

  • 370th Chemical Company
  • 607th Military Police Battalion
  • 90th Aviation Support Battalion
  • Alpha Company, 6th Battalion, 52d Aviation Regiment

Texas Air National Guard

  • 136th Airlift Wing (136 AW)
  • 136th Operation Group (136 OG)
  • 181st Airlift Squadron (181 AS) C-130H
  • 181st Airlift Control Flight (181 ACF)
  • 136th Operations Support Flight (136 OSF)
  • 136th Mission Support Group (136 MSG)
  • 136th Civil Engineer Squadron (136 CES)
  • 531st Air Force Band

United States Air Force

  • 495th Fighter Group - F-16C/D Block 30
  • 24th Fighter Squadron (Active Associate)

Major U.S. Air Force Commands to which assigned

  • Second Air Force, c. 26 June 1942
  • Army Air Forces Flying Training Command, 30 June 1942
  • Second Air Force, 21 November 1944
  • Continental Air Forces, 15 April 1945

: Redesignated: Strategic Air Command, 21 March 1946

Former units

  • 404th Base HQ and Air Base Sq, 18 August 1942 – 1 May 1944
  • Army Air Forces Combat Crew School

: Redesignated: Army Air Forces Pilot School, Specialized 4-Engine, 28 July 1942 – 1 January 1946

  • 96th Pilot Transition Training Group (4 Engine), 28 July 1942 – 1 April 1944
  • Army Air Forces Flying Training Command

: Redesignated: Army Air Forces Training Command, 21 August 1942 – 24 February 1946

  • 2519th AAF Base Unit (Pilot School, Spec 4E), 1 May 1944 – 18 November 1945
  • 17th Bombardment Operational Training Wing, 24 December 1945 – 9 April 1946
  • 31st Flying Training Wing, 31 May 1945 – 30 December 1945
  • 233d AAF (later AF) Base Unit, 18 November 1945 – 17 November 1947
  • 7th Bombardment Group, 1 October 1946 – 10 June 1952

: 7th Bombardment Wing, 17 November 1947 – 1 October 1993

  • 58th Bombardment Wing, 9 May 1946 – 1 March 1948
  • Eighth Air Force, 1 November 1946 – 1 August 1948
  • 11th Bombardment Group, 1 December 1948 – 16 June 1952

: 11th Bombardment Wing, 16 February 1951 – 13 December 1957

  • 19th Air Division, 16 February 1951 – 16 June 1952; 16 June 1952 – 30 September 1988.
  • 4123d Strategic Wing, 10 December 1957 – 25 February 1959
  • 43d Bombardment Wing, 15 March 1960 – 1 September 1964
  • 916th Troop Carrier Group

: Redesignated: 916th Military Airlift Group (AFRES), 1 April 1963 – 8 July 1972

  • 512th Troop Carrier Wing

: Redesignated: 512th Military Airlift Wing (AFRES): 8 January 1965 – 29 June 1971

  • 301st Tactical Fighter Wing (AFRES), 1 July 1972 – 30 September 1994