Named for Marylander Colonel William D. Tipton, Tipton Army Airfield was constructed in 1960 to replace a smaller airstrip that had operated since 1938 near the present Post Exchange and Commissary complex. Tipton served in both World Wars. During World War I he was a pursuit pilot in the 17th Aero Squadron attached to the British Royal Air Force, saw action in the Battle of the Somme, and received the British Distinguished Flying Cross and the American Purple Heart. Captured by the Germans in August 1918, he spent the rest of the war as a prisoner. He also served in World War II and rose to the rank of Colonel. Tipton died on December 12, 1945, at Adena, Ohio, from injuries received in an airplane accident. In 1995, operation and control of Tipton Army Airfield passed to Anne Arundel County, Maryland.